Like xtb and delay said, I'm surprised no one mentioned Rumors. I was wondering how long it would take to appear. It's a classic.
Simple arrangements. They understood that an artist should not overwork the canvas. The empty spaces are as important as the filled in spaces. Just like in filmmaking the shadows are as important as the light.
Surprisingly, I don't hear any use of Autotune. LOL Back then musicians made it on talent.
Second Hand News is the first song on the record. It's not the strongest. Not sure why they chose to put it first. It has 5 million clicks on youtube. Dreams, the second song, has 95 million clicks. I guess you never know what will sell until you start selling it.
The snare drum and bass guitar/bass drum in Dreams are prominent and alternate every beat as the loudest instruments on the track (and throughout the record) and gives it a bouncy, tight feeling. Stevie's voice is perfect.
Never Going Back Again is the third track and has very few youtube clicks compared to the first two, but it's a really nice little ditty. Terrific finger picking on the guitar. Buckingham is a fantastic guitarist.
Don't Stop is a classic Christine McVie tune. Huge hit.
Go Your Own Way is another classic. Back to back classics. That's rare. Three classics out of the first 5 songs. Impressive.
Songbird is not my favorite, but it does set a mood. So I can see how a lot of people would like it. However, because it is a little weak, it hurts the record's chances at being the greatest ever.
The Chain is another huge hit. It has a swampy, delta sound.
You Make Loving Fun -- another huge hit! Amazing how many hits this record produced! The rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie held the sound together. They had played together for so many years and are the two original members. It was their tightness that made the band sound great.
I Don't Want to Know is one of the weaker songs on the record, but it is the sound that made Buckingham/Nicks great.
Oh Daddy is also one of the weaker songs. That's why it was stuck at the end of the record.
Gold Dust Women has touches of that swampy delta bluesy sound that Nicks likes. It's a fairly strong song. Not the best on the album, but it's not filler like the previous two.
Overall, Rumors is a classic record and the number of hits from this record is impressive. It's too bad they couldn't have had one more hit and dropped I Don't Want to Know and Oh Daddy. Then this might have been the greatest record ever made. I can't rate it higher than Who's Next, but it is hard to say it is not as good. It's right up there with Sgt Pepper and Abbey Road.
One criteria for being a great record is the total count of the number of songs you skip over after repeated listenings. I would skip over Songbird, I Don't Want to Know, and Oh Daddy.
I oftentimes skip over Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Octopus's Garden on Abbey Road. Abbey Road's side two is probably the best side of a record ever made. The tension that is created by the simple 4 or 5 note progression that segues from Polythene Pam into She Came In Through The Bathroom Window has never been equaled. The only thing that I have ever experienced that comes lose is from the experimental film Andalusian Dog by Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel where a sliver of a cloud slices across the moon and then is followed by a razor blade cutting open a cow's eyeball. Amazing juxtaposition.
I oftentimes skip over Within You and Without You on Sgt. Pepper.
I oftentimes skip over My Wife on Who's Next.
Un Chien Andalou (Andalusian Dog):
