RUMOURS
Fleetwood Mac
1977

For as long as I’ve moved to rating things out of 5, Rumours was my go-to example of a commonly accepted 5 star masterpiece. It’s a perfect cultural object, and it’s been rediscovered repeatedly my entire life. My friends and I found it through Rock Band 2’s inclusion of “Go Your Own Way” – then another generation through “The Chain” in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – then another through the “Dreams” longboarding cranberry juice TikTok. Part of the reason this album can keep being rediscovered is that every one of its eleven songs could be the song of a generation. I guarantee “Second Hand News” will get its day in the sun.

Of course, when you bring up Rumours, the instant association is with its mythology. A web of infidelity and broken hearts. If you’re a lyric-first listener, this is a vulnerable, rich text, and its legacy would be secured by that alone. But what makes Rumours such a consensus masterpiece is that you can just as easily zone out the lyrics’ meaning and purely enjoy the sound. Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, and McVie sing almost every song with an impressive degree of remove, delightful break-up pop in the same vein as The Beatles’ White Album.

The exceptions, where I feel the weight of pain is really allowed to break the mask, are “The Chain” and “Oh Daddy.” The former’s blues intensity is shaped around Mick Fleetwood’s drum kick, but it’s the Buckingham/Nicks vocals that ascend the song into a ritual of divorce. Christine McVie provides backing vocals on the song as well, but “Oh Daddy” is really her chance to turn her back on the brave face of “You Make Lovin’ Fun.” It’s a more traditional pop ballad of the era, but the plaintive lead goes perfectly with Buckingham’s slinky guitar line.

Pop is mastered by the interplay of John McVie’s bass lines, Christine McVie’s keys, Buckingham’s guitar parts, and Fleetwood’s percussion. Everyone is so thoughtfully building every perfect structure with so many delightful musical details and fills. It makes every listen an opportunity for rediscovery. That interplay is really what makes Rumours so special to me. Its legacy as metatext is fun to talk about, but I think more than anything, the band poured their newfound independence into embellishing sonic opportunities with solid gold.

KEY TRACKS: “Dreams,” “The Chain,” “You Make Lovin’ Fun,” but also all of them!

CATALOG CHOICE: Buckingham/Nicks, Fleetwood Mac (1975,) Tusk

NEXT STOP: Heart Like A Wheel, Linda Ronstadt

AFTER THAT: Ask Rufus, Rufus & Chaka Khan