(2023) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (Live at the Fabulous Forum, Inglewood, CA,1977)        


Review:
Over the course of four legs between February 24, 1977 and August 30, 1978, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood traveled across North America, Europe, Oceania, and Japan touring Rumours.  Fleetwood Mac released their seminal album on February 4 and would perform most of it on the road. Now, a full concert performance recorded on August 29, 1977 at The "Fabulous" Forum in Inglewood, California is coming to CD, vinyl and digital platforms. On September 8, Rumours Live will arrive on two discs from Warner Records and Rhino - in stores justs a couple of months before the recently-announced pair of solo reissues from the late, much-missed Christine McVie. Since its formation in 1967, Fleetwood Mac had endured radical personnel changes, a stylistic shift from blues to rock, and even a challenge from a "fake Mac" claiming to be the band in concert. When guitarist-songwriter-vocalist Bob Welch became the latest member to pass through the Fleetwood Mac revolving door, drummer Mick Fleetwood and husband-and-wife duo John (on bass) and Christine McVie (on vocals and keyboards) invited two young Californians to bolster the line-up. Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and his then-girlfriend Stevie Nicks first appeared on 1975's self-titled album, which signified a new start for the identity crisis-stricken band. With "Rhiannon," "Landslide," "Over My Head," and "Say You Love Me," the all-new Fleetwood Mac launched the group into the stratosphere. Its slow ascent up the charts culminated in a No.1 berth on the Billboard 200 over one year after entering the chart. The stage was set for Rumours, which would handily surpass its predecessor's great success. The relationship between Buckingham and Nicks was coming apart at the seams, while the threads of Christine and John McVie's marriage were also fraying. Not long after the album's release, Nicks found herself in the arms of Fleetwood, his own marriage having recently crumbled. In other words, all five members of the band were involved in break-ups and other torrid affairs of the heart while crafting one of the best-selling albums of all time. They brought all of the attendant emotions into their songwriting and performances on Rumours. The seeds for dissension were there, especially once the culture of music biz hedonism took its toll, but so were the seeds of great strength. The two-woman, three-man band boasted three strong songwriters, who also happened to be its three vocalists. Buckingham and Nicks were from California; the other three members were from the United Kingdom. Each member's sensibilities were singular, but when they marshaled their powers, it was clear that the sum of their parts was greater than any one individual's. The power of Rumours would translate well to the road, in effect transforming Fleetwood Mac into the concert powerhouse it remains today even with further changes to the group's makeup. The set, recorded by original album engineer Ken Caillat, is composed primarily of tracks from the Fleetwood Mac and Rumours albums (with the addition of Peter Green-era favorite "Oh Well"). Only one of the tracks was released before on the expansion of the group's Live album from 2021. — SecondDisc


   


Track List:
01 - Say You Love Me
02 - Monday Morning
03 - Dreams
04 - Oh Well (Pt. 1)
05 - Rhiannon
06 - Oh Daddy
07 - Never Going Back Again
08 - Landslide
09 - Over My Head
10 - Gold Dust Woman
11 - You Make Loving Fun
12 - I'm so Afraid
13 - Go Your Own
14 - World Turning
15 - Blue Letter
16 - The Chain
17 - Second Hand News
18 - Songbird


Media Report:
Genre: pop, soft rock
Country: London, England
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


Note: If you like the music, support the artist