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Fleetwood Mac shot back to fame with this 1975 album, the first to feature Stevie Nicks (vocals) and Lindsey Buckingham (vocals/guitar). Overlooked often in favour of the multi-million selling follow-up Rumours, this is a gem. While perhaps not quite packing the punch of Rumours, there is still a great lyrical diversity here with fewer love-gone-wrong songs and more evocative pictures. MONDAY MORNING: A combination of Mick Fleetwood's drums and Lindsey Buckingham's voice kick off the rocking opener, the first of many vitriolic songs Lindsey would contribute to the band. The title is appropriate for this album was truly a new beginning for the Mac.WARM WAYS: a lovely lovers lullaby from Christine McVie (vocals/keyboards), laced with delightful work from then-husband John McVie (bass) and Lindsey.BLUE LETTER: an obscure country-rock cover but I'm sure the Curtis Brothers will be forever grateful to Lindsey for bringing their song to a wider audience.RHIANNON: The single that brought Mac to US chart prominence and the first Stevie Nicks track. The lady in the title is a Welsh witch who makes birds and breathes life into them. Not for Christian ears like mine perhaps but a wonderful piece of music with all five band members bringing their talent to the fore.OVER MY HEAD: Another wonderfully woozy Christine McVie track, oozing the kind of depth that sadly her songs grew to lack later on. "Your mood is like a circus wheel, you're changing all the time", rarely has a reference to a circus been used so darklyCRYSTAL: Written by Stevie but sung by Lindsey. This gorgeous song with its hypnotic lyric of mountains, fountains and the sea is truly a hidden Mac gem.SAY YOU LOVE ME: Christine starts rocking now and the harmony of the three singers comes to the fore in the chorus of this song. Oh and Lindsey plays the most beautiful, poignant guitar solo ever.LANDSLIDE: Yes the same Landslide the Dixie Chicks covered, with just Lindsey's acoustic guitar accompanying Stevie's voice. A beautiful song of aging and changing. Stevie has rarely been this good since then.WORLD TURNING: A jam based on The World Keep On Turning by the original Peter Green line-up, a wonderful Lindsey/Christine composition of needing to be loved more than needing to be corrected. Don't be fooled by the percussion fade-out, this is now Mick's solo spot on stage and involves a lot more noise. It's even gotten lewd on occasions...SUGAR DADDY: Perhaps the most dispensable track on the album but fun nonetheless as Christine abandons her frustrated pining for a bit of a fantasy of a man on the side with wealth, whiskey and a big fancy car. Perhaps a little too telling, as she had already had an affair with their former producer and when her marriage to John collapsed in the ensuing years, a relationship with their lighting engineer Curry Grant (subject of You Make Loving Fun) would ensue.I'M SO AFRAID: THE classic Lindsey Buckingham song IMO. I have to confess I never really associated the albums from this period with driving down a sun-drenched Californian freeway, far more with rain lashing your window as you head up the M1. This is perfect panic-induced rock. "I'm so afraid... slip and I fall and I die...", for anyone who has suffered from OCD or related disorders, surely a bit of an anthem.So that's it. The first album by the megabuck Rumours/Tango In The Night line-up. Even if all you've got are Rumours, Tango and a compilation... get this one. I promise you will not regret it.

Rating: 5 out of 5

This is a great album. I had heard the famous tracks ("Rhiannon", "Over My Head", "Say You Love Me", "Landslide", "I'm So Afraid") before on "The Dance" DVD but after a couple of listens to the CD all the way through all the songs felt familiar. I wish I had been able to hear this when it came out, i.e. before "Rumours", because after hearing "Rumours" I think everybody compares other FM songs to that album and nothing can really compete because "Rumours" is the best. But then I wasn't even born in 1975! This album does sound a little raw and unpolished at times, they sound young but that's not a bad thing.There are no bad tracks. "Crystal" is probably the track that I like least. "Rhiannon" is the best track although I prefer the slowed-down version on "The Dance".This is a great buy and I highly recommend it but don't expect it to be quite as good as "Rumours" because it just isn't.

Rating: 5 out of 5

this is definitely a 'must have' for anyone interested in 'serious' pop music: catchy tunes, good arrangements, just enough diversity to keep your interest going and a coherent 'feel' to the music. you can all but sense 'rumours' being the next step in the direction taken, although this album has a darker feel to it than the more up-beat successor. miss it at your peril!

Rating: 5 out of 5

I was 13 when I first heard Stevie Nicks sing Landslide, and it still gives me goosebumps to listen to it now and I'm more than double that age now. If you like Fleetwood Mac, especially the ballads, then add this one to your collection, you won't regret it. If you're unsure, then if you have seen the film Practical Magic with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman a nice little remix of Crystal is presented on the soundtrack.

Rating: 5 out of 5