This expanded version of the Rumours album features a second set of Roughs and Outtakes, as well as some early demos and jam sessions. The booklet has also been expanded, featuring lyrics, many photographs, and an essay about the making of Rumours.

Below is my review of each disc:

Disc: 1

1. Second Hand News

2. Dreams

3. Never Going Back Again

4. Don't Stop

5. Go Your Own Way

6. Songbird

7. Silver Springs

8. The Chain

9. You Make Loving Fun

10. I Don't Want to Know

11. Oh Daddy

12. Gold Dust Woman

What can be said of disc one that hasn't been said. This is virtually a perfect album. Every song is a classic. The remastering vastly improves the sound quality from the original CD release of Rumours back in the mid 80's.

Some people have an issue with the insertion of "Silver Springs" in the middle of the Rumours track order. I don't share in this, as I think placing the song at the end would be awkward. Positioned at track 7 fits well with the flow of the album. A good decision, in my opinion.

A bad decision, however, was not to include the ORIGINAL single version that we all know and love, and instead use a new remixed version that bring's Stevie Nicks' vocals too far forward and overpowering the beautiful harmonies. The powers be "fixed" something that wasn't broken in the first place! Simply a HORRIBLE decision.

Disc: 2

1. Second Hand News - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version.

2. Dreams News - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version. This arrangement is somewhat sparse, with Stevie's voice is somewhat more upfront in the mix, giving the song an somewhat more intimate quality.

3. Brushes (Never Going Back Again) - This is essentially the instrumental track (no vocals), with a different opening. An interesting, slightly different approach to this song

4. Don't Stop - Features a winding organ part towards the end of the song. - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version.

5. Go Your Own Way - Doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version.

6. Songbird - One of my favorites from Rumours, as it's always a delight to hear. However, this version doesn't differ significantly from the original Rumours version. The guitar, mostly in the right channel, strangely drops in suddenly on the left channel at 1:58.

7. Silver Springs - Another remix of this beautiful song.. As stated previously, I wish they would have just included the original single mix on disc one.

8. You Make Loving Fun - Features an interesting funky, false start, as well as some nice alternate background vocals.

9. Gold Dust Woman #1 - Different vocal inflections from Stevie, but the music is essentially the same. Sounds more angry to me. The ending features some haunting vocal work from Nicks.

10. Oh Daddy - Very different vocals - Christine McVie's voice was brought forward in the mix, and Stevie Nicks's background vocals are more pronounced.

11. Think About It - A very stripped down, funky version. I really liked this version.

12. Never Going Back Again - An instrumental version. Nothing that special

13. Planets of the Universe - An early Stevie Nicks song, recently resurrected on her 2001 CD "Trouble In Shangri-La" .

14. Butter Cookie (Keep Me There) - A previously unreleased Christine McVie song. While I loved her songs on Rumours, this song was justifiable left off. The lyrics are unfinished and therefore some bluff vocals are sung instead.

15. Gold Dust Woman - An extremely stripped down version. Consider this "Gold Dust Woman" unplugged. Probably my favorite track on disc 2.

16. Doesn't Anything Last - A previously unreleased Lindsey Buckingham song. I liked this song as well. Because it is a demo, it's also features the sparse unplugged type of feel. This song is incomplete and ends suddenly.

17. Mic the Screecher - Some noodling in the studio while the tape rolled on. Not something that bears repeated listening.

18. For Duster (The Blues) - A 4:26 blues style jam, harkening back to the early style of Fleetwood Mac. An interesting way to close disc 2.

What's amazing is that the rough demos and outtakes of the Rumours songs presented on the second disc don't differ much from the released versions, indicating that the songs were pretty much recorded as originally envisioned. Unfortunately, that also means you're less likely to come back to the second disc, as the originally released versions are for the most part the best version.

So it is worth buying this set? The remastered material sounds great, and it's nice to finally have "Silver Springs" included with the other Rumours tracks. However, the second disc really doesn't present anything all that unique and essential for anyone but the most avid Fleetwood Mac fan, and the screw up with "Silver Springs" is criminal. Given the $20.99 price of the expanded edition vs the 13.99 price of the standard CD, well, the choice is up to you.

