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104 of 109 found the following review helpful:
 One Of The Best Albums Of All Time!Aug 03, 2004
By Jukebox Graduate
"gleep28"
This expanded version of the Rumours album features a second set of Roughs and Outtakes, as well as some early demos and jam sessions. The booklet has also been expanded, featuring lyrics, many photographs, and an essay about the making of Rumours.
Below is my review of each disc:
Disc: 1
1. Second Hand News
2. Dreams
3. Never Going Back Again
4. Don't Stop
5. Go Your Own Way
6. Songbird
7. Silver Springs
8. The Chain
9. You Make Loving Fun
10. I Don't Want to Know
11. Oh Daddy
12. Gold Dust Woman
What can be said of disc one that hasn't been said. This is virtually a perfect album. Every song is a classic. The remastering vastly improves the sound quality from the original CD release of Rumours back in the mid 80's.
Some people have an issue with the insertion of "Silver Springs" in the middle of the Rumours track order. I don't share in this, as I think placing the song at the end would be awkward. Positioned at track 7 fits well with the flow of the album. A good decision, in my opinion.
A bad decision, however, was not to include the ORIGINAL single version that we all know and love, and instead use a new remixed version that bring's Stevie Nicks' vocals too far forward and overpowering the beautiful harmonies. The powers be "fixed" something that wasn't broken in the first place! Simply a HORRIBLE decision.
Disc: 2
1. Second Hand News - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version.
2. Dreams News - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version. This arrangement is somewhat sparse, with Stevie's voice is somewhat more upfront in the mix, giving the song an somewhat more intimate quality.
3. Brushes (Never Going Back Again) - This is essentially the instrumental track (no vocals), with a different opening. An interesting, slightly different approach to this song
4. Don't Stop - Features a winding organ part towards the end of the song. - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version.
5. Go Your Own Way - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version.
6. Songbird - One of my favorites from Rumours, as it's always a delight to hear. However, this version doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version. The guitar, mostly in the right channel, strangely drops in suddenly on the left channel at 1:58.
7. Silver Springs - Another remix of this beautiful song.. As stated previously, I wish they would have just included the original single mix on disc one.
8. You Make Loving Fun - Features an interesting funky, false start, as well as some nice alternate background vocals.
9. Gold Dust Woman #1 - Different vocal inflections from Stevie, but the music is essentially the same. Sounds more angry to me. The ending features some haunting vocal work from Nicks.
10. Oh Daddy - Very different vocals - Christine McVie's voice was brought forward in the mix, and Stevie Nicks's background vocals are more pronounced.
11. Think About It - A very stripped down, funky version. I really liked this version.
12. Never Going Back Again - An instrumental version. Nothing that special
13. Planets of the Universe - An early Stevie Nicks song, recently resurrected on her 2001 CD "Trouble In Shangri-La" .
14. Butter Cookie (Keep Me There) - A previously unreleased Christine McVie song. While I loved her songs on Rumours, this song was justifiable left off. The lyrics are unfinished and therefore some bluff vocals are sung instead.
15. Gold Dust Woman - An extremely stripped down version. Consider this "Gold Dust Woman" unplugged. Probably my favorite track on disc 2.
16. Doesn't Anything Last - A previously unreleased Lindsey Buckingham song. I liked this song as well. Because it is a demo, it's also features the sparse unplugged type of feel. This song is incomplete and ends suddenly.
17. Mic the Screecher - Some noodling in the studio while the tape rolled on. Not something that bears repeated listening.
18. For Duster (The Blues) - A 4:26 blues style jam, harkening back to the early style of Fleetwood Mac. An interesting way to close disc 2.
What's amazing is that the rough demos and outtakes of the Rumours songs presented on the second disc don't differ much from the released versions, indicating that the songs were pretty much recorded as originally envisioned. Unfortunately, that also means you're less likely to come back to the second disc, as the originally released versions are for the most part the best version.
So it is worth buying this set? The remastered material sounds great, and it's nice to finally have "Silver Springs" included with the other Rumours tracks. However, the second disc really doesn't present anything all that unique and essential for anyone but the most avid Fleetwood Mac fan, and the screw up with "Silver Springs" is criminal. Given the $20.99 price of the expanded edition vs the 13.99 price of the standard CD, well, the choice is up to you.
Even though this is an absolutely classic album, I am rating it with only four stars due to the "Silver Sprinsg" screw up, as well as the unessential second disc.
One last note - the DVD-Audio version present the Rumours tracks in remastered sound with the ORIGINAL version of "Silver Springs", so for some of you that may be the best way to go.
97 of 107 found the following review helpful:
 This Album Went Its Own WayMay 16, 2003
By D. Mikels
"It's always Happy Hour here"
Often the passage of time diminishes the quality or aesthetics of a piece of art; the art (particularly music) becomes "dated." Many recordings from the Seventies--songs that were phenomenally popular--today come across as stale, corny, or contrived.Anyone remember "You Light Up My Life"? Such is not the case with Fleetwood Mac's masterpiece, RUMOURS. The energy, emotion, passion, and musical mastery of this album is just as compelling today as it was in 1977. On top of that, today's technology only makes listening to RUMOURS even more of a pleasurable and spellbinding experience. For me, having been a college student when this album was released, each track from this troubled band is a wondrous trip down memory lane. Among my favorites: "Dreams"; "Don't Stop"; "Silver Springs"; "You Make Loving Fun." And "Go Your Own Way" is musical nirvana, a glimmering, golden rock 'n roll keeper. The inner turmoil Fleetwood Mac was experiencing when RUMOURS began shattering the Billboard charts received as much publicity as the album itself. Despite the band's dysfunction--or perhaps because of it--members Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie were hitting on all musical/creative cylinders. As a result, RUMOURS is timeless, ageless, and enthusiastically recommended.
--D. Mikels
35 of 38 found the following review helpful:
Love, anger, jealousy, heartbreak, spite and even more...May 06, 2006
By Matthew G. Sherwin
As countless people before me have written and said, this is undeniably one of the greatest albums put out by any rock band--ever. I played it endlessly when I was in junior high--so much so I practically wore the grooves off the record! I got the CD early on and after so many years in my CD collection this remains one of my favorites.
Yes, the band was going through some tough times when they produced this music--and maybe that DID help them to produce such a great set of songs here. However, despite all their internal struggles, you'd just never know of it by simply listening to the songs, the overall smooth flow of the song set, and the electricity and energy of the songs and the way they are performed. The CD boasts numerous classic rock songs such as Christine McVie's "Don't Stop;" Stevie Nicks' "Dreams;" Lindsey Buckingham's "Go Your Own Way;" a song written by the band called "The Chain;" and a song I always liked personally, "Second Hand News" by Lindsey Buckingham.
The quality of the sound is excellent, even after all these years of playing this CD on several different CD players. I love the way the liner notes are so nicely done. You get great photos of the band and the lyrics are there along with the song credits.
This CD remains-and will remain-as timeless as the best of the best of the rock CDs. The songs deal with relationships between lovers as well as the entire range of emotions that come about when people are in love, together or be it unrequited. Indeed, Q magazine included this album as one of the "Best Relationship Albums Of All Time." When you listen to this album and the incredibly thoughtful way with which the songs are performed it will truly touch a nerve in you!
This CD is highly recommended for fans of rock, pop, and classic rock. If you fit into one of these fan groups, as I certainly do myself, you can't go wrong with this CD.
28 of 30 found the following review helpful:
A Rock ClassicNov 30, 1999
If you don't know the story, three relationships were falling apart while this album was being recorded: Christine and John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, Mick and Sara Fleetwood. Each song told a different story: anguish, wonder, pain, confusion, anger, all written from the heart. It's amazing that for a group of people being pulled in several different emotional directions at once, they came together and put out this album, unequivocally a milestone. You can hear two sides of every relationship virtually from one song to the next, listen to "Dreams" followed by "Go Your Own Way" for a great example. Mick Fleetwood and John McVie formed a solid rhythm section, and Lindsey Buckingham was, and still is, one of the most underrated guitarists in rock and roll. This album is filled with some of the best classic rock ever recorded, from "Don't Stop" to "Dreams" to "You Make Lovin' Fun". Stevie and Lindsey do a great harmony duet with "I Don't Want to Know", and "Songbird" is just Christine and her piano, a soulful, threadbare ballad. Almost every song here is a staple on classic rock radio, and it's still one of the best selling albums of all time. This was the first album I ever bought with my own money, and it was money well spent.
33 of 37 found the following review helpful:
 Astonishingly Substandard RemasteringJul 10, 2004
By Lee J. McLean
As a huge Mac fan, I purchased the three remastered Mac albums with great excitement. However, my excitement soon turned to grave disappointment when I listened to them. I should point out that there were two earlier pressings of this CD; the first was dreadful, and this version is clearly better than that one. However, the second version (done as a result of customer complaints about the first, I believe) was vastly superior, both to the first pressing and (to a lesser extent) this remaster.
"Second Hand News" sounds much better on the remaster, but it's all downhill from there. "Dreams" is lineball, but from then on it's clear that the second pressing was significantly crisper and clearer than this remaster (although the remaster has fuller bass). Also, "Silver Springs" sounds infinitely better on "The Chain" box set.
I am frankly astonished that anyone involved could have let such a substandard remaster of such a well-known album be released.
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