Rumours

the 5 stars is for what is here rather than deducted for what is missing. Disc 1: The Remaster to my ears, it sounds exactly like the 2004 remaster, which is excellent already. the only difference is Silver Springs is added to the end of side 2 instead of end of side 1. Disc 2: Live 1977 the Mac now have 4 official live cds: 1980 Fleetwood Mac Live (the Tusk tour), 1997 The Dance (w/3 additional tracks on the Silver Springs single cd), a 2003 10 track bonus cd included with the 2 disc Live in Boston dvd & now this one. i am happy to hear & have these 12 tracks from 1977. here is the young Mac at there prime. later tours, they become more polished & the recording quality of course improves, but it's great to hear them young. Oh Daddy & Songbird only appear here officially, The Chain, Gold Dust Woman & World Turning are omitted from the 1980 cd and Don't Stop 1980 is a sound check version. i like this 1977 Go Your Own Way better than the 1980 version because it's 1 minute tighter. i agree with other reviewers who said they would have liked to have a whole show instead of just 12 songs, but i have to accept what i can get. Disc 3: The Demos This is where this set gets interesting and worth the price of admission. Overall, the demos released in 2004 are rough mixes without overdubs. Here, the demos are generally earlier takes. Clear from this is that the lead guitar parts are usually added last. I also offer my own subjective rating for the value of each track either for quality or how revelatory or unusual it is. 1. Second Hand News (early take, acoustic demo), A, a true early demo of vocal & acoustic guitar. already the energy of the song is here. the 2004 is more like an early mix sounding much like the final song. 2. Dreams (take 2, solo demo), A, lovely Stevie vocal with electric rhythm guitar, no drums. the 2004 demo again is close to the final song with the drums. 3. Never Going Back Again (acoustic duet), A+, this is outstanding. very interesting to hear Stevie adding sparse backing vocals. also has a bongo track. 4. Go Your Own Way (early take), A+. the song in mid-development. sounds close to the final but without the lead guitar. the vocals are an early version with a very different "you can roll like thunder" in place of "you can call it another lonely day". the 2004 demo is a later alternate version. 5. Songbird (demo), A, a simply lovely early take. 2004 rough is a later, alternate mix. 6. Songbird (instrumental, take 10), A, piano track only. 7. I Don't Wanna Know (early take), A+. outstanding track with Lindsey doing the guide vocal for Stevie with electric rhythm guitar. this track really reveals how Lindsey sculpts the songs of his bandmates. 8. Keep Me There (instrumental), B, demo track here of an average unreleased song, but interesting because the last 90 seconds later becomes the end of The Chain. 9. The Chain (acoustic demo), A, a major revelation here. this is the Stevie demo of a generally unremarkable song which most likely Lindsey transformed into the powerhouse track of The Chain. 10. Keep Me There (vocal), B, an unreleased ok song but again the ending becomes the ending for The Chain. 11. Gold Dust Woman (early take), A, similiar to the final with an alternate vocal take and without overdubs. the 2004 release has 2 more interesting versions, including an acoustic demo. 12. Oh Daddy (early take), A, definitely a very early working demo where you can hear Christine calling out musical changes. the 2004 demo more like an alternate take. 13. Silver Springs (early take), A, lovely early take by Stevie. already, it's a powerhouse here. 2004 disc has a later alternate version. 14. Planets of the Universe (demo), B+, nice demo of an ok Stevie song not finished until her 2001 solo cd. i like the demo better than the finished song. it sounds like Rhiannon. another take is on the 2004 cd. 15. Dosen't Anything Last (acoustic duet), B, a short 1 minute demo of a Lindsey song with Stevie. 2004 cd has the solo demo with just Lindsey. 16. Never Going Back Again (instrumental), A. this beautiful song always sounds great as an instrumental song. here it has the drum brushes. ironically on the 2004 cd, the track is called Brushes but it has no Brushes, but is a more polished demo. so now we have 3 versions of Rumours: 1990 single cd, 2004 2-cd remaster & this 2013 3-cd remaster. if u are just an average fan & already have the 2004 set there's no need to get this for any upgrade of sound quality. the avid fan should get this for the live set & the new set of demos. a casual & non-audiophile fan can get the old single 1990 cd for dirt cheap. for me, i'm glad i got this (didn't want to pay $89. for the set, so i won't get to see the dvd).

