Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 classic Rumours is the best break-up record ever made, as it chronicles the breakdown of relationships between bandmates John McVie and Christine McVie, Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. This month, the band is reissuing the album to coincide with a tour of the U.S. and Canada in the spring. The reissue features Rumours’ original songs alongside a compilation of early studio cuts, live tracks, and instrumental versions.
Although it seems difficult to get sick of Rumours, this reissue is unnecessarily overloaded with new versions of the album’s original songs. In fact, some of the rough studio cuts are rather tedious. In particular, the early versions of “Go Your Own Way” and “I Don’t Want to Know”—parts of which feature banal, improvised lyrics and noises—are grating and almost impossible to listen.
Despite some of its underwhelming tracks, Rumours’ stand out songs include an early cut of “Dreams” and an acoustic duet between Nicks and Buckingham on “Never Going Back Again.” These gems strip down the production of their album counterparts, and expose the beauty of the songs’ lyrics. A demo of “The Chain” contains totally different but compelling verses sung by Nicks, taking the track in a completely different—but no less stunning—direction than the original.
Ultimately, this reissue of Rumours is a must-have for a Fleetwood Mac fiend—but for the casual fan, it’s probably unnecessary.