Rumours

Rumours, considered by many as the pinnacle album by Fleetwood Mac, was first released on the fourth of February 1977 and was the band's eleventh studio album. It is one of the biggest selling albums of all-time and has spent nearly 500 weeks in the U.K. album charts, most recently earlier this year after a whole episode of Glee was devoted to it, which has hepled to move the album's appeal down to yet another new generation.

You probably all know that most of the songs here were written about relationships breaking down. John and Christine McVie were by now divorced, and Stevie and Lindsey weren't in a good place relationship-wise. The fact that the songs were written 'from the heart' is testament to how good they are and how they have stood the test of time.

I first came across this album in 1986 when I was thirteen. Somehow I had acquired some old c60 tape recordings of old albums, one of which turned out to be Rumours (although I didn't know who it was until after I got into Tango in the night the following year) and I was in total awe of the tracks on side one especially. Never had I heard anything like it - well there was nothing remotely like it in the charts at the time. I have been a fan of the band ever since.

You probably know all the songs but I'll say my piece about each one anyway! Second hand news is a classic Lindsey Buckingham opener in the same vein as Monday morning, in that it's a catchy piece of pop infused soft rock.

Dreams is not only my favourite Stevie Nicks song and my favourite Fleetwood Mac song, but it's my favourite song of all-time by any artist. The track is pure genius and took my breath away from the very first hearing, and I have never ever grown remotely bored of hearing it which is rare. Although it reached #1 in the U.S. it only got as high as #24 in the U.K., but still managed to be the biggest hit off the album. This just proves to me that the band have always been an albums band and the singles are strong enough for people to want the whole album. It must be a popular track in the U.K. because it was the one that broke The Corrs over here, back in 1998, although their version had more of a celtic folk feel to it. Their version is worth getting, but nothing is ever going to come close to Stevie's jaw-dropping vocals on this.

Lindsey Buckingham strikes gold again on Never going back again, another instantly catchy pop/rock tune with an infectious riff. Then we come to Don't stop, written by Christine but here she and Lindsey share the vocals and they slot together like they were made for each other. This is one of those songs that is known by everybody, old and young alike, and is one of the catchiest songs the band ever did. It's a bit of an anthem now actually, and well deserved of that accolade.

We're in a run of first class moments now as Go your own way is next, and this is possibly Lindsey's most famous song ever. It's a classic rock song, a classic driving song, the classic break-up song - a classic in every sense of the word. You can feel the hurt in his voice on this and it makes you think that some of the songs on here must have been really hard to sing at the time. It's true that the best songs come from a broken heart.

Probably one of the most enduring, emotional love songs of all-time is the stunningly beautiful Songbird, a Christine McVie masterpiece that has become one of the band's most famous and popular songs despite never being a single, although Eva Cassidy did have a bit of success with her version that is probably equally as famous now and just as captivating as the original. I still always go back to the version on here though, and don't think it can ever be bettered - Christine really makes my hairs stand on end on this.

Like Songbird before it, The Chain is one of Fleetwood Mac's most famous songs despite never being released as a single, although it has charted on download sales recently. The song is credited to all five members of the band and is such an anthemic rock song, beginning with a crowd pleasing 'scream your lungs out' vocal section and then breaking into one of the best and most famous riffs of all-time (although it's notoriety is down to its use by the BBC as the theme for Formula One).

One that was a single was Christine's You make loving fun, which like the others is still played regularly on the radio today. This is one of the more optimistic songs on the album and is catchy as hell. Another Christine McVie stand-out moment, which was incidentally recorded by Cyndi Lauper in 1977 as her debut single.

I don't want to know was written by Stevie and is sung as a duet between her and Lindsey, although his vocals are more prominent here. It's an upbeat, catchy song of hope for the couple and leaves us feeling a bit more optimistic for them. Also, it's the song that replaced the brilliance that is Silver springs, but I won't hold that against it as it's still a great song (Thank God we at least have both on CD now).

The fourth and final Christine McVie composition on here is Oh Daddy, which is dismissed by many fans but I think it's one of the most heart-felt and tragic songs she ever did. I suppose it gets overshadowed by Songbird but it's still a great song in its own right and deserves more recognition I feel. Then Gold dust woman finishes off the show, and like the previous album is one of only two solo performances by Stevie Nicks. Consequently it is overshadowed by Dreams, but if you don't compare the two then this is a great performance and has a mystical feel to it. Apparantly even Stevie herself has admitted that she doesn't know what it's about, but who cares? Like most of her songs you can make your own interpretations.

And so comes to a close the classic that is Rumours, an album that is deserved of a place in every music lover's collection as there really isn't a bad song to be found here. Having listened to it with a fresh ear I would say that it is probably the band's ultimate album, although I don't like to go with the obvious sometimes albums are so popular for a reason.