The Worst Best Albums – 1 Rumours (Fleetwood Mac)

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One in a short series covering well known and popular albums that I can not stand……..

    What is wrong with Rumours ?

The first thing is that it is not Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood was and always will be the band with Peter Green, not a band without the man with the golden guitar. Yes, he was off somewhere on planet Green but to continue the band without him was like the Stones without Brian Jones (OK, like the Stones without Keef).

Something else I really, I mean really, disliked about this version of Mac was that they were so smug. Smugger than the smuggiest thing in the world. smugger than a cat that had all the cream and then found even more cream. I thought that they were a bit full of themselves……

As you will remember, Green was in Mayall’s Blues Breakers having replace Clapton. Mayall gave Green some time in a recording studio as a gift and with Fleetwood and McVie (who were also in the Blues Breakers) he recorded 5 songs and Fleetwood Mac were formed. They were a blues rock band. They were supberb.

With Rumours Mac placed themselves firmly at the forefront of soft rock. Soft rock, rock with a pretty face, tea and cumpet rock, rock without attitude. That is their main crime against rock.

Those, very personal objections aside what else is wrong with an album that contained so many hummable tunes?

The production is too slick, the harmonies too, well harmonic, the songs steeped in honey (with no lemon). Rock should be relevant and scratchy. It should make you think, not sleep. It should not be suitable to use a s lift (elevator) music. It should be music not musac.

I know that I am in a minority of 1. I know that Rolling Stone, Q, Mojo, and the rest of the universe all believe this to be one of the best records ever produced.

They are wrong.

Fleetwood Mac’s line-up consisted of guitarist and vocalist Lindsey Buckingham, drummer Mick Fleetwood, keyboardist and vocalist Christine McVie, bassist John McVie, and vocalist Stevie Nicks

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2 Responses to The Worst Best Albums – 1 Rumours (Fleetwood Mac)

  1. Paul Bridges says:

    Rumours is the musical equivalent of cotton wool.

  2. Phil says:

    Hi Paul,

    I am so glad there is someone who agrees with me. Cheers, Phil