Fleetwood Mac – Rumours Live (2-LP Vinyl)

Recorded mostly during the world tour supporting Tusk, the Super Deluxe re-issue of Fleetwood Mac’s band's 1980 album, Live, gives fans a raw, back-to-basics two-LP representation of the band as opposed to the polished radio-friendly version or the growing experimental side led by Lindsey Buckingham in the studio. Whether it’s his songwriting or arranging or guitar playing, Buckingham’s creative presence is noticeable throughout this expanded concert document and displays that he’s such an integral element in the Mac musical attack.

Like the band’s studio releases, the live setting finds Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie splitting vocal duties and offering differing emotional shades in their songwriting. Stylistically, the changing musical moods run from his deteriorating mind on an extended “Not That Funny” and the building intensity developed during “I’m So Afraid” to Nicks weaving her mystical ways on “Sarah,” “Landslide” and, of course, “Rhiannon” and, finally, McVie yearning and melancholy moments highlight her value as the perfect buffer between the other two on “Say You Love Me,” "Over and Over” and "Over My Head.”

The Super Deluxe version compiles 3 CDs and 2 LPs that feature a remastered version of the original release on both 180-gram vinyl and CD plus more than an hour of unreleased live music recorded between 1977 and 1982 on the third CD. The set also includes a bonus 7-inch single featuring previously unreleased demos for “Fireflies” and “One More Night.”

Highlights from the extra tracks include “The Chain," “Sisters of the Moon," "Second Hand News" and “Gold Dust Woman." As the saying goes, the more the merrier, which enables “Live” to successfully depict the strengths of this lineup and these performances.

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— John Patrick Gatta, jambands.com

Fleetwood Mac was at the top of its game in August 1977 when the band returned to its adopted home in Southern California to play three shows at The Forum in Los Angeles. RUMOURS had only been out a few weeks when the band left in February to tour the world, returning six months later to play three shows at The Forum for nearly 50,000 fans.

RUMOURS LIVE captures the energy and excitement of the band's opening night at The Forum on August 29, 1977.

The concert's setlist draws almost exclusively from FLEETWOOD MAC and RUMOURS, the first two albums recorded by the band's latest incarnation: Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Christine McVie, and the newest members, Stevie Nicks, and Lindsey Buckingham. The lone nod to Fleetwood Mac's other nine studio albums is a performance of "Oh Well," a rock-guitar masterpiece originally released in 1969 and written by the band's founder, guitarist Peter Green.

The concert remained unreleased for decades until 2021, when "Gold Dust Woman" and "World Turning" from the show were included as a bonus tracks on LIVE: DELUXE EDITION, Rhino's expanded version of Fleetwood Mac's 1980 concert album. The other 16 songs on the collection have never been released before.

Engineer Ken Caillat, who helped record RUMOURS, also recorded the concert at The Forum using the Record Plant's mobile recording truck. He captured the band's impassioned performance at a moment of peak RUMOURS frenzy, including powerful versions of "Landslide," "Never Going Back Again," "Songbird," and "The Chain."

• 180-Gram 2LP
• Gatefold Jacket
• Laquers Cut By Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering

Side A

Side B

Side C

Side D

UPC: 603497860395
Label: Rhino
Release Date: 9.8.23
Format: LP Vinyl