Fleetwood Mac Rumours Album Review

On the albums 40th Anniversary I take a look at it in detail, showing the vinyl and going over each song in detail.

[VinylCollectorJames]

Great Review Ross and very timely as today marks the albums 40th anniversary of the release. And what an album it is. Being alive at the time (9 years old), I do have some faint memories of how huge this album was. Back in the day when shopping malls had multiple record stores, they couldn't keep it on the shelf. I recall seeing stock people bringing the album out by the case and people standing in line to purchase it. Those were the days, when album sales peaked really and it's a pretty vivid memory of the power of a great album. Days long since forgotten sadly. I like your score overall, and only slight point of contention is perhaps the closing track I like more than you do, but hey (8, 9, 10), we agree it's still a very solid track, and something has to score lower than the classics we all know so well.
I'd like to let your viewers know how important Richard Dashut is to the sound of this album and pretty much everything Lindsey Buckingham has ever put out since. He's a fantastic producer and works so well with Lindsey, a match made in heaven. I'd love more people to give Lindsey's solo albums more attention. They are criminally under rated and some real gems among them. I have a video on that if you haven't seen it, and would urge you to check out some of the ones I give highest praise to. The man is a genius and I suppose gives him the right (in a way) to be a bit of  a "control freak" as you say. I think more than that he just had a very specific vision for the sound he was looking for (on all his albums), and was quite determined to make that happen, and who can argue with that success. It made all of them multi millionaires and relevant to this day. I would say finally that none of the sound of Fleetwood Mac would be possible despite the attention Lindsey and Stevie in particular get if not for the brilliant rhythm section of Fleetwood and McVie. There has never been a better pairing in music and they have created pure magic together on many albums, however this will always be considered their true masterpiece. Despite all the personal turmoil and soap opera type drama surrounding the various members of the band, they somehow churned out a true classic (and I hardly use that word), that will be forever etched in the sands of time. Well done, and Happy Birthday Rumours! - Take Care James

[varsityfan]

Great review, Ross. I was smiling each time you said 10/10, but I had to agree that you were right. I would give "Dreams" a 10/10 as well (rather than your 9/10) because that bass line is so iconic and wonderful, never tire hearing it. And I think I like "The Chain" less than you, it's more of an 8/10 for me, rather than your 10/10. But I agree that "Oh Daddy" is the low point (I'd go as low as 5/10), but I love "Gold Dust Woman" (9/10 for me) - it has a cool vibe that I like to groove to. And you are so right to mention that the rhythm section is stellar throughout the album - it's the engine that drives this excellent album. Hey, this is an amazing album, and as much as I love it, can you believe that I love "Tusk" even more? Three classic albums in a row, this band was on fire in the 1970's. Thanks for reviewing the album, it reminded me how great an album this is.