Rumours (Deluxe Edition)

Three decades after Rumours established itself as one of rock's most ubiquitous, overarching successes, discussing Fleetwood Mac's heady 1977 monster (18 million sold and counting) might seem pointless; one might as well deconstruct a Big Mac. But this remastered, double-disc deluxe edition succeeds by offering up a generous, compelling portrait of that overly familiar musical triumph via 18 bonus tracks that include demos, outtakes, run-throughs, and studio jams. Stripping hits like "Don't Stop," "Go Your Own Way" and "Gold Dust Woman" down to their most bare-bones form reveals the sturdy, elemental framework that tellingly lies beneath all the pop perfection. But tracks like Lindsey Buckingham's ebullient instrumental "Brushes" (the basic tracks of "Never Going Back Again") also display a musician whose focused vision is informed by accomplished playing that's anything but simple. The two brief studio jams included aren't much more than noisy, disposable fun. But other outtakes of songs that didn't make the album (Stevie Nicks's "Think About It" and "Planets of the Universe"; Buckingham's "Doesn't Anything Last") help underscore the contention of Dave DiMartino's insightful new liner notes: This was a band on the cusp of triumph literally coming apart at its emotional seams, yet one which somehow channeled that personal turmoil into nothing short of epochal musical success. --Jerry McCulley