It might help to emphasize the greatness of this record by noting that I'm the last person on the world who should love it; my genres are classical, jazz, and to the extent that I enjoy pop/rock, my tastes go in the opposite direction from the folk-influenced pop that Fleetwood Mac did well. If you buy a Fleetwood Mac album on Amazon (as I've discovered), the buying recommendations that start coming to you include James Taylor, the Eagles, Carly Simon, etc. Completely not my thing.

But hoo boy, is this a great record. It deserves to be considered one of the all-time rock/pop classics, and in my opinion is greater than its heralded follow-up, Rumours.

I base that on a view that the songs on this record are 1) just as catchy and infectious, but also 2) possessed of much greater emotional depth.

Consider first Stevie Nicks's timeless "Landslide," a poetic, haunting, acoustic jewel. I don't know why this song doesn't routinely come up atop those "all time 100 greatest songs" lists, but it really deserves to. It's hard to imagine a song that more beautifully captures the emotions it sings about: big life changes, relationship dissolution, feeling uncertain and scared, and trying to find the courage to move forward.

Immediately before "Landslide" on the record is another classic, Christine McVie's "Say You Love Me." It's basically a toe-tapping number good for singing along, but there's a subtext of poignancy to it that I've never been able to put my finger on. The lyrics don't really try to be profound. But there's something about the way McVie, Buckingham and Nicks sing the choruses together, especially in combination with the roving bass, and especially in the fadeout. When they get to the end and are repeating, "Fallin', fallin', fallin'" in three-part harmony, it just feels perfection.

And the album has other smash hits also: "Rhiannon" and "Over My Head" among them. "Over My Head" is prettier and more gentle in the album version than on the single version. "Rhiannon" isn't one of my favorite songs (I never really liked the whole Stevie Nicks persona where she seems to be narcissistically starring in her own fantasy novel) but it's an undeniably strong single.

So there you have four timeless hit songs that are at least as strong as the four best songs on Rumours. (Does anything on Rumours pack the emotional punch of "Landslide?"). But it's not just the headline numbers on this record but the supporting tunes that are fantastic.

"Blue Letter" is a wonderful song, could easily have been a hit of its own (it sounds as though it influenced the composition of "Say You Love Me," even on down to the affecting fadeout.) "Monday Morning," an energetic up-tempo number by Lindsey Buckingham, gets the album off to a terrific start. "Crystal" is really a beautiful, emotional, poetic piece, composed by Stevie Nicks, sung mostly by Buckingham. It's good for a lump in the throat; Nicks had a great gift for conveying powerful emotions in simple, understated composition.

The six-song sequence that runs: Blue Letter, Rhiannon, Over My Head, Crystal, Say You Love Me, and Landslide is about as strong a six-song run that any band has ever recorded (and the two that precede that run aren't bad either.)

In sum, Fleetwood Mac is at their hit-making best on this record, but there is a poetry and emotional power to this music that you don't hear on their later recordings. It paved the way for the phenomenal chart success of Rumours, but is in my opinion the greater of the two albums.

When Fleetwood Mac was formed in the late 60's, they were a hardcore blues band. After Peter Green left and with the additions of Christine McVie & Bob Welch, they shifted away from blues music towards a more pop sound. In 1975, Bob Welch left the group and Mick Fleetwood enlisted an unknown duo of Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks in the band. The result is of course music history. This is the first effort by the new lineup and it is an excellent collection of songs. Lindsey Buckingham has one of the best ears in music and his hands are all over the album. From the album's opener "Monday Morning" and his own "Blue Letter" and the slow burning "World Turning" to Christine McVie's "Say You Love Me" and "Sugar Daddy", his presence is felt. "Crystal" is great song taken from the Buckingham-Nicks album and shows how well the band's voices meld together. Stevie Nicks carved out her witch persona with the ethereal and moody "Rhiannon". She also contributes one of most hauntingly beautiful songs ever recorded, "Landslide". Through constant touring and radio airplay, the album slowly climbed the charts and in its 53rd week on the charts, it finally reached number one. This album set the stage for one of the biggest albums in history, Rumours. While not as popular as that album, this album is it's equal in quality and sound. The extra tracks on this release do not really bring much to the table as they are just the edits of the singles from the album.

