1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 35

   

    Fleetwood Mac- Rumours. 

    It's one of the biggest albums of all-time and it almost didn't get made. 

     Prior to this record, you had Mick Fleetwood on drums, spiraling into a dark depression and drug addiction after the discovery that his wife was having and affair. Singer Christine McVie and husband John McVie (bass) had divorced. Plus vocalist Stevie Nicks and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, who were an on-again/ off-again couple, couldn't stop fighting. 
  
     On the verge of a complete break-up, the band realized that they were happiest when on stage or in the studio. So, the group immediately took to Sausalito's Record Plant in hopes of saving the group through song. The result was Rumours.

     The album had 11 tracks and just about every song was released by itself and considered a master hit. The first track, You Can Go Your Own Way hit radio waves in December of 1976 as a teaser for the forthcoming album. The idea worked because when Rumorus debuted two months later, it was an instant success.
 

Back Cover of Rumours.
Image is from a 1990s CD reissue.

     My mother loved Fleetwood Mac and she bought this album the day it dropped. A couple of weeks later, I was conceived, so I probably heard Rumours a million times before I was born in November. Interestingly enough, I really thought that the song Rhiannon was on this album. If I was born a girl, that was going to be the name my mom choose. But upon a recent review of this song I was astonished to learn that Rhiannon was from 1975's Fleetwood Mac. Huh!?

The band, 1977.

    Songbird is a hauntingly beautiful song to listen to, especially if you can hear it while viewing live-feed of the earth's rotation from the International Space Station.

    Second Hand News, which is a poppy song to get the blood flowing is the perfect tune to start this album and I also really love the very serene Never Going Back Again. It's the needed song for those pensive times in thought.
   
      As you can probably tell, I love this album. Rumours is the reason I started the A Madman Turns 40 project. I saw that it's 40th anniversary was coming up and it got me inspired to discover more about my favorite year in history. If you can check it out on iTunes of Youtube, you really should. It's a quintessential album that is considered nearly flawless not just by me but by hundreds of critics and music reviewers. And it's the main reason the band stuck in out for another 10 years according to Fleetwood, Nicks, and Buckingham. 

Rumours inner cover collage of the band during recording.

      So check it out. If not, well my friends, you'll only be going your own way...
     
      Worth Consuming

      Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.