One of the great soap operas in the history of rock & roll, the Rumours-era lineup of Fleetwood Mac – Mick Fleetwood, John & Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks – spent an inordinate amount of time snorting cocaine and having sex with one another. They also managed to put together one of the most successful albums of all-time.
It has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and features a number of big hits, but is Rumours an album that deserves a place in a contemporary music collection? And could it be that this version of the Mac is actually outshined by an earlier lineup of the band? Let’s find out…
THUMBS UP: My parents and 20 million of their friends played Rumours endlessly, making it a hallmark of the 70′s, and establishing it as one of the all-time great albums. It boasts some of the best songs of its era: ‘Second Hand News’ ‘You Make Loving Fun’ and ‘The Chain’ are finely cut diamonds of pop songcraft, and provide plausible argument that the album’s gaudy sales were well-earned. And as much as I’d like to claim otherwise, the intra-band squabbling and screwing give this album a real-life edge that adds to its appeal. If somebody wanted to know what the 70′s (or a bad breakup) sounded like, they could do a lot worse than listening to Rumours.
THUMBS DOWN: To those who wonder how I can possibly question such a classic, please listen to the second half of side one [go ahead, do it now... I'll wait]. It’s a dreadful experience: ‘Don’t Stop’ ‘Go Your Own Way’ and ‘Songbird’ are enough to take the will out of any listener. The former songs suffer from massive over-exposure, while the latter suffers from Christine McVie. And while Rumours does have some undeniable bright spots, it sounds too slick by half to my ears. It’s polished, and how. But the biggest argument against it can be summed up in two words: Peter Green. The former lead guitarist of the 60′s incarnation of the group led a bluesy, ballsier version of this band, and any discerning listener would grab Then Play On 99 times before grabbing Rumours once.
[Well... what of it??]
Tags: Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, Rumours
12 July 2008 at 9:15 am |
Kind of fruitless comparing the Peter Green vs no Peter Green Fleetwood Mac, if you ask me. There’s no doubt which was better. And, unfortunately, no doubt which was more successful. But aside from the name Mick Fleetwood, there’s really no similarity between the two. To me it’s like comparing the original Pantera with the final product. Or Alice in Chains for that matter.
That said, I’ll give the album a reluctant thumbs up. Most albums have a dud or two and, as you said, this has its share. But it was the 70′s and cocaine and boners were as rampant in these sessions as electromagnetic fields themselves.
Plus, Lindsey Buckingham is a KILLER guitarist.
Speaking of rumors and boners: you think Rod Stewart drank the Kool Aid?
12 July 2008 at 10:12 am |
Grrr…
12 July 2008 at 10:48 pm |
Leave it to Furr to somehow loop Pantera into a discussion of Fleetwood Mac. Personally, I could care less who is screwing who and I’ve never heard of Peter Green so neither really have any impact on the quality of this album in my eyes.
Personally I’ll take a pass on this bit of crappy music – I tend to put this in the same bucket as REO Speedwagon. I give Buckingham props for Tusk as that was something out of the ordinary and really worked, but that was a different album. Maybe dk is onto something with that Peter Green guy.
13 July 2008 at 6:10 am |
Wow Foo, I’m shocked that this album doesn’t merit a more spirited defense. I was expecting fire and brimstone from you on this one.
Peter Green was a hell of a guitarist. He replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers before joining forces with Mick Fleetwood. If you’re not familiar with the great albums he made with the earlier version of Fleetwood Mac, be sure to check out ‘Mr. Wonderful’ ‘English Rose’ and ‘Then Play On’.
The band was actually referred to as “Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac” before drugs got the best of him, and the group made the first of many major lineup changes…
13 July 2008 at 4:16 pm |
Gotta go with DK on this one. First saw Peter Green in a guest slot concert with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band-Butterfield ranks in my top three harmonica players of all time. Also saw him live with Mayall just before the Fleetwood Mac start up. I thought the first one or two albums of FM were above average but once they mastered the art of radio air play tags they lost me. One of many bands that shine better with a carefully selected best of album and there are 2 or 3 cuts off of Rumors that would be a best of but the album as a whole just doesn’t rock my boat.
And props to Buckingham who made them all better cocaine and boners not withstanding.
14 July 2008 at 4:58 am |
peter green = yes
non peter green = not so much
14 July 2008 at 9:47 am |
Am I the only one juvenile enough to still giggle at the cover art? Like a good fart joke, those dangling balls always crack me up.
14 July 2008 at 1:18 pm |
My brother and I got tons of laughs out of this cover back in the day.
And yes, it still cracks me up…
14 July 2008 at 1:22 pm |
did you and your bro, ever once, recreate it? Who was who?
14 July 2008 at 2:24 pm |
No such luck.
The only album cover I can remember us “re-creating” was London Calling.
And that’s only if you substitute a lamp for Paul Simonon’s bass:
http://mnmedia.musicnation.com/Blog/londoncalling.jpg
We were good at breaking stuff…
14 July 2008 at 2:51 pm |
Well, an idea for you next mix then.
You’re welcome.
14 July 2008 at 4:14 pm |
Excuse me while I string together a couple of grapefruits…
15 July 2008 at 6:33 pm |
Man, you are a young pup! But you are right about Rumours, it was (is) a very slick album. Nice post, dk!
16 July 2008 at 3:22 pm |
“Oh Daddy” always gave me the creeps. It’s like a tequila sunrise, macrame bikini, and a hot tub gone very, very wrong.
29 January 2009 at 12:04 pm |
[...] they became the multi-platinum purveyors of Rumours and Tusk, Fleetwood Mac was a very different kind of band. In the late-60’s they were fronted [...]