Fleetwood Mac "Rumours"

 

Fleetwood Mac "The Chain"

Alright, this here is an album I would have never seen my self ever listening to, or enjoying in a million years, but I have fallen in love with Fleetwood Mac recently. From Lindsey Buckingham's searing guitar leads, to his chunky acoustic rythms, and travis picking style, he is an incredibly under-appreciated guitar player, as well as vocalist.

The first song on this record is "Second Hand News" and is a very caribean style type of music, with a very relaxed style beat to it. I'm pretty sure I have actually heard this on a cruise before. Lindsey Buckingham's voice is very twangy, like a Fender Telecaster set to the bridge position. It is almost like reggae meets pop rock.

"Never Going Back Again" starts out with acoustic guitar very similiar to "Blackbird" by the Beatles. Another very pop rock song from the 70's that I have heard in at least 2 dozen commericials in my 17 and a half years of life. Lindsey Buckingham yet again shows his mastery over the instrument with his "travis picking" style, and very proffesional sounding vocals.

Another great and well known song on this album is "Go Your Own Way." The song is very soulful, and sung with an almost "Crosby, Stills and Nash" style vocals, except with two women and one male. One thing most people don't really realize while listening to Fleetwood Mac, is the fact that guitar player Lindsey Buckingham is more or less the lead singer while Stevie Nicks just kind of harmonizes with him on a few bits, but listening to this track will definately show you the leader of this band.

My personal favorite song on this album would have to be "The Chain." A song that I believe to be about divorce, has very soulful lyrics with a very folk style guitar. This is a song most people can relate to, especially when Mr. Buckingham sings "If you don't love me now, You will never love me again" and that verse alone strikes me deep in the heart. The drums are very soft and smooth on this song, and it shows that drummer Mick Fleetwood knows how to show restraint on his playing, and doesn't have to fly all over the place all the time.

"Oh Daddy" is another great song, and is very mellow and sweet. Stevie Nicks finally takes over on vocal duties. Lindsey shows off his very sharp acoustic playing, which compliments Ms. Nicks's vocals very well. Bass player John Mcvie shows off that playing complex and with soul, doesn't have to be fast, or even on a guitar for that matter.

The next song "Gold Dust Woman" has Stevie Nicks taking over on vocals yet again. The song is very folk and eery. With more CSNY style harmonies, the song is very powerful and doesn't fail to strike a chord with me. Midway through the song Mick Fleetwood exemplifies a jungle-istic style back beat indicating that the song will soon be having a build up. And never to let you down, as the drums build up, Lindsey starts to fade in with his electric guitar very heavily, but adding more eeriness to the song while he does so.

The last song on this album "Silver Springs" is another relaxing song. Very pop rock, and not something that I really care for too much. Not saying that I don't like it, it just sounds more like it would fit a teenage girl going through a break up rather than a teenage boy whose a blues aficionado.