Fleetwood Mac＜タワーレコード限定/Ruby Translucent Vinyl＞

1968年のデビュー以降17枚のスタジオ・アルバムや数々のコンピレーション・アルバム、ライヴ・アルバムなど数多くの大ヒット作品を生み出し、ロック史にその名を刻む重要アクト、フリートウッド・マック。現在までに実に1億2,000枚を超える累計アルバム・セールスを記録し、世界で最も売れたバンドとしてその名を歴史に刻む彼らは、「音楽に多大なる貢献を果たしたバンド」としてBrit Awardで称えられ、またロックの殿堂入りを果たすまさに「伝説」のロック・バンドだ。

その彼らの黄金期に発表されたアルバム3作が、限定盤のカラー・ヴァイナルで復刻となる。

通称「The White Album」としても知られる『FLEETWOOD MAC / ファンタスティック・マック』は、彼らにとってまさに「黄金時代の幕開け」となる重要な作品にして、ロック史に燦然と輝くクラシック・アルバムとして知られる傑作だ。
ミック・フリートウッド(d)、ジョン・マクヴィー(b)そしてクリスティン・マクヴィー(vo, k)というラインナップに、新たにスティーヴィー・ニックス(vo)とリンジー・バッキンガム(g, vo)が加入したことで新生フリートウッド・マックとして生まれ変わった彼らが、1968年のデビュー作に続き、再び自らのバンド名をタイトルに冠したアルバム。クリスティンとリンジー、そしてスティーヴィーの歌声がそれぞれの魅力を持つこの作品は、「リアノン」や「オーヴァー・マイ・ヘッド」「セイ・ユー・ラヴ・ミー」「ランドスライド」といったヒット曲を生み出し、発売後じわじわと売れ続け、発売後一年以上たって全米No. 1を獲得、TOP 100に一年以上チャート・インし続けたアルバムとなった。

全米最高1位 / 全英最高23位 / 全米のみで700万枚を超えるセールスを記録。(1975年作品)

It's unfair to say that Fleetwood Mac had no pop pretensions prior to the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to the lineup in 1975. When they were led by Bob Welch they often flirted with pop, even recording the first version of the unabashedly smooth and sappy "Sentimental Lady," which would later be one of the defining soft rock hits of the late '70s. Still, there's no denying that 1975's Fleetwood Mac represents not just the rebirth of the band, but in effect a second debut for the group -- the introduction of a band that would dominate the sound of American and British mainstream pop for the next seven years. In fact, in retrospect, it's rather stunning how thoroughly Buckingham and Nicks, who had previously recorded as a duo and were romantically entangled in the past, overtook the British blues band. As soon as the Californian duo came onboard, Fleetwood Mac turned into a West Coast pop/rock band, transforming the very identity of the band and pushing the band's other songwriter, keyboardist Christine McVie, to a kindred soft rock sound. It could have all been too mellow if it weren't for the nervy, restless spirit of Buckingham, whose insistent opener, "Monday Morning," sets the tone for the rest of the album, as well the next few years of the group's career. Surging with a pushily melodic chorus and a breezy Californian feel, the song has little to do with anything the Mac had done before this, and it is a positively brilliant slice of pop songwriting, simultaneously urgent and timeless. After that barnstorming opener, Buckingham lies back a bit, contributing only two other songs -- a cover of Richard Curtis' "Blue Letter," the second best up-tempo song here, and the closer, "I'm So Afraid" -- while the rest of the album is given over to the wily spirits of Nicks and McVie, whose singles "Rhiannon," "Say You Love Me," and "Over My Head" deservedly made this into a blockbuster. But a bandmember's contribution can never be reduced to his own tracks, and Buckingham not only gives the production depth, he motivates the rest of the band, particularly Nicks and McVie, to do great work, not just on the hit singles but the album tracks that give this record depth. It was diverse without being forced, percolating with innovative ideas, all filtered through an accessible yet sophisticated sensibility. While Rumours had more hits and Tusk was an inspired work of mad genius, Fleetwood Mac wrote the blueprint for Californian soft rock of the late '70s and was the standard the rest were judged by. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine