The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac (2CD) [ENHANCED]

Fleetwood Mac

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 15, 2002)
• Original Release Date: October 15, 2002
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: WEA/Reprise
• ASIN: B00006JL1Z
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (150 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #585 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Spanning 22 years, this double-disc, 36-track compilation chronicles the initially unlikely and ultimately triumphant conflation of a failing, veteran English neo-blues band (Mick Fleetwood and the McVies) with a pair of mercurial American also-rans (the baroque folk-rock genius Lindsey Buckingham and crypto-songbird Stevie Nicks). The creative alchemy was immediate, as 15 epochal tracks ("Dreams," "Say You Love Me," "The Chain," "Don't Stop") from Fleetwood Mac and Rumours here attest. They could have arguably repeated that mega-successful formula for a decade, but chose a more musically expansive tack, represented "Sara," Think About Me" and the other core tracks drawn from the ambitious Tusk. While the band's megahit luster faded as the solo careers of Buckingham and Nicks took flight in the '80s, their power was still apparent in the dusky-bright pop of Christine McVie's "Hold Me" and "Little Lies." Sequenced with compelling listening rather than chronology in mind, this set also includes the strongest of the Mac's latter-day recordings (Nicks's "Paper Doll," "Silver Springs," and "No Questions Asked"; McVie's "As Long As You Follow"), as well the Lindsey Buckingham showcases "Go Insane" and "Big Love" from '97's The Dance. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description
The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac packs 2 CDs with 36 hit singles and popular album tracks spanning 1975-1997. Features the #1 'Dreams' plus the classic hits 'Over My Head,' 'Rhiannon,' 'Go Your Own Way,' 'Don't Stop,' 'You Make Loving Fun,' 'Tusk,' 'Sara,' 'Hold Me,' 'Little Lies,' the live 'Go Insane' from The Dance and 'Silver Springs' currently out of print, and much more. The CD is also enhanced with exclusive footage of Fleetwood Mac making their new 2003 album - their first studio album in 15 years! Plus the vaults - rare live performances, interviews, music videos and more. Only available on this CD. Slipcase. Reprise. 2002.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great collection for fans old and new, October 17, 2002

By	Daniel Matsumoto (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac retrospective is a nice warm up for the holidays, which should please fans old and new. The retrospective, which features the classic Rumours lineup, includes all the hits (and then some) from the 1975 "white" album through 1997's reunion album The Dance.

It's refreshing to find some new elements incorporated into this release, making it more than just your standard best-of. Some of these highlights include single versions for Rhiannon, Over My Head, Think About Me and Sisters of the Moon -- all previously unavailable on CD. There's also a different mix of Silver Springs, emphasizing Stevie Nicks' affective pleas at the end of the song (some of the vocal overdubs have been removed).

Overall, the sound quality is excellent. Remastered by engineering heavyweights Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch, the tracks have never sounded this good, particularly the ones from Rumours and Mirage. Everything is clean and crisp, with bass and high-end levels faithfully restored. Finally, the depth to these recordings has returned -- something dreadfully missing from the shoddy CD reissues from the late-80s and early 90s.

The liner booklet is very well done, though the selection of photographs could be better. But there are some nice ones, like the one of Christine McVie playing a large bass. There is also a charming Rumours cover outtake featuring Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood in an alternate pose. The liner notes are written well by David Wild, a contributing writer for Rolling Stone. Informative and concise. Selected discography, chart placements and credits are also included.

The enhanced material (on disc 1) is adequate though it may a challenge to play on your computer. (QuickTime for the studio stuff and Windows Media Player for everything else seemed to work). The behind-the-scenes footage is probably the only real interest here, as much of the other material has been available previously. The behind-the-scenes footage takes you through a beautiful Bel Aire mansion (where the band is recording a new album, 2003's Say You Will), practice sessions, and short interviews about the recording process without Christine McVie, who retired from the music business.

The other stuff on the CD, like "the vaults" (which has to be accessed through the internet), is a bit disappointing, particularly the selection of performance clips. Two tracks are culled from the 1982 Mirage concert video (The Chain, Go Your Own Way) and one from The Dance (Don't Stop). The music video for Seven Wonders is also included. The rarest footage included here is the classic Rosebud documentary performance of Rhiannon.

79 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY!!!, October 16, 2002

By	birddogger5150 (Roseville, MN USA) - See all my reviews

I own many greatest hits CD's (including "Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits" from 1988), and one thing I've learned is that very few of them actually contain every single notable track one could want. There's always a few missing, be it a Top 40 single or an album track that received heavy airplay. Rhino Records was basically created for the music collector who wants the ultimate compilations, and while they still don't always manage to get everything "right", they come way closer than anyone before them ever have or ever will.

Yeah, the live acoustic version of "Big Love" from "The Dance" is here instead of the hit single version from "Tango In The Night" and "Greatest Hits" (probably because it's shorter). Conversely, the studio version of "Silver Springs" is here instead of the more popular live version from "The Dance". And there are a few songs - most notably "Rhiannon" and "Over My Head" - that are significantly edited to fit more songs on the collection. I compared both those tunes to the full length versions on "Greatest Hits" and barely noticed what was missing. Either way, any Fleetwood Mac collection that contains well-known but rarely anthologized songs like "The Chain", "Second Hand News", "Never Going Back Again", "Gold Dust Woman", "Monday Morning", "World Turning", "Songbird", and great but forgotten singles like "Sisters Of The Moon", "Think About Me", "Family Man", "Seven Wonders", and "Paper Doll" is one worth having. And as always, the remastered sound is spectacular and the liner notes are comprehensive, including release dates and chart peaks for all singles and the albums they came from - a Top 40 geek's dream!

Things I might've done differently - included the original version of "Big Love" instead of the live version, included one of Stevie Nicks' solo tunes done live by the Mac ("Stand Back" is a staple of Mac concerts whenver Nicks is in the band) to go with Lindsey Buckingham's "Go Insane", included full-length versions of all songs (even if it meant cutting one or two lesser known numbers), and I probably wouldn't have included anything from "Behind The Mask", but if I had to, I would've gone with "Save Me" instead of "Skies The Limit". Either way, this is a five star 2CD set by a five star band if ever there was one. Rhino has previously done great overviews for bands like Chicago, Foreigner, INXS, the Cars, and Black Sabbath (forthcoming!) and I only hope they get around to giving the same treatment to bands like the Eagles, Dire Straits, ZZ Top, and many others I can't even think of right now!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars nice compiliation, October 26, 2002

By A Customer

The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac is a good example of successful compilations are made. While only covering the Buckinham-Nicks version of the band, the two CD set offers a great range of songs from thier career. Unlike the previous greatest hits (which was only 1 disc), Very Best includes The Chain, Landslide, Gold Dust Woman, and even the obscure hit Family Man, on top of having all the other classics. The inclusion of songs like Think About Me, Love In Store, World Turning, No Questions Asked and Paper Doll proves that the set truely covers this era exstensively.

The remastering is decent and allows the listener to hear parts of the songs that were not obvious before. The drums sound much crisper and songs from Rumours, The "White Album," and "Tusk" seem much clearer.

The single version of Rhiannon, Over My Head, and Sisters of the Moon are also a plus, although they can take awhile to grow on you. If you are use to the album versions, these will seem kind of odd and unfulfilling. After a few listens however, one will notice the heavy guitar layering and texturing. These songs turn out to be quite cool.

The complilation will appeal to long-time fans because of the inclusion of bonus material on the first disc, as well as the song Go Insane from the Dance. It will appeal to more casual fans because of the extent that it covers their catalog.

Some songs that were not included are Eyes of the World, Oh Diane (which was a big hit in Europe & Japan), Big Love (the original), and Crystal. All of these would have made the compilation even stronger but like any Best Of, you can't have everything. All and all it is a nice set and I recommend it to anyone who wants a MAC ATTACK!!