Okay

Well...This item has always been my favorite. But I have one negitave reason, (I'll tell after). I liked Fleetwood Mac from age four. And when I had heard about the boxset, I was thrilled. It had all the music I liked of the new age Mac with Stevie Nicks, (she was always my favorite, with or without Mac.) Anyway, I was reading a review and I said to myself, well maybe, I do have some negitave things to say. When I look at the other albums, "Tango In The Night," and "Tusk," for instance...I look at all the songs from that CD that are not on the boxset. I didn't know all those songs at the time. I mean...there are alot of songs I like...but now when I think of all the other albums, I wish I had them other than this 4 disc set.

Review for Box Set - The Chain

First off, I don't know why the box set is out of print. It's a crime IMO. So, since there is no box set, I will review it anyways under this title.

Basically this CD is a condensed version of the out of print box set- a sampler if you will. It is worth noting that this set includes a track not on the out of print box set - Bermuda Triangle (which orignally was from Heroes Are Hard To Find).

Now, as a box set, this is pretty good. It has tracks from all eras/line-ups of Fleetwood Mac represented up to that point (1992). It does include 1 b-side "Silver Springs" (which is also now available on The Very Best of FM), as well as a few unreleased gems from the Mirage period, a Danny Kirwin track titled Trinity, as well as a track from the proposed Jeremy Spencer EP called String-A-Long.

Also included are a few live tracks taken from FM Live '80 and other sources.

As far as "easily obtainable" material, the set does a good job at covering the band's most popular songs, although it would have been nice to see "Hold Me" and "Seven Wonders" on here as well.

The older material (aka Peter Green era) is concentrated on the 4th disc. They do a good job covering the basics of what the original FM sound was with most of the big songs by them during that period (Black Magic Woman, Albatross, Need Your Love So Bad, I Believe My Time Ain't Long (Dust My Broom), Oh Well, Rattlesnake Shake, etc). I do think that their "middle period songs" feel a little out of place on this disc, as well as the Hypmotized and Lay It All Down on CD 3. I believe they should have added another CD with the "middle period" stuff and add more to CD 4 of Peter Green material (maybe some live gems).

All in all, a very good set, if not for CD 4 alone, as there is not a good "compilation" of older FM material out there that can equal what CD 4 is (there are imports out there though if you look hard).

BUT, with this set being out of print, you'd be better off trying to look in a used CD store or auction site to find it.

In the meantime, enjoy this "sample" disc and relish in some of these great tunes.

Something For Everyone.

If you've followed the various incarnations of Fleetwood Mac over the twenty-five year span this anthology covers and if you have an appreciation for all the genres represented here from Elmore James style guitar rave-ups to ultra-cool LA Pop, then you'll love this two-disc set.

What I find interesting, and other reviewers seem to loathe about this collection, is how it skips from the early Peter Green blues jams to the Bob Welch era pop ballards to the Lindsey Bunkingham light jazz classics and back to the Danny Kirwan / Jeremy Spencer Elvis rockabilly. Throughout all the changes in personel and all the stylistic experimentation, one thing has remained constant....Their rock solid rhythm section. The steady drumming of Mick Fleetwood and the ever so thick bass lines of John McVie have provided FM with the kind of heavy bottom most rock units would kill for.

So wheather your bent is hearing Stevie Nicks belting out Rhinnon, with a smokey rasp as only she can, or if your preference his hearing Peter Green's wailing guitar on his orginal version of Black Magic Woman, Green Manalishi or his Santo and Johnny sound-alike, Albatross...Then again you may prefer Lindsey Buckingham's vocal pyrotechnics on Big Love or maybe Christine McVie's classic Don't Stop is right for you, (it seemed to serve well for Bill Clinton's re-election campaign). Either way there's something for just about everyone in this interesting 25 year cross-section.