Fleetwood Mac Tango In The Night by: Tom Perry Mon:20-Aug-07 Label: Reprise Year: 1987 WB rating 80 out of 100

The drama of Fleetwood Mac truly challenges the Beach Boys’ troubled history for the title of most dramatic (or horrific, depending on your perspective) rock and roll story of modern times.

They’ve been through oodles of line-up changes – with seven official members leaving or being fired from the band to date. They’ve had their fair share of stoushes with their record company – the considered commercial ‘failure’ of their 1979 effort, Tusk, left execs locking away the chequebook. They’ve even been through the bizarre ‘Fake Fleetwood Mac’ saga - where former manager Clifford Davis told fans that guitarist Bob Welch and bassist John McVie had quit the band and toured a completely different act under the Fleetwood Mac name – much to the actual Fleetwood Mac’s horror. And there have been messy divorces between former in-band lovers, songwriting credit disputes, even band members joining bizarre religious cults.

But no one can deny them their dues. Since the mid-‘60s Fleetwood Mac have produced some of the most iconic rock tunes of the last few decades. They fill football stadiums with very few gimmicks, and have evolved their sound (whilst staying true to their core identity) enough to generally remain both critically and commercially a massive success.

However, since the iconic Rumours, the Fleetwood Mac juggernaut had seemingly hit artistic sand, their late 70s effort – band leader Lindsey Buckingham’s pet project – Tusk was widely panned and their last record, Mirage, was a relatively pedestrian work. Now five years later, are Fleetwood Mac still relevant? Has the break been of benefit? Absolutely. Tango in the Night is Fleetwood Mac back in sensational form. It’s simply an enjoyable listen from the get-go.

With Tango, Fleetwood Mac have managed to perfectly straddle a variety of basic and complex musical fences. This is a record that, whilst sounding modern enough to intrigue, plays to the strengths of the band. It manages the distinctive songwriting talents of the independently famous band members perfectly. Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks both have their winning moments: McVie’s ‘Everywhere’ and ‘Little Lies’ are both standouts, whilst Nicks’ ‘Welcome to the Room… Sara’ is an adorable pop ballad quite clearly influenced by her recent stint at Betty Ford.

‘Lies’ is of particular note for its Beach Boys (circa Pet Sounds) harmonies. Whilst on ‘God Only Knows’ we had the Wilsons, Love and Co sounding like a bunch of pre-pubescent choirboys, on ‘Lies’ we have McVie and Nicks embodying a cackle of 50-something spinsters on the red wine, laughing bitterly about ex-husbands. No doubt John McVie and Lindsey Buckingham felt a tad awkward recording this one.

However it is Buckingham himself whose talents present Tango’s biggest highlights, his mixed vocal delivery on ‘Big Love’ perfectly combines angst with groove, backed by some deep Clapton-esque guitar. ‘Caroline’ and ‘Tango in the Night’, both Buckingham penned, also remind of the absolute best from Tusk.

But if there’s one track on Tango that unified the band’s respective talents it is ‘Seven Wonders’. Whilst not a particularly challenging piece of songwriting, it is modern pop done pitch perfectly; Nicks’ increasingly nasal sounding delivery ensures ‘Wonders’ is carried with a great mix of nonchalance and genuine heart. It’s infectious.

If nitpicking needs to be done, then some will be disappointed that Tango doesn’t have the ambition of Tusk. Also there are a couple of misfires: namely ‘Family Man’ and the Boney M-sounding ‘You and I, Part II’. However this record is still a big step up on their last work. It sounds modern, fresh, and genuinely cool.

If the battered hearts and bruised egos of Fleetwood Mac are the cause of their chemistry, then, in a selfish way, I hope they continue to exist on the brink of self-destruction – because, we, as listeners, are all the better for it.