Pay attention to the depths of sounds, the varied instrumentation in the backround as you listen to "Crystal". This is a very mellow F Mac song from their first album in the incarnation that everyone is so familiar with (Mick Fleetwood, John and Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks)...called "Fleetwood Mac", the album was largely ignored by critics until "Rhiannon" became popular. (Later, of course, the wildly popular "Rumours" went on to set many records which still stand today.) There were ten other songs on the "Fleetwood Mac" LP besides "Rhiannon" (a classic in its own right), songs that were never given the respect that they deserved. "Say You Love Me" and "Monday Morning" got some rather frequent airplay ... "Landslide" became a hit years after the album's 1975 release and was eventually covered by a bland and faceless 90's band. "World Turning" is a bit of a sleeper, with a funky beat that is both disturbing yet infectious, and drum tracks from Mick Fleetwood which show his true genius with the tubs and hats. In that same vein is "I'm So Afraid", with its wild minor-keyed sound and despairing lyrics. "Warm Ways" will take you to the tropics with its "steel guitar" sound sliding in and out of your ears. But "Crystal" speaks to me. It talks of a lifetime of aloneness (as opposed to loneliness) that is eased by a comfortable-feeling relationship - a relationship that was recognized instantly for the life-changing event that it is - and the enduring steadfastness of that love. Lyrically simple yet powerful, this song combines a meaningful message with some of the richest tapestries of music this talented band ever created. It also typifies the band that exemplifies and epitomizes the 70's music scene - the multi-talented, multi-faceted Fleetwood Mac.

As the man at the top says, you take the remnants of a marginally successful British blues-rock band, add two unknown California singer-songwriters and what do you get? Only one of rocks great bands. Go figure.

This album is the predecessor to the magnificent "Rumours" and the first album by the Fleetwood Mac line-up that included Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham. And it, too, is great. It's not quite as intense as "Rumours" and not quite its equal for that reason, but it's still a great album in its own right. All the parts are meshed and tightly in synch. The instrumental virtuosity, lovely vocal harmonies, and Buckingham's brilliant arrangements are already very much in evidence. And the songs are wonderful. Stevie's "Rhiannon" is the classic single, but "Over My Head" and "Say You Love Me" also climbed high on the singles charts. Beyond these, though, there are all the others. Buckingham rockers "Monday morning" and "Blue Letter", as well as Chrissie's "Warm Ways" and "Sugar Daddy". Stevie's beautiful "Landslide" first appears here. Another favorite is the driving "World Turning", co-written by Buckingham and McVie.

This is an excellent album and would probably get more recognition if it hadn't been followed by "Rumours". Don't be fooled, though. If you love "Rumours", you'll love this, too. If you haven't heard them, you've been missing out. Get them both. I recommend this VERY highly.

With the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac headed to the studio to cut the 11-track album that would become the most successful album of the 1975, yield three Top-Twenty singles, and launch a successful American tour that would last well into 1976. With three singer-songwriters, the band now had three distinct voices as well as personalities. Lindsey Buckingham contributed his producing skills, as well as his bittersweet edge on songs like "I'm So Afraid" and "Monday Morning". Stevie Nicks, the witchy, carasmatic songstress added her love of fairytales and personal darkness to songs like "Rhiannon" and "Landslide". Finally, the distinct, honey-voiced Christine McVie defined the easy-listening vibe of the new lineup with songs like "Over My Head", "Say You Love Me", and "Warm Ways". Every song on the album defines the carefree era of the mid-70s. Fleetwood Mac's debut album reflects songs of fear, enchantment, and love. This is definetly something worth adding to one's music collection. Also recommended, Fleetwood Mac's 1977 smash "Rumours".