The Dance (Fleetwood Mac album)

The Dance
Live album by Fleetwood Mac
Released	19 August 1997
Recorded	23 May 1997
Venue	Warner Brothers Studios, Burbank, California
Genre	Rock, pop
Length	79:11
Label	Reprise
Producer	Lindsey Buckingham, Elliot Scheiner
Fleetwood Mac chronology
Time (1995) The Dance (1997) Say You Will (2003)

The Dance is a live album by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 19 August 1997. It hailed the return of the band's most successful line-up of Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Stevie Nicks, who had not released an album together since 1987's Tango in the Night a decade earlier. It was the first Fleetwood Mac release to top the U.S. album charts since 1982's Mirage.

History[]

The Dance was the last Fleetwood Mac album to date that featured Christine McVie as a full-time member. McVie left the group a year after the album's release although she returned to the band in 2014 to tour. Debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 199,000, The Dance became the fifth best-selling live album of all time in the United States, selling a million copies within eight weeks, spending more than seven months within the top 40, and eventually selling over 6,000,000 copies worldwide. The DVD version has been certified 9x platinum in Australia for selling 135,000 copies. The 44 date tour grossed $36 million.

Unlike 1980's Live, which was a collection of live recordings over a series of 60 shows, The Dance was recorded in one night, albeit with good isolation to allow for overdubs.^[1] The concert was recorded for Fleetwood Mac's MTVThe Dance special at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California on 23 May 1997, and features the University of Southern California Marching Band who perform on the tracks "Tusk" (having played on the original studio recording) and "Don't Stop".

Although the album is predominantly a live greatest hits package, The Dance also features new material written by each of the primary songwriting members of the band (with two from Buckingham) as well as popular album tracks. For example, "Bleed to Love Her" was a previously unreleased track when The Dance was released, although a studio recording of the song was later included on the Say You Will (2003) album. No tracks from the Mirage album were included on the CD, although "Gypsy" was included in the video and DVD versions.

The album cover photo, taken by David LaChapelle, has Mick Fleetwood recreating his pose from the cover of Rumours, the band's most successful album, and Lindsey Buckingham holding the cane used on the cover of the Fleetwood Mac album, Rumours' predecessor.

This album spawned three singles in the USA: "Landslide", "The Chain", and "Silver Springs" which earned the band three Grammy nominations in 1998, in the categories of "Best Pop Album", "Best Rock Performance by a Group or Duo with Vocal" for "The Chain" and "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" for "Silver Springs". A fourth single, "Temporary One," was released in some European markets.

The band later embarked on a 44 date tour across the United States with one stop in Canada in support of The Dance. The setlist was similar to that of the album, but with "Over My Head" and "My Little Demon" being replaced by "Oh Daddy", "Second Hand News", "Stand Back", "Farmer's Daughter" (a cover of the Beach Boys song from Surfin' USA), and "Not That Funny". "Eyes of the World" was played instead of "Second Hand News" on opening night in Hartford, Connecticut.

CD track listing[]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Chain"	Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie	5:11
2.	"Dreams"	Nicks	4:39
3.	"Everywhere"	C. McVie	3:28
4.	"Rhiannon"	Nicks	6:48
5.	"I'm So Afraid"	Buckingham	7:45
6.	"Temporary One +"	C. McVie, Eddy Quintela	4:00
7.	"Bleed to Love Her (Studio Version from Say You Will 2003) +"	Buckingham	3:27
8.	"Big Love"	Buckingham	3:06
9.	"Landslide"	Nicks	4:27
10.	"Say You Love Me"	C. McVie	4:59
11.	"My Little Demon +"	Buckingham	3:33
12.	"Silver Springs"	Nicks	5:41
13.	"You Make Loving Fun"	C. McVie	3:49
14.	"Sweet Girl (Studio Version from Stevie Nicks - Enchanted Box Set 1998) +"	Nicks	3:19
15.	"Go Your Own Way"	Buckingham	5:00
16.	"Tusk"	Buckingham	4:22
17.	"Don't Stop"	C. McVie	5:28

DVD/Video track listing[]

The DVD video is in 1.33:1 aspect ratio, while audio is in Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM stereo.

