Return of the Mac

"Rumours" by Fleetwood Mac....

I can't recommend this album enough, because as far as I'm concerned, every one of the eleven songs on it (twelve if you have the CD reissue) is excellent, and the majority of them are perfect.

It's an album that does have great memories for me. Memories of finding my parents' vinyl copy and sitting on the floor in the loft, listening to the opening of "Second Hand News" and looking at the old, yellowing images of the band in the record's sleeve. Despite not having a sound that is overly fashionable these days, and Mick Fleetwood and John McVie's penchant for tiny shorts and daft poses, these people seemed cool to me. A gang of friends- and unbeknownst to me, lovers- who made great songs and took silly photos, who doesn't want that?

Though I do distinctly remember talking to my Dad about how Lindsey Buckingham was the finest female guitarist ever and how I wanted to get one of Stevie Nicks' solo albums because "he was a great songwriter". It does seem odd that now, when bands tweet, facebook and photograph everything they do, a cluelessness about which member's which- and what their gender is- is almost sweet.

But yes, this blog post isn't about great new stuff and links to new downloads like most of my others. I just thought I'd talk about my memories of this great album, as inspired by a documentary "The Story of Rumours" on iPlayer.

Listen to it here, and then go out and buy a copy of Rumours. And then listen to that.

Seriously, it is such a good album that will never, ever get old for me. It's like a hug carved into black wax.