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If I handed you Rumours without telling you what album it was and had you listen to it there is a very good chance you would think I just handed you a greatest hits album. That is how good this album is. I don’t think there are a lot of albums you can say that about. The Cars first album comes to mind. Rumours is unlike any album I can think of because it is a band who is musically hitting on all cylinders while falling apart in every other way.

Just in case you have been living under a rock for about 30 or so years here is the short version of what was going on during the making of this album. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham who had been dating for quite some time were going through a messy break up whil drummer Mick Fleetwood moved in and started having an affair with Stevie. Meanwhile Christine and John McVie were in the middle of going through a divorce. You might think this would be a good time for a band to take a break and get their shit together before heading into the studio to make an album. Or maybe it would even be a good time for the band to break up. That would not be the case.

The band was coming off of the self titled Fleetwood Mac release in 1975 and was feeling the pressure from the record company for a follow up record. So the band heads into the studio with all of this turmoil swirling around them combined with some heavy drug use by more than one member of the band and begin recording what would turn out to be one of the most successful albums of all time. Rumours has sold over 40 million copies as of today and the songs from the album are classic rock staples to this day.

The album starts of with the classic “Second Hand News” which features Lindsey Buckingham singing lead and Stevie Nicks singing some brilliant back up vocals and close harmonies with Lindsey. For me when Lindsey and Stevie are singing together that is when this band sounds the best. Buckingham also shines on the tunes “Never Going Back again”, “I Don’t Wanna Know”, “Go Your Own Way”, “Don’t Stop” and “The Chain” which were all written about the state of his relationship with Stevie. By the way I am a firm believer Buckingham is by far the most important member of this band no matter how many solo hits Nicks had in the 80′s.

Nicks shines herself on the classics “Dreams” and “Gold Dust Woman” where she references cocaine use which is not surprising since she was doing plenty of it during this album.

The album is rounded out by some very good songs where Christine McVie proves she is more than the keyboard player. “Songbird” is just McVie and a piano and sounds incredible. McVie also sounds great on “You Make Loving Fun” which was written about the guy she was seeing while divorcing her husband John. The irony in this song is that John lays down one nasty bass line to start the song off.

At the end of the day you have a band barely speaking with 3 lead singers and songwriters that could have had very successful solo careers on their own. You have drugs, breakups and all around dysfunction everywhere and somehow they come out with a masterpiece that sounds as good today as it did the day it was released. It was loaded with radio hits that have become staples of FM radio and probably will for a long time to come. When you think of great 70′s music this album should be one of the first you think of. If you do not own this album you need to fix that immediately.

Later,

Nick

Way back in 1995 two bands rose from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo. On one side you had Son Volt led by Jay Farrar and on the other side you had Wilco led by Jeff Tweedy. Both bands released their debut albums that year. Son Volt released “Trace” and Wilco released “A.M.”. Most critics gave round one to Son Volt. “Trace” was a fantastic album, actually it is one of my favorite albums of all time but I am here to talk about “A.M.”
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In celebration of the re-release of Exile we bring you our AOM, Exile on Main Street. The link below is to the re-release on Amazon. You won’t be able to purchase it until Monday but until then you check out the samples. Enjoy!

I love this album. There is no other way to put it. I bought this album about 6 months ago which means it was out there about two years before I got my hands on it. That was two years too long. I am not sure what made me buy it but I am glad I did. I have literally played the shit out of Cease to Begin since the day I bought it. I am listening to the album as I write this story and my iTunes counter says I have listened to the album 25 times from front to back. It sounds just as fresh as it did the first time I played it.

I do not have any interesting facts about this band to tell you or do I know anything about the recording of this album. The only thing that I know is that I have become a huge fan of lead singer Ben Birdwell and what he is doing with this band. The album sounds so big and lush with great big riffs and jangly guitars. Yet the vocals sound unbelievably sweet. It is like a really good power pop record but with just a little more balls and at times it has a country twang to it. It is a combination unlike anything I have heard before. This album puts me in a good mood each and every time I listen to it.
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I know I reviewed a Black Crowes album a couple of months ago but since they are my favorite band and this is my website I decided to review another one. I feel especially qualified to write this review since I was there when they recorded it. In February the band conducted an experiment where they recorded their new album in front of a small studio audience. They did this at Levon Helms house in Woodstock, New York. I of course bought tickets and made the 14 hour drive to Woodstock. I could write an entire story on that night and I might another time but for now I will just talk about the finished product.
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