The Magnificent Seven: Rumours
This is the first in a series of articles that looks at seven albums the authors appreciate. In terms of criteria: they must be albums listened to only in their entirety…content and form together like houses in motion. They also must have enormous personal relevance: they are corner stones. They may not be cool, but they are us.
#7
Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
It may be all the more special of an album considering my lack of affection for the rest of 'Mac's work. This is one of the great anomalies in music for me. While their works before and after just don't do it, Rumors is consistently one of my favorite albums of all time, certainly fit to lead-off this list.
It just sounds so damn sweet, like eleven little pink valentine's day cards from a child. At times, this album has a fluffy tone, super ballad style. And though it's overall sound often comes through like radio-play pop-rock, the themes of the album are infamously rich.
The killer is the content, more like those valentine's day cards with devious, fuck-off sentiments within. The undercurrents blow me away each time: We've done the thing, you've had your fun, and now you've tired of me and want someone else (allegedly some other band member).
"Second Hand News," a pop-y, upbeat tune with Lindsey Buckingham crooning lengthy bam-bams and doo-doos, is no doubt the perfect choice to set up the record. Spastic drums, a loosening electric guitar, and sing-song-y vocals veil what is essentially a memo to all the members of the band screwing around on each other and their other lovers. But it's so cute! You can happy-dance to it!
To say Rumours satirizes love songs wouldn't do it justice; it skewers them on the barbecue. The opener is just one of several songs on the album that are all at once divisive and sweet and cutting and artful, which is the core-greatness of the record.
Favorite Track: "Never Going Back Again"
One of my favorite songs of all-time. I always look forward to this track on the album, but I know it comes so early on, which ruins the rest of the album for me, because I'm reeling from it's play and no other track makes such a mark. The clash of melody and lyrical work certainly elevates the roller-coaster effect of the album's emotional context. I think of two people running toward each other in a field of flowers, a la the Little House on the Prairie bit, only they completely run past each other to get as far away as they can. "Never" is the Anti-Sonnet. It's really just a beautiful, soothing way to say I hate you.
Pat Marino appreciates the 1983 pile.