Don't stop Why we (still) love Fleetwood Mac's Rumours

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Music journalist Light (Let's Go Crazy) takes a lively look at why Fleetwood Mac's 1977 record Rumours has become the "single classic-rock album that continues to attract young listeners." For the less initiated, the author shares behind-the-scenes details about the album's legendarily tense recording sessions, describing them as a "cauldron of intraband romantic turmoil" fueled by "voracious drug intake." But what distinguishes the book is its investigation into why the album has stuck, with younger listeners encountering it via TV shows like Glee or Nathan Apodaca's viral TikTok video in which he lip-synchs "Dreams" while skateboarding. Gen Z and millennial fans cite, in interviews with the author, the album's "organic and uncluttered" sound and the universality of its focus on "romantic agony and ecstasy." Fans also reference the sound and songwriting resulting from Fleetwood Mac's mixed-gender lineup, which was ahead of its time and remains so in a world where rock is largely dominated by white men. Combining vivid anecdotes and perceptive analysis, Light delivers both an unapologetic love letter to the album and a nuanced consideration of how music evolves along with its audience. Fleetwood Mac fans old and new will be enchanted. (Nov.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

Drawing on in-depth interviews with fans and contemporary artists inspired by Fleetwood Mac, Light (Let's Go Crazy) looks at the lasting popularity of the group's 1977 album Rumours. He explains why the album still delights teens who otherwise adore the music of their own generation: Rumours plays less like a classic and more like present-day pop. His book begins by briefly outlining the history of the band and the recording of the album, noting that the underlying turmoil and drug use among Mick Fleetwood, John and Christine McVie, and the couple Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks have been recounted many times. Next, Light devotes a chapter to each of the album's 11 songs, plus the bonus B-side "Silver Springs." He explains how a skateboarder lip-syncing to "Dreams" became a TikTok sensation; how renditions of several Rumours songs on the TV show Glee sparked new interest in the album; and how a 1997 performance of "Silver Springs" at Fleetwood Mac's reunion concert inspired Taylor Jenkins Reid's bestselling novel Daisy Jones and the Six. Light provides emotional depth by interviewing 30 post-millennials (ages 16--30) about their relationship with Rumours. VERDICT A fun and interesting perspective on a seminal album.--Denise Miller

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A look at the classic rock album that has captured the imaginations of both boomers and Zoomers. Fleetwood Mac'sRumours hit record store shelves in 1977, and we're all still talking about it nearly 50 years later. There are a lot of reasons for that, Light argues in his latest musical biography, in which he seeks to explain its enduring appeal: "This album has made it into every corner of our consciousness, and its influence extends to rockers, singer-songwriters, pop stars, and rappers, but beyond that to young people of all backgrounds figuring out how to navigate their own lives and relationships." Light is particularly interested in whyRumours continues to resonate with young people, and he interviews twentysomething-year-old listeners who have discovered "this old-ass album" thanks to friends, TV shows, and TikTok--namely the now-famous clip of Nathan Apodaca, on his skateboard, lip-syncing "Dreams" while drinking from a bottle of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice. The author considers the drama surrounding the album, recorded during a period of the band members' cheating and breakups and liberal drug use, but that does not impress all younger people; one of them says, "I don't care--just play the fucking song." Light goes track by track in the book, dedicating a chapter to each of its songs, including "Silver Springs," which was not on the original record but is on some reissues ("the song that creates Schrödinger'sRumours," as the author puts it). It's hard to argue with Light's conclusions that "it was something that kids found and liked because other kids found and liked it," and that "whatever you go toRumours looking for, it is there to be found. It is open to all." Light's tone is light and breezy, but it's clear that he's put much thought into this informative book. It's a lot of fun. Enjoyable writing and real insight power this fascinating look at a band that went their own way. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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