Even though this is an absolutely classic album, I am rating it with only four stars due to the "Silver Sprinsg" screw up, as well as the unessential second disc.

One last note - the DVD-Audio version present the Rumours tracks in remastered sound with the ORIGINAL version of "Silver Springs", so for some of you that may be the best way to go.

If you don't know the story, three relationships were falling apart while this album was being recorded: Christine and John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, Mick and Sara Fleetwood. Each song told a different story: anguish, wonder, pain, confusion, anger, all written from the heart. It's amazing that for a group of people being pulled in several different emotional directions at once, they came together and put out this album, unequivocally a milestone. You can hear two sides of every relationship virtually from one song to the next, listen to "Dreams" followed by "Go Your Own Way" for a great example. Mick Fleetwood and John McVie formed a solid rhythm section, and Lindsey Buckingham was, and still is, one of the most underrated guitarists in rock and roll. This album is filled with some of the best classic rock ever recorded, from "Don't Stop" to "Dreams" to "You Make Lovin' Fun". Stevie and Lindsey do a great harmony duet with "I Don't Want to Know", and "Songbird" is just Christine and her piano, a soulful, threadbare ballad. Almost every song here is a staple on classic rock radio, and it's still one of the best selling albums of all time. This was the first album I ever bought with my own money, and it was money well spent.

After years knowing that Steve Hoffman had remastered this history making LP it has finally arrived. There are NO disappointments, either. 180 gram virgin vinyl pressed at Pallas -- these two records are dead quite. The bass is punchy. The mids are warm and lush. The cymbals sparkle. Then, there are the vocals -- you have never heard RUMOURS before you have listened to this version. Two 45 rpm discs -- high resolution. Warner Bros. originally limited production to just 4,000 copies world wide. Production has been extended (quantity unknown as of this review) after early release copies sold on Ebay for $125.00+. If you have a turntable -- BUY THIS NOW. Truly and AUDIOPHILE reference LP.

In a way, the remastering seems like a marketing ploy to make more money, to promote the second leg of their national tour (it amazes me that they could still be touring- it's like trying to imagine my parents running around the country from city to city playing rock music every night. I can't.).

Yet, I think it's also an effort to present the music to their fans on CD as it was originally recorded. The pre-existing CD versions are definitely sub-optimal- the transfer from the analog recording is flat and smoothed over. When I heard Rumours remastered, I almost started crying- in fact, I might have. It was clear and vibrant, the vocals had so much more depth, and the instruments stand out from one other- and the singing rises from the music rather than being plastered to it. This is the way it was meant to be listened to. This is the reason Fleetwood Mac is a blues/folk/*rock*- and not pop- band. I can hear vocals and sounds that I never ever heard before- it's just so intense. Definitely worth it

I have been wondering when they might get around to remastering the Fleetwood Mac catalog, particularly after hearing the criminal butchery inflicted upon the Tusk CD, my personal favorite. Oddly Enough, I have been listening to the new Mac album and was inspired to pick up Rumours, so I happened to discover this remaster by accident. I have to generally agree with the other reviewer in that the bonus material is interesting, if inessential. Also, the liner notes inside the cd booklet could have been much, much more comprehensive for such a landmark album. They decided to stick 'Silver Springs' back into the original sequence (directly between what used to be sides one and two of the LP, I do believe), but there is nary a mention as to why it was left off of the orignal LP or why the decision was made to put it back. Music geeks live for this kind of information! They did, at least, restore the original gatefold collage of photos that seem to show the band having a pretty great time, despite all the emotional pain they were apparently inflicting upon each other.

Still and all, the reason to pick up this album is the sound. The drum and bass are filled out considerably and brought forward in the mix, the keyboards and vocal harmonies are given space to breathe and the guitar parts shimmer and shine like never before. In fact, for a Lindsey Buckingham fan like myself, this is a real treat to hear the intricate picking of this underrated Guitar Hero with such clarity. As a long time music fan, it is a tremendous treat to see the digital age finally catching up with the Monsters of Classic Rock & Pop. Rumours is as good as it gets. Now I need to go buy Tusk!!!