Rating: 9.75/10

Top Track: ‘Dreams’

Finally some Fleetwood Mac. It’s incredibly hard to find someone who doesn’t like this band and if the radio is on long enough, chances are that one of Fleetwood Mac’s songs is going to come on; a song probably off of this album. Most bands at the time would have killed to write a song that could grab some radio time. Fleetwood Mac has about seven or eight songs on this album that were and still are frequently played on the radio. I mean, wow. The recording of this album wasn’t as grand however. There was so much drama surrounding the band during the recording of this album that I could probably write a few paragraphs about what happened. Shoot, a movie could be made about all of the stuff that happened leading up to and during the recording of this album. Now I can’t do that, but I can provide a nut-shelled version. Basically, the band spent six months in the limelight after their commercial success of their previous album and had spent half of a year touring nonstop. After the tour keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie and bassist John McVie divorced after eight years of marriage. They stopped talking altogether with the lone exception being band matters. That wasn’t the only couple having troubles within the band; guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and vocalist Stevie Nicks were having an on-again, off-again relationship which led them to bicker constantly except when working on songs together. Oh yeah, and Mick Fleetwood, drummer, discovered that his wife and mother of his two children was having an affair with one of his close friends. I think it’s safe to say that the whole band was in a pretty sour mood during the 12 months of recording in a windowless recording studio in Sausalito, California. During recording, the press intruded on the band’s personal lives leading to inaccurate stories and rumors, hence the title of the album. All of this turmoil ended up showing up in the band’s music and lyrics on the album. At the risk of sounding insensitive, if it took all of this personal pain to make such a legendary album, maybe it was worth it. Because damn, this album is so, so great.

I know I always say this, but this time I really mean it. Picking this album’s top track was probably the most difficult choice out of all of my posts so far. We’re talking choosing between ‘Dreams’, ‘Never Going Back Again’, ‘Don’t Stop’, ‘Go Your Own Way’, ‘The Chain’, ‘You Make Loving Fun’, and ‘Gold Dust Woman’. What’d I say in the previous paragraph about the number of radio-songs on this album? Seven to eight? See? Seven. Now in all humility, I can count out a few of them, but that still left me with too many to choose from. I ended up landing on ‘Dreams’ because I feel like it’s the most dynamic track on the album. I like the way Nicks’ voice compliments Buckingham’s Rick Turner guitar. Christine McVie plays some mesmerizing keys on the track as well. Did I mention the amazing harmonies the band creates during the chorus? Because it’s simply heavenly. And the lyrics! The lyrics are so great. So simple, poetic, and extremely catchy. This is the type of song that could be played at a small gathering or a party or even something that can thrown on if someone wants to just vibe by themself for awhile.

I’ve made an observation about Fleetwood Mac and their recent fanbase. As anyone could have guessed it consists of people who grew up in the 1970s through the 90s; of course. But I found that a lot of people my age love Fleetwood Mac. When I let slip to a couple close friends that I would be covering this album, that’s what they said to me, “Man, I love Fleetwood Mac.” I think it says a lot about a band and their music when their work transcends generations and musical divides. Classic rock isn’t something that’s super big with a good amount of people I know who are my age. Maybe whatever is on the radio or maybe some stuff their parents played for them growing up. So they’re not really familiar with many bands of that time, but they know Fleetwood! It seems like everyone knows the lyrics to hits like ‘Don’t Stop’ and ‘Go Your Own Way’ and if they don’t, they probably should. I don’t know what it is about this band’s music specifically. Maybe it’s the lyrics, the subject matter, the overall sound. I don’t know. Maybe it’s all of those things or a completely different set of things. Whatever it is, it’s kept this band’s music alive and thriving.

Personally, I’ve never had a special connection with this band or this album. I like Fleetwood Mac, of course, as is evident from what I’ve stated in this post. My dad didn’t play a lot of Fleetwood Mac in our house growing up. Maybe occasionally. I guess he figured that he heard them enough on the radio. However, I’ve come to appreciate the fact that they’re able to write songs and take influence from their own lives and their personal pains. They titled this album “Rumours” to call out how the press had misrepresented them publicly and wrote songs about how they were feeling about each other. They manage to turn those lyrics into hit songs that have survived for over 40 years. That is simply amazing and dope as hell. So, big props to Stevie, Lindsey, Christine, John, and Mick. You guys really hit it out of the park with this album. Thank you for the great music.