Rumours

Thirty years ago this coming March, this album came into my life. Thirty years of listening to it and I am still thinking to myself, "Wow...this is incredible music..." Isn't it funny how certain things come into our lives and then we can't seem to remember the times when they weren't there?

I love this album. From the moment I first heard this album in its entirety, I knew that this would be a "keeper". I made a promise myself to never get so old that I wouldn't enjoy this music. And even though my hairline has gone up and back while the rest of my body has slowly gravitated south, I still love this music. Perhaps I love it even more because now I can fully appreciate it and be grateful that I was introduced to stuff like this.

You would think that those "Classic Schlock" stations (where they play 50 classic rock songs ad nauseum)would've made me want to stop listening to "Dreams", "Go Your Own Way", "Don't Stop" and "Gold Dust Woman" but everytime they're on the radio, I'm singing right along with the band. I do think this is probably why I have never made the leap to CD with this album because the "best of" this particular recording is always on the radio...which is good...which is real good because the way things are with music these days, I hear very little that will stand the test of time. I don't envision myself 55 years from now sitting in a loaded Depends diaper asking the convalescent nurse to put on Dr. Dre or Limp Bizkit for me, but I do see an aged hand, that was once young and tan, reach for this classic 1977 album just like I have reached for it over and over and over again in the last thirty years.

It's weird getting older. It's strange seeing gray come onto a "field" that once was "toe-head" blonde or looking in the mirror and realizing that the creases that are on my face today weren't there yesterday, that after two beers, I'm out like a light, but it's a good thing. It's a very good thing. I was young. Youth was wasted on me like it's wasted on everyone, but age really makes me appreciate what I was given to be the person I am now and this recording is one of them.

Peace and Blessings, you young "whipper-snappers"

A hard-core jazz fan from the Bop era, I'll make an exception for this amount of rock. In fact, Rumours, The Dance and The Best Of have aged extremely well.

If there's anyone between the ages of 40 and 60 today that isn't thoroughly familiar with this album, then they're either insane or have been living in a bomb shelter since the 1960's. A lot has been made over time of the breakups of the personal relationships within Fleetwood Mac and how it influenced the music. No question, that is true. But this is a different point of view regarding this album. What's more interesting to me is how the music, plain and simple, shines. Just listening to the first 30 seconds of "Second Hand News" puts a smile on your face, in spite of its less than optimistic message. And in spite of its downer theme, "Go Your Own Way" rocks happily along, as does "I Don't Want To Know". So what does this mean? That the band sought the escape through the music and was using it to heal, not vent. The bandmembers, to a person, were not mourning and whining; they were licking their wounds and moving on. How else could the message of "Don't Stop" shine through so clearly? The dark tones of "Dreams", "The Chain" and "Gold Dust Woman" represent more of Stevie Nicks' personal musical styling than anything else. As a Canadian, I can't help but subscribe to the theory of Marshall McLuhan - "The medium is the message" - and by selecting such positive music, Fleetwood Mac produced its greatest success by giving us hope in their darkness. "It'll be better than before/Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone".

They say passion fuels the fire and this album is a perfect example of that. The McVie's marriage was coming to an end, the Buckinham/Nicks relationship also. And it's all displayed so wonderfully here...failing relationships form the backbone to pretty much every song here - the song titles alone indicate where the songs are headed. I can't imagine what it must have been like recording this album - having to work alongside the person that you no longer love. And so it goes - the songs are akin to a game of tennis, one songwriter fires a shot, only to find it returned with a blistering volley. The album opens with the high tempo "Second Hand News" and the energy is maintained through to "Go Your Own Way". The tempo drops for "Songbird" and via superb sequencing "The Chain" follows - starting with just a drum and a couple of guitars it builds to such a superb crescendo that it was used by the BBC as the theme song to their Formula One Motor Racing coverage. The quality songwriting and musicianship is maintained throughout the album. One of the most important albums ever recorded.

A great album for anyone and eveyone, which truly captures the essence of not only the 70's but Fleetwood Mac itself falling apart at the seems. Great songs such as "Go Your Own Way" and "The Chain" make this a must for any record collection!