Rumours

Fleetwood Mac | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (April 16, 2011)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Reprise / Wea
• ASIN: B004OKFISQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  DVD Audio  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (502 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,685 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

170 of 180 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars One Of The Best Albums Of All Time! August 3, 2004

By Jukebox Graduate

Format:Audio CD

This expanded version of the Rumours album features a second set of Roughs and Outtakes, as well as some early demos and jam sessions. The booklet has also been expanded, featuring lyrics, many photographs, and an essay about the making of Rumours.

Below is my review of each disc:

Disc: 1

1. Second Hand News

2. Dreams

3. Never Going Back Again

4. Don't Stop

5. Go Your Own Way

6. Songbird

7. Silver Springs

8. The Chain

9. You Make Loving Fun

10. I Don't Want to Know

11. Oh Daddy

12. Gold Dust Woman

What can be said of disc one that hasn't been said. This is virtually a perfect album. Every song is a classic. The remastering vastly improves the sound quality from the original CD release of Rumours back in the mid 80's.

Some people have an issue with the insertion of "Silver Springs" in the middle of the Rumours track order. I don't share in this, as I think placing the song at the end would be awkward. Positioned at track 7 fits well with the flow of the album. A good decision, in my opinion.

A bad decision, however, was not to include the ORIGINAL single version that we all know and love, and instead use a new remixed version that bring's Stevie Nicks' vocals too far forward and overpowering the beautiful harmonies. The powers be "fixed" something that wasn't broken in the first place! Simply a HORRIBLE decision.

Disc: 2

1. Second Hand News - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version.

2. Dreams News - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version. This arrangement is somewhat sparse, with Stevie's voice is somewhat more upfront in the mix, giving the song an somewhat more intimate quality.

3. Brushes (Never Going Back Again) - This is essentially the instrumental track (no vocals), with a different opening. An interesting, slightly different approach to this song

4. Don't Stop - Features a winding organ part towards the end of the song. - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version.

5. Go Your Own Way - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version.

6. Songbird - One of my favorites from Rumours, as it's always a delight to hear. However, this version doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version. The guitar, mostly in the right channel, strangely drops in suddenly on the left channel at 1:58.

7. Silver Springs - Another remix of this beautiful song.. As stated previously, I wish they would have just included the original single mix on disc one.

8. You Make Loving Fun - Features an interesting funky, false start, as well as some nice alternate background vocals.

9. Gold Dust Woman #1 - Different vocal inflections from Stevie, but the music is essentially the same. Sounds more angry to me. The ending features some haunting vocal work from Nicks.

10. Oh Daddy - Very different vocals - Christine McVie's voice was brought forward in the mix, and Stevie Nicks's background vocals are more pronounced.

11. Think About It - A very stripped down, funky version. I really liked this version.

12. Never Going Back Again - An instrumental version. Nothing that special

13. Planets of the Universe - An early Stevie Nicks song, recently resurrected on her 2001 CD "Trouble In Shangri-La" .

14. Butter Cookie (Keep Me There) - A previously unreleased Christine McVie song. While I loved her songs on Rumours, this song was justifiable left off. The lyrics are unfinished and therefore some bluff vocals are sung instead.

15. Gold Dust Woman - An extremely stripped down version. Consider this "Gold Dust Woman" unplugged. Probably my favorite track on disc 2.

16. Doesn't Anything Last - A previously unreleased Lindsey Buckingham song. I liked this song as well. Because it is a demo, it's also features the sparse unplugged type of feel. This song is incomplete and ends suddenly.

17. Mic the Screecher - Some noodling in the studio while the tape rolled on. Not something that bears repeated listening.

18. For Duster (The Blues) - A 4:26 blues style jam, harkening back to the early style of Fleetwood Mac. An interesting way to close disc 2.

What's amazing is that the rough demos and outtakes of the Rumours songs presented on the second disc don't differ much from the released versions, indicating that the songs were pretty much recorded as originally envisioned. Unfortunately, that also means you're less likely to come back to the second disc, as the originally released versions are for the most part the best version.

So it is worth buying this set? The remastered material sounds great, and it's nice to finally have "Silver Springs" included with the other Rumours tracks. However, the second disc really doesn't present anything all that unique and essential for anyone but the most avid Fleetwood Mac fan, and the screw up with "Silver Springs" is criminal. Given the $20.99 price of the expanded edition vs the 13.99 price of the standard CD, well, the choice is up to you.

Even though this is an absolutely classic album, I am rating it with only four stars due to the "Silver Sprinsg" screw up, as well as the unessential second disc.

One last note - the DVD-Audio version present the Rumours tracks in remastered sound with the ORIGINAL version of "Silver Springs", so for some of you that may be the best way to go.

119 of 133 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This Album Went Its Own Way May 16, 2003

By D. Mikels

Format:Audio CD

Often the passage of time diminishes the quality or aesthetics of a piece of art; the art (particularly music) becomes "dated." Many recordings from the Seventies--songs that were phenomenally popular--today come across as stale, corny, or contrived.

Anyone remember "You Light Up My Life"?

Such is not the case with Fleetwood Mac's masterpiece, RUMOURS. The energy, emotion, passion, and musical mastery of this album is just as compelling today as it was in 1977. On top of that, today's technology only makes listening to RUMOURS even more of a pleasurable and spellbinding experience.

For me, having been a college student when this album was released, each track from this troubled band is a wondrous trip down memory lane. Among my favorites: "Dreams"; "Don't Stop"; "Silver Springs"; "You Make Loving Fun." And "Go Your Own Way" is musical nirvana, a glimmering, golden rock 'n roll keeper.

The inner turmoil Fleetwood Mac was experiencing when RUMOURS began shattering the Billboard charts received as much publicity as the album itself. Despite the band's dysfunction--or perhaps because of it--members Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie were hitting on all musical/creative cylinders. As a result, RUMOURS is timeless, ageless, and enthusiastically recommended.
--D. Mikels

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rock Classic November 30, 1999

By "rockchalk-mbs"

Format:Audio CD

If you don't know the story, three relationships were falling apart while this album was being recorded: Christine and John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, Mick and Sara Fleetwood. Each song told a different story: anguish, wonder, pain, confusion, anger, all written from the heart. It's amazing that for a group of people being pulled in several different emotional directions at once, they came together and put out this album, unequivocally a milestone. You can hear two sides of every relationship virtually from one song to the next, listen to "Dreams" followed by "Go Your Own Way" for a great example. Mick Fleetwood and John McVie formed a solid rhythm section, and Lindsey Buckingham was, and still is, one of the most underrated guitarists in rock and roll. This album is filled with some of the best classic rock ever recorded, from "Don't Stop" to "Dreams" to "You Make Lovin' Fun". Stevie and Lindsey do a great harmony duet with "I Don't Want to Know", and "Songbird" is just Christine and her piano, a soulful, threadbare ballad. Almost every song here is a staple on classic rock radio, and it's still one of the best selling albums of all time. This was the first album I ever bought with my own money, and it was money well spent.