1. "The Chain" (Buckingham, Fleetwood, C. McVie, J. McVie, Nicks)
2. "Dreams" (Nicks)
3. "Everywhere" (C. McVie)
4. "Gold Dust Woman" (Nicks) * ***
5. "I'm So Afraid" (Buckingham)**
6. "Temporary One" (C. McVie, Quintela)
7. "Bleed to Love Her" (Buckingham)
8. "Gypsy" (Nicks) * ***
9. "Big Love" (Buckingham) **
10. "Go Insane" (Buckingham) * ** ***
11. "Landslide" (Nicks)
12. "Say You Love Me" (C. McVie)
13. "You Make Loving Fun" (C. McVie)
14. "My Little Demon" (Buckingham)
15. "Silver Springs" (Nicks) ***
16. "Over My Head" (C. McVie) * ***
17. "Rhiannon" (Nicks)
18. "Sweet Girl" (Nicks)
19. "Go Your Own Way" (Buckingham) ***
20. "Tusk" (Buckingham)
21. "Don't Stop" (C. McVie)
22. "Songbird" (C. McVie) * ***

* Exclusive to the VHS/DVD/Laserdisc versions

** Later released on the 2-CD US version of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac

*** Live version released as a B-side of a single

Personnel[]

Fleetwood Mac

• Stevie Nicks – vocals, tambourine
• Lindsey Buckingham – guitars, banjo on "Say You Love Me", vocals
• Christine McVie – keyboards, piano, vocals, accordion on "Tusk", tambourine on "Say You Love Me", maracas on "Everywhere"
• John McVie – bass guitar, background vocals on "Say You Love Me"
• Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Brett Tuggle – keyboards, guitar, background vocals
• – guitar, background vocals
• Lenny Castro – percussion
• Sharon Celani – background vocals
• Mindy Stein – background vocals
• Dr. Arthur C. Bartner – director of the USC Trojan Marching Band

Fleetwood Mac Crew

• Marty Hom – tour manager
• Paul Chavarria – production manager
• Ray Lindsey – guitar tech
• Todd Bowie – guitar tech
• Scott Pinkerton – synthesizer programming
• Steve Dikun – bass tech
• Walter Earl – drum tech
• Mike Fasano – drum tech
• Edd Kolakowski – piano tech
• Bruce Jackson – FOH sound
• Chris Lantz – monitors
• Chris Fulton – Clair Bros.
• Mark Dowdle – Clair Bros.
• Kim Brakeley – wardrobe stylist
• Jill Focke – assistant wardrobe
• Margi Kent – clothing designer for Nicks
• Barbara Buck – makeup
• Elaine Offers – makeup
• Karen Johnston – assistant to Nicks
• Steve Real – vocal coach
• Sara Sierra – hair
• Robert Ramos – hair
• Richard Perea – assistant/runner
• Mark Candelario, Jen Dreisen – runners
• Edward O'Hickey III – WB stage
• Fred Hammond, Jim Callahan – WB security

CD production

• Producers: Lindsey Buckingham, Elliot Scheiner
• Engineers: Guy Charbonneau, Barry Goldberg, Elliot Scheiner
• Assistant engineers: Charlie Bouis, John Nelson
• Mastering: Ted Jensen
• Mixing: Elliot Scheiner
• Technical assistance: Ted Barela, David Gallo, Eric Johnston
• Digital editing: Paul DeCarli, Scott Humphrey
• Photography: David LaChapelle, Neal Preston

Video production

• Producers: Lindsey Buckingham, Elliot Scheiner
• Director: Bruce Gower
• Photography: David LaChapelle, Neal Preston
• Recording: Barry Goldberg, Elliot Scheiner
• Mixing: Elliot Scheiner
• Director of the USC Marching Band: Dr. Arthur C. Bartner

Charts[]

Singles[]

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1997	"The Chain"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	30
1998	"Landslide"	Adult Contemporary	10
1998	"Landslide"	Adult Top 40	26
1998	"Landslide"	Billboard Hot 100	51

Certifications[]

References[]