The '70s version of Fleetwood Mac, a million miles removed from the hard-jamming British blues outfit, having established themselves with their 1975 self-titled album, ripped the envelope, musically and commercially, with Rumours. Reaching for material all the way back to Lindsey Buckingham's and... [+] Expand

The '70s version of Fleetwood Mac, a million miles removed from the hard-jamming British blues outfit, having established themselves with their 1975 self-titled album, ripped the envelope, musically and commercially, with Rumours. Reaching for material all the way back to Lindsey Buckingham's and Stevie Nicks' pre-Fleetwood Mac days ("Go Your Own Way," "I Don't Want to Know"), the group managed to assemble 11 songs that were each smoothly commercial yet consistently inventive, loaded with beautiful vocal hooks, memorable guitar parts, lyrical keyboard parts, and a great beat (which counted for the radio). With songs ranging from the upbeat and optimistic ("Don't Stop") to the compellingly sad ("Go Your Own Way"), and with enough hits to cover anyone else for a career, Rumours became one of the biggest selling albums of all time, a distinction that has scarcely been muted over the ensuing 25 years. After its original release, the CD went through one upgrade in the late '80s, owing to complaints about the sound on the original CD, and -- for those who bought it -- the Fleetwood Mac box offered yet more improvement on the album's content. But for an eye-opening (or ear-opening) experience, those with DVD video players (or lucky enough to have DVD audio machines) should pick up the 2001-released DVD audio version of Rumours -- it offers not only the album's "lost" 12th song ("Silver Springs," which was left off the original vinyl over running time concerns), but also the original mix in Advanced Resolution Surround and Advanced Resolution Stereo, and in Dolby Digital (which will play on DVD video players). This restores the original album's sound on a cleaner, crisper level than anyone has ever heard before. Lindsey Buckingham's guitars end up sounding like they're in your lap, and everything else is brought out in similar richness; further, real fans of the album with DVD video machines can access "The Making of 'Go Your Own Way'," a full replay of the album's songs as instrumental mixdowns (complete with instrumentation lists), accompanied by commentary by all five members of the band. Thus, for $26, fans get the best-sounding version of the album ever heard by anyone (you can hear all six guitars on the "Go Your Own Way" mixdown in the bonus section, and find out that Mick Fleetwood's drum part was partly influenced by Charlie Watts' drumming on "Street Fighting Man"), and a total immersion in the creation of each song from day one. It's like stepping into the neatest exhibit in a Fleetwood Mac theme park -- the album couldn't get much better, short of having been performed live in your living room (and then you wouldn't have gotten all of those guitars). ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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