I was reading a review above-- or maybe below-- which spoke of this set of disks as if it were a 2-disk set. It is a 3 disk set, at a very good price. The first disk is the original record remastered (as I understand it), the second consists of live versions of the songs, and the the 3rd disk is a well thought-out sequence of the song composition and group ensemble playing that turned into this widely hailed classic. I like the addition of "Silver Springs" to the first disk (although I think it may have been added in previous additions). Unlike some of the irritating, out of place songs that were strewn through "Then Play On" in latter years, "Silver Springs" is there because it fitted from the beginning. I will do some more listening to Disk 2. I'm a great fan of Fleetwood Mac's previously released "Live" album. At first listen, it is easy to see this disk wasn't meant to replace that one! It presents a contrasting light to the studio tracks, helping to round out the story, if nothing else. Disk 3 is something new altogether. It presents the Mac's individual raw materials that coalesced into Rumours. It shines a light on the respect and generosity within the group which enabled the individual talents to give away to the group what they'd found on their own, trusting it would grow into something better, and, hoping too it might, well, keep them together. There is a lot on this CD that was a real revelation to me. Fleetwood Mac winds back the clock to before the hit record "Rumours" was born and lets us see the various strands of virtuosity that only the Mac themselves have known up to now were at the heart of the shimmering sound. The sequencing of the songs on disk 3 keeps the standalone brilliance of various early takes at arms length from each other, so to speak, leaving the listener to piece together a whole. Making them a part of the Chain kind of. The Fleetwood Mac fan is catapulted way back into the into the original stew of "Rumours," into the simmering, sizzling soul in the songs before they became the commercialized froth & confection of the finished product that set off the fabled big bang on the charts, the stir on FM car stereos, the blast out of frat-house speakers, the tinny nearness of beach transistor radios and the magic spell of cozy smoke filled rooms. It is fascinating to see the genesis of the "The Chain" taking place right before our ears, as it morphs into a Fleetwood Mac group composition from its former life inside two songs-- "The Chain" by Stevie Nicks, and "Keep Me There" by Christine McVie." I am glad this early version of "The Chain" is seeing the light of day. A very charming song, on which Nicks's voice haunts over straight-ahead non-fussy guitar chords, this "The Chain" stands is a flawless gem, in its own right. It opens up a curtain on a certain ordinariness & everyday longing that went hidden beneath the thundering final version on "Rumours." Nonetheless, as good as it is, it hardly hints at the magnificence of the final version which, drawing on the bluesy rocking basics of "Keep Me There," shoves the pensive initial opening verses of the song down a crazed, near-epileptic guitar-wailing climax. "Gold Dust Woman" on disk 3 is another knockout. Stripped down to the bass, piano, drums, and guitar (who needs more?) it moves along with aplomb. The guitar concept is cool (a lot cooler, one is tempted to say, than in the hit-album version), as is the piano, and there's a kind of light-hardheartedness to it (I picture Cassius Clay gloating over Sonny Liston lying supine & defeated on the canvas below him) which is an essential part of the song, I think, but which ended up being lost beneath a tide of witchiness and halloweenery by the final version. It's a fun take on the song. Stevie Nicks's lead vocal, though, has not inhabited the lyrics yet. They're a little tentative and warbly. You can hear her working on nuances and phrasing equal to the richness of the story-book lyrics. There's a world of difference between the light-hearted, coquettish way she stresses the word "lovers" in the lyric "rulers make bad lovers," and the matter-of-fact delivery of it in the final version. There are also some splendid, left-behind vocal ideas that shine here: a reproving whispered "ahh-ahh" that punctuates the lead guitar between verses and a haunted far-away coda somewhat in the Yoko Ono vein, to close the song out. Disk 3 is almost as surprisingly good as the original vinyl record. I know other examples of rock artists' demos and early takes that have come out over the years; but, none I've heard are as well thought out, integrated, & revelatory as is Rumours Expanded Edition x 3.

Many a favorite here, now enhanced through Dolby Atmos processing. Much wider soundstage, clear separation between vocalists and instruments, and punchy bass throughout--Listeners can almost reach out and feel Mick's drum licks. Great to have this fabulous album back with such spectacular sonics. If only Christine was still with us to share the memories. Enthusiastically recommended.

Fleetwood Mac's RUMOURS, which was deservedly the top-selling album of 1977 and winner of the Grammy for Album Of The Year, is an album whose songs are filled with tension and raw emotion beneath the smooth suface. As it was being recorded, the two couples in the band, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham and Christine and John McVie, as well as Mick Fleetwood's own marriage, were breaking up, but the band not only managed to work together in the studio without any martial-arts-type fisticuffs, but also make a classic album, something the Rolling Stones couldn't do ten years later with DIRTY WORK. Unlike the Stones' album, which was pure bile, RUMOURS has a lot of emotional heat AND got-to-get-on-with-your-life hope for the future, expressed in such songs as "Don't Stop" and "Go Your Own Way." The fact that it's rhythmically coherent enough to be good for dancing to, despite all the issues the members had with each other, and even themselves, is all the more remarkable. The album's lyrics ring true for me as well on a personal level regarding my issues with certain ex-classmates. After graduating from high school in 1993, I started getting more into classic rock while they stayed hooked on punk, metal, and rap, which was made attending food-related reunions so uncomfortable that I began to consider those events just "empty calories"; in fact, when I was asked what I'd do to look good for the actresses from BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, I replied, "I'll avoid all food-related reunions at my old school until my ex-classmates decide that the 70s mean as much to them musically as the 2000s", which shows how bad the rift was, with many of them siding with authority figures against me. I defended my statement as not "stalking behavior" by saying that my time at my old school wasn't only over, but was, in my mind, totally null and void, as my former classmates and I drifted further apart musically. Unlike Fleetwood Mac, we couldn't have civil interactions while we hated each other. Needless to say, the issues between my former friends and myself still remain largely unresolved today, and probably always will, unlike the members of Fleetwood Mac, who eventually became friends again. Overall, this reissue of RUMOURS is great, with the first disc being the original album plus the B-side "Silver Springs", whose keyboards sound like holiday bells, the second being a live show from the ensuing tour, and the last featuring demos, roughs, and out-takes. If you're buying RUMOURS, make it this version.

