Tango In The Night ()

In 1987, I was 11 years old, and having heard 'Big Love' by this band called Fleetwood Mac, I was surprised that even my Mum and Dad knew who they were and liked them! Obviously at 11, I knew nothing of the groups' past or hey-day, but it was 'Tango in the Night' that introduced me to the band and subsequently made me develop a huge interest in the group and their huge back catalogue of music. The album, to me, is a classic. From the minute I heard 'Big Love' on the UK Top 40 countdown one Sunday afternoon, I knew I'd love the album. My absolute favourite tracks are 'Isn't It Midnight', a sure-fire driving track that you just HAVE to turn up wherever you are! I also love 'Everywhere' for a its pure majestic beauty, while the title track is also a dark, brooding number which still totally captures my imagination even now nearly 20 years on. Stevie Nick's heartfelt 'When I See You Again' is one of my favourite compositions by her, while the track 'Welcome to the Room...Sara' continues Nicks's poetic leanings and references to her inner-self as 'Sara'. The album is generally considered 'hit packed' and one of their greatest releases which is arguable among the older Fleetwood Mac fans that grew up with them in the 60's and 70's. For me though, the album captures the 80's and my childhood perfectly!

Rock A Little ()

Rock on Gold Dust Woman! This is a great album, from start to finish. "I Can't Wait" jump starts the album with great energy and fire. "Rock a Little" is a very special song to me, but some people seem to be quick to label it as bad, before they even give it a chance. "Sister Honey" is one of my favorites, the vague lyrics add so much to the song, who is Sister Honey? Who knows! "I Sing for the Things" I think is a heartfelt song from Stevie about her love of singing. "Imperial Hotel" is another one of my favorites! A song about her drug problems and her friends help, so caring! "Some Become Strangers" one of my favorite lines: "Part of me used to love you, part of me still does” sums up so many of our feels! "Talk to Me" one of her best songs to date, also showing us a nice side, if someone cheats on you, would you be nice enough to sit down and talk to them, "Oh, let the walls burn down, set your secrets free You can break their bounds, cause you're safe with me
You can lose your doubt, cause you'll find no danger Not here" I love that part! "The Nightmare" is a great opposite song for Stevie Nicks, I think, because she uses so many references to dreams, so it's only a matter of time before something bad happens. A metaphor for life put to music by Ms. Nicks herself! "If I Were You" is about someone who is rejecting love and Stevie tries to convince them they are in the wrong. "No Spoken Word" Great song, watch it live on the Red Rocks DVD! HAEWFY: touching and heartfelt, a Stevie counterpart to Christine's "Songbird"

The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac ()

The USA version of 'The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac' is excellent compared to the watered down release we got here in the UK. Unfortunately, the UK release is just a 21 track single CD that unsuccessfully attempts to mix the Peter Green Fleetwood Mac and Rumours line-up on just the one CD.
There are just three Peter Green tracks 'Albatross', 'Man of the World' and 'Black magic Woman', and the remaining 18 are from the 1975 to 1987 era of the band. The CD is also oddly sequenced, making it an uncomfortable listen at times, jumping from era of the band to another.

Being a Brit, I enjoy the Bluesy Peter Green line-up of Fleetwood Mac just as much as the Rumours era and what I'd have liked to have seen here in the UK was a double CD featuring much, much more!

CD One could have featured much earlier material from Peter Green, including the excellent 'Oh Well', the truly demonic 'Green Manalishi', and the chilled-out 'Need Your Love So Bad'. Some of Christine McVie's earlier material like 'Why' could also have been included.

CD Two could then have showcased the 1975-1987 tracks and more room could have been created to feature the wonderful 'Silver Springs' as well as 'Hold Me' and even 'Oh Diane' which has been omitted from the UK release even though it reached Number 9 in 1983! And also, if you're going to include 5 Tango In The Night tracks, why not replace 'Family Man' with 'Isn't It Midnight'? I never quite understood why 'Family Man' was ever released as a single as it was never one of Lindsey Buckingham's strongest tracks.

I would like to give the CD 5 stars because Fleetwood Mac are my favourite band of all time, but I can only give it 3 because the CD simply isn't a true reflection of the band in the UK.

Still, the sound quality is superb and I'm thoroughly enjoying hearing the digitally remastered tracks full blast on my car stereo and I'm really looking forward to hearing the new material that's planned in the near future.