10 Greatest Fleetwood Mac Albums
8. Mirage (1982)
Mirage was released in June 1982 as Fleetwood Mac's thirteenth studio album, and is largely regarded as a bit of a 'back to reality' moment by fans and critics. Released three years after the expensive and experimental Tusk album, Mirage represents a much more retro and comfortable soft rock sort of vibe.
By the time the band had come to record the album from their studio in Château d'Hérouville, both Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham had embarked on their own solo careers and, for the former in particular, the struggles of going from individual superstardom and all out creativity to the grind of the band is palpable in the likes of 'Straight Back'.
Nevertheless, Mirage is also an example of knowing what a winning formula is and replicating it in the studio, and 'Hold Me', 'Gypsy' and 'Love In Stone' are all examples from the album of Mac being able to tap into the commercial pop sound people go mad for.
The album climbed to number five in the UK charts, but managed to once again peak at number one on the US Billboard 200, eventually receiving platinum certification in both countries.