Search - Fleetwood Mac :: 25 Years: The Chain (4 CD Box Set)

Links From the Chain

Martin A Hogan | San Francisco, CA. (Hercules) | 06/25/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Few bands have had the range of players as "Fleetwood Mac". This box set shows as good a selection of songs from more than a great selection of band members. As a collection, it goes along admirably, showcased in a nice small black box with a thick booklet full of photos, trivia and memories. That part works. But the arrangement of songs is odd. The first two discs are composed of songs from the mid-seventies era of, "Rumors", "Fleetwood Mac", "Tusk" and their 1980 `live' album (well, one good song from there - "Not That Funny"). This was Fleetwood Mac at its most financially popular, with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham standing out from the original Mick Fleetwood and John and Christie McVie.



The fourth disc contains most of their forgettable, but pop-laden songs from the eighties on albums that didn't fare well, like, "Mirage" and "Behind The Mask". At least it pulls in four new songs, a Stevie Nicks "live" solo song and the great alternate version of, "Isn't It Midnight". There is plenty of material to choose from in the eighties.



The strangest thing about this box set is the fourth disc, which relegates at least six earlier albums, "Heroes Are Hard To Find", "Mystery To Me", "English Rose", "Mr. Wonderful", "Then Play On" and the classic "Bare Trees". Nineteen songs from before 1975 doesn't seem fair. You simply get a sampling of that era with great musicians like, Bob Welch, Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer. It's definitely a more eclectic mix, but that is what Fleetwood Mac has always been about. There should have been two box sets - one before 1975 and one after. There is simply too much good material to choose from and any music aficionado would argue which era was the most critically productive.



Collectively, this is one of the best box sets to have come from that time period and even if you can't have all the albums fairly represented, at least someone took the effort to include the absolute best from all the band members over the years.



Trivia: Amazing that out of all the songs over the years, "Dreams" (a former solo song from Nicks) was the only Fleetwood Mac song to go to #1 on the Billboard Charts.

"

Not Bad, But Too Many Omissions

Kenneth E. Macalister Jr. | Langhorne, Pennsylvania | 12/14/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For those looking for a thorough overview of Fleetwood Mac's recorded output from their first 25 years, this is not for you. This set is perfect for those Fleetwood Mac fans who are only familiar with the Buckingham-Nicks incarnation of the band & look to add ONLY the best known songs from the other incarnations. The Buckingham-Nicks years are covered on over 3/4 of this set with the years 1967-1974 crammed onto the fourth CD. As a fan of all incarnations of Fleetwood Mac, especially the Peter Green-led incarnations, I like the Buckingham-Nicks material here, but there is TOO MUCH! There is nothing here from the great "Future Games" album from 1971 with the exception of an alternate version of Bob Welch's "Lay It All Down" which was the weakest song on the original album. There is one song only from each of the following albums: "Bare Trees", "Penguin", "Fleetwood Mac In Chicago", & "Kiln House". There is nothing here from their debut album "Fleetwood Mac" aka "The Dog & Dustbin" album. Their biggest hit until "Rhiannon" in '75, "Oh Well" parts 1&2 is represented by part 1 only & in mono to boot! Here's a partial list of songs left out of this collection in favor of some less deserving Buckingham-Nicks material: Jeremy Spencer's killer version of "Shake Your Moneymaker", the excellent, but forgotten Danny Kirwan penned single "Dragonfly", "Before The Beginning", one of the best songs Peter Green wrote while a member of the band, "Purple Dancer", the b-side of "Dragonfly" also penned by Danny Kirwan, "World In Harmony", the b-side to "The Green Manalishi", & one of the best instrumentals in the band's catalog, "Woman Of 1,000 Years" & "Sands Of Time", both from "Future Games" & two of Danny Kirwan's best, "Show Me A Smile" from "Future Games" & "Spare Me A Little" from "Bare Trees", both written by Chris McVie & the two best songs she wrote for the band hands down, "Future Games", the title song from the same album & THE best song Bob Welch wrote for the band, "Sunny Side Of Heaven" from "Bare Trees", a Danny Kirwan instrumental which is not only beautiful, but also one of the best he wrote, "Drifting", one of the first songs the original band recorded featuring some burning blues bends by the great Peter Green, "Safe Harbor", a beautiful Bob Welch tune with music reminiscent of "Albatross". "Good Things (Come To Those Who Wait)", left off the "Mystery To Me" album in favor of a cover of The Yardbirds' "For Your Love", I could go on forever, but I think you get the picture. Ken Caillat, who put this collection together is obviously ignorant of the band's recorded output before Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks joined the band in 1975 & he does their recorded legacy a great disservice with this collection. There is just too much missing here & the ONLY reason I bought this was to add the unreleased & at the time, new recordings to my collection. Hopefully the band will release a more complete set in the future & will have more of a say in what's included next time. Not bad, but disappointing."