THE 50(ISH) GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME
Rumour Has It…
Album #20 : Fleetwood Mac — Rumours
Last weekend, my fiancée and I went home to see family and friends for the first time in months (which, by the way, was absolutely lovely). We stayed in an Air BnB which at first seemed perfectly normal — it didn’t look quite like the pictures but that was ok, people are allowed to redecorate. Then, the longer we stayed there the more bizarre the experience became. There was so much stuff, it was like an escape room. Except, if it was an escape room, you would complain because it was too difficult; there were too many clues and none of them matched.
It was like everything was a trick. You pull the door handle and it comes off in your hand. You open the kitchen cabinet and there’s a chest of drawers inside. There’s a plethora of bath products, each a more complex but useless lotion of some sort. You want butter? There is only peanut butter. Please take your shoes off in the room with a cream carpet but also that’s where we exercise. I am genuinely surprised I didn’t open a cupboard to be hit with an Acme Boxing Glove™ or turn on the shower to get gunged. Then we noticed that a lot of the hats we thought were just for normal use were actually fancy dress… a pirate hat, a top hat, a sailor’s hat. At least, we thought it was fancy dress.
Having stayed there a little longer — I started to notice locked doors. Had they always been there? I’m no longer sure. Of the two unlocked bedrooms, I wanted to stay in the room with two singles pushed together. My argument was they created a bigger sleeping space. My fiancée, who won the discussion, wanted to stay in the room with the double bed because, and I quote;
“I am not staying in a bedroom that has both a commode and a wetsuit.”
Fair enough.
I should say that the host was incredibly accommodating and the location of the house was brilliant — it also allowed us to take the dog down to see my family and friends, which I will be eternally grateful for. That said, the house was a little odd — the best way I could describe it is that it felt like it had been lived in until five minutes before our arrival but that that person had died 25 years ago.
Anyway, this week’s album is Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. An album famously recorded whilst the band was fracturing at the seams. It was a time when break-ups, arguments and rumours were abound. And yet, it is the ultimate easy listening experience. This might be an odd thing to say given it is included on this list, but it is easily one of the greatest albums of all time. You don’t need me to sell it to you though, the track-list speaks for itself: Dreams, Go your Own Way, Don’t Stop, The Chain… It is always a sign of a great album when your favourite song changes with each listen.
I guess the point is; things aren’t always what they seem. Sometimes, that results in an all-time classic, a perfect album. Sometimes it results in a lifetime of wondering how your Air BnB host got in when you were sure you bolted the door from the inside…
Thanks for reading — over the course of 2021, I’ll be reviewing 50(ish) of the greatest albums ever recorded. You can see the list here:
There is also a playlist featuring the best song from each album here.