Disc #3 consists of outtakes & early versions of songs from Rumours. Includes a cool version of Silver Springs, the song that was intended for the album but that didn't make it on (in my opinion, should have left off Oh Daddy to make room). Also includes an exquisite short song, Doesn't Anything Last. Wonder why the Mac didn't do more with it. Interesting to hear how The Chain came together because you can hear pieces of it in at least two songs: The Chain (demo) by Stevie Nicks has the famous chorus "If you don't love me now..." although the rest of the song is completely different. The other Chain part is in Keep Me There by Christine McVie which includes the riff that plays behind the "If you don't love me now..." lines. Remember, this is the song that all five share credit on. If there are other outtakes that contain the rest of the song, would be great to hear. LOVE Stevie Nicks's version of The Chain. Instead of the anger you can hear on Rumours -- which I also love -- hers is haunting & heartbroken. You can hear more of a country influence in her voice back then. Her grandfather was a country singer & I'm sure that's where it came from. Beautiful harmonizing between Buckingham & Nicks on Never Going Back Again. You can hear the creative process going on with him in Second Hand News & Go Your Own Way when he sounds out vocally the guitar pieces that he lays down in the final polished piece. I like these versions of the songs partly because I've heard the original Rumours literally thousands of times, so it's great to hear a fresh take. But partly I like these versions because they're more raw, unpolished -- the vocals aren't so smooth & I like that sort of music now. I only give this four stars because it's pricey for just the one disc I wanted. I already have the other two: Rumours & Fleetwood Mac Live but since it was going to be more expensive to download Disc #3, I opted to buy the whole thing. Bottom line: if you love Fleetwood Mac, you MUST have Disc #3! Now if only Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks would go ahead & release Buckingham-Nicks on CD already! Used to have that on vinyl.

(1) The live CD is pretty good, except Stevie's singing isn't really at its best in her songs except for 'Dreams'. But 'Oh Daddy' is AMAZINGLY phenomenal, and 'Never Going Back Again' and 'The Chain' are pretty darn good too. The musicianship, however, is top-notch all the way through. Christine, never to be underestimated, shines through on every single track she plays on. (2) I never knew it was called the 'Rosebud Film' documentary, but the DVD is really great in showing the band in some really great performances at that time. I've seen bits and pieces of this over the years, so it was great to finally see it in its entirety. (3) The 'More from the Recordings Sessions' CD has some new stuff, including demos of Planets of the Universe', 'Songbird' and alternate versions of 'Keep Me There'. (4) Nothing new about the 'Recording Sessions, Roughs and Outtakes' that hasn't already been previously released, but I REALLY wish they had put 'Think About It' on the original album instead of "I Don't Want To Know'! (5) I could have done without all the stupid versions of 'Never Going Back Again'. (6) The Deluxe booklet is really great, and I'm surprised they got Christine to say anything in it considering she's been in Anti-Mac retirement since 1997 (Major loss -- get her post-Mac 'In The Meantime' CD -- AWESOME). The packaging concept is really good, except all the CD/DVD sleeves had rippled edges either from initially being inserted in their pockets, or during transit. It's a minor flaw and nothing that keeps me from loving it. I got it for a great price!

I don't know how they made something so good even better but there they go doing it again. I gave this CD set 5 stars because I can not find a single thing wrong with it! The additon of Silver Springs to the origianl disc just proves what a mistake it was being left out in the first place. It's a perfect ending to a perfect beginning to Fleetwood Mac Rumors. Disc 2 of their live World Tour is just so good and the sound quality is awesome. I absolutely love Disc 3. The studio recordings, the demos, the outakes... the instrumentals...so good. To hear their voices so raw like that, I just loved it all. Stevie's voice on The Chain, Planets of The Universe, Silver Springs and Gold Dust Women...sounds just incredible. Christine's voice is so pristine and beautiful. I just loved the rawness of their voices. The previously unreleased recordings that they shared with us are a real treat for the die hard Fleetwood Mac fans and to hear Lindsey's, Stevie's and Christine's voices so up front like that is like entering a new world with them. I don't know how they do it but I hope they keep doing it for many more years to come because there really is no one else out there like Fleetwood Mac! Whichever way you choose to buy this 35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition....you can't possible go wrong....it's all just so good. Thank you Mick And John! The Mac is back! Can't wait to see you in concert!!

Great album