rw Mac

The temptation is to compare this version of Fleetwood Mac with the multiplatinum quintet that peaked in the '70s and then made a triumphant return in 1997. But there've been some half dozen versions of Mac over the last 28 years, some significantly more memorable than others. This 1995 lineup isn't likely to make anyone forget Rumours…

More than any other Fleetwood Mac album, Tusk is born of a particular time and place – it could only have been created in the aftermath of Rumours, which shattered sales records, which in turn gave the group a blank check for its next album. But if they were falling apart during the making of Rumours, they were officially broken and shattered during the making of Tusk, and that disconnect between bandmembers resulted in a sprawling, incoherent, and utterly brilliant 20-track double album…

Countless blues-rock guitar greats emerged during the late '60s – the most recognizable names being Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. But one who usually gets overlooked is the great Peter Green, who led Fleetwood Mac early in their career…

Here are two discs culled from the original four-disc box on Warner documenting Fleetwood Mac's first 25 years…

Though they ultimately made their name as a blues-rock band, and Peter Green's admiration of artists like Jerry Garcia eventually found its way into their music, Fleetwood Mac began as a straight-ahead blues band. A bunch of Brits devoted to the music of Chicago and the Delta, Green and company couldn't help but put their own twist on the blues, but they were simultaneously reverential towards it…

Fleetwood Mac was still primarily a blues band on this, their first album after the departure of founder/nominal leader Peter Green. But the remaining members, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Jeremy Spencer, and Danny Kirwan (plus McVie's wife, Christine, not yet officially part of the group) started broadening the band's use of blues into other contexts, and adding new influences in the absence of Green's laser-like focus…

Greatest Hits is a fine overview of Fleetwood Mac's hitmaking years, containing the bulk of the group's Top 40 hits of the late '70s and '80s, including "Over My Head," "Rhiannon," "Say You Love Me," "Go Your Own Way," "Dreams," "Don't Stop," "Tusk," "Sara," "Hold Me," "Gypsy," and "Little Lies." Minor hits like "Think About Me," "Love in Store," and "Seven Wonders" are missing, making room for the new songs "As Long as You Follow" (which actually became a hit) and "No Questions Asked," but overall, Greatest Hits is an excellent choice for casual listeners.

Live album from the post-Peter Green Fleetwood Mac with John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan…