Fleetwood Mac - Mirage (1982) [Full Album]

Mirage is the thirteenth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 2 July 1982 by Warner Bros. Records This studio effort's soft rock sound stood in stark contrast to its more experimental predecessor, 1979's Tusk. Mirage yielded several singles: "Hold Me" (which peaked at number four on the US Billboard Pop Chart, remaining there for seven weeks), "Gypsy" (number 12 US Pop Chart), "Love in Store" (number 22 US Pop Chart), "Oh Diane" (number nine in the UK), and "Can't Go Back" (number 83 in the UK). - -Following a hiatus of over a year after the completion of the worldwide Tusk tour, the band temporarily relocated to Château d'Hérouville in France to record a new album. By this time Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, and Lindsey Buckingham had each started solo careers, Nicks to multi-platinum, number-one success with 1981's Bella Donna.

The Stevie Nicks written "Gypsy" (number 12 Pop, number four Rock, and number 16 in Canada) was the second single from the album and was accompanied by a video directed by Russell Mulcahy. The edited version of "Gypsy" that appears on the album and single releases runs for only 4:24, but a 5½-minute version had been originally recorded. The latter version was (initially) used in the video, and was not available on CD until the release of 1992's retrospective box set 25 Years – The Chain.

Of the other two compositions from Nicks on the album, "That's Alright" dated back to the Buckingham Nicks days of 1974, while "Straight Back" was written in the winter of 1981 and referred to her separation from then-lover, producer Jimmy Iovine, and the huge disruption she experienced to her newly established and highly successful solo career in order to rejoin Fleetwood Mac for the 1982 project (Nicks refers to this on the DVD commentary to her 2008 retrospective Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks). "Straight Back" was also a US rock radio hit in late 1982.

Of Christine McVie's four compositions, three were written in collaboration with other writers: "Love in Store" with Jim Recor, ex-husband of Nicks' friend Sara Recor who later married Mick Fleetwood, "Hold Me" with singer-songwriter Robbie Patton whose second album she had recently produced and "Wish You Were Here" with lyrics from erstwhile John Mayall drummer Colin Allen. The other, "Only Over You", was credited "With thanks to Dennis Wilson for inspiration." McVie had recently ended her relationship with Wilson, a member of the Beach Boys, who would die by drowning the following year.

Three of Lindsey Buckingham's five contributions were written with co-producer Richard Dashut including the UK top-10 single "Oh Diane". Buckingham came into the studio with "Can't Go Back and "Eyes of the World", while his other three songs on the album were written shortly after his arrival in France.

The album returned the group to the top of the US Billboard charts for the first time since their 1977 album Rumours, spending five weeks at number one. It spent a total of 18 weeks in the US top ten and has been certified double platinum for shipments in excess of two million copies in the US. It also reached number five in the UK where it has been certified platinum for shipping 300,000 copies, and number two in Australia.

Track listing
Side one
1. Love in Store 0:00
2. Can't Go Back 3:17
3. That's Alright 6:02
4. Book of Love 9:15
5. Gypsy 12:36
6. Only Over You 17:02

Side two
1. Empire State 21:07
2. Straight Back
3. Hold Me
4. Oh Diane
5. Eyes of the World
6. Wish You Were Here

Fleetwood Mac:
Lindsey Buckingham – guitar, vocals, additional keyboards, lap harp on "Empire State"
Stevie Nicks – vocals, tambourine
Christine McVie – keyboards, vocals
John McVie – bass guitar
Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion

Additional musician:
Ray Lindsey – additional guitar on "Straight Back"