Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

One of the greatest albums of all time

I enjoy Fleetwood Mac! The album was great but they are better in person! The album is great

This review is for "Fleetwood Mac - Rumours" on DVD Audio. I am old enough to remember when the "Rumours" album first came out back in 1978. I killed three 8-Track copies playing it over and over every day. Then I wore out the Cassette version. I finally got it on MP3 and I can now play it as often as I wish. Here in 2020, The Rumours album is still in the top 10 best albums of all time. You can't say much more than that to show how good this album is. Every fan knows it and knows why. Rumours is now available on DVD Video. I thought the sound quality of my 2.0 stereo MP3 downloads were pretty good. Then I listened to the DVD version with hot 5.1 mixes. I am blown away with the Dolby 5.1 Surround mixes of this already amazing album. Audiophiles will be impressed. The audio is offered in 3 ways..... 1. Advanced Resolution Surround. This version is only available on players labeled as "DVD AUDIO". It is NOT available on a DVD Video or basic CD players. It is in full 5.1 discrete audio channels with 96KHz/24bit resolution. 2. Advanced Resolution Stereo. This version is also only available on DVD AUDIO players. It has the same 96KHz/24bit resolution. But this version is a remaster of the original 2.0 stereo mix. No 5.1, just 2 channel stereo. 3. Dolby 5.1 Surround. This is the best version. It can be played on any standard DVD or BluRay player. No other special requirements. Just pop the disc in and hit play. If your DVD/BluRay player is connected to a surround amplifier with a digital connection, you will hear the same full range 96KHz/24bit resolution 5.1 surround mixes. There is no advantage to either of the 3 choices except the choice #3. Dolby 5.1 Surround mix is available on any DVD/BluRay player. Versions 1 & 2 must have a special "DVD AUDIO" player to listen. These 5.1 mixes take full advantage of the 5.1 surround channels. The remix editors did a fabulous job on every title. The 5 channel separation is very clean and very noticeable. I believe the 5.1 mixes bring out little nuances and sounds that I never noticed before with the old 2 channel stereo mix. I also believe they may have added a few pieces from other unused studio takes. They are subtle but add something nice and fresh. It's almost like listening to the album for the first time. There is also an audio only interview that explains the making of the original "Rumours" album. They take each song individually and discuss the thoughts and ideas behind making the songs. You can listen to all title interviews in a row, or you can select which song you want to hear the interview about. One other note worth mentioning. Song #6. "Silver Springs", is a song written by Stevie Nicks, that was supposed to be on the original 1978 "Rumours" release, but was never included on the album. It was a last minute decision. However, in 2004, "Silver Springs" was added to the "Rumours" album as a remaster of the audio CD release. The good news is that "Silver Springs" has been added to this DVD version and also in full Dolby 5.1 surround. A great album just got better. Song titles include.... 1. Second Hand News 2. Dreams 3. Never Going Back Again 4. Don't Stop 5. Go Your Own Way 6. Silver Springs 7. The Chain 8. You Make Loving Fun 9. I Don't Want To Know 10. Oh Daddy 11. Gold Dust Woman 12. Songbird This DVD version is a must have for the die hard fan of Fleetwood Mac and the Rumours album. Enjoy.

Nothing has ever been simple about Rumours and the same can be said about the vinyl reissues from this year, of which there are three. First, there is the gold-standard, 2LP/45RPM, issue mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray. Next is the single LP/33RPM, again mastered by Hoffman and Gray. These two issues were designated for the United States, will always indicate they were mastered at Pallas, which is in Germany and, for those who really want to get down and dirty, will have this etched in the dead wax: "KG + SH @ ATM". To simplify matters, it is pretty much universally agreed the 45RPM version sounds better than the 33RPM version, and based on the nature of the manufacturing of LP's this makes sense even though both products were made from the same master-tape created by Hoffman and Gray. Finally, there is a rather mysterious, 2LP/45RPM issue designated for distribution outside of the US which was not mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray and, questions of the nature of the sound aside, DOES NOT represent Rumours as it came out of the box in 1977. What I just wrote is factual, and based on comments from Steve Hoffman on his web site concerning these releases. In the comment section below, I will provide many pertinent hyperlinks. Now let's break down what I have just written a bit more, beginning with matter of trueness to the original and then moving on to the sound (although the two do overlap some). In the process of preparing this reissue Hoffman and Gray were confronted with a myriad of puzzles. Many centered around the final track to this album, Gold Dust Woman. There exist at least three different endings to this song that can be found, even at the earliest stage of vinyl release. There exist at least two different beginnings to the song as well. Over time, Hoffman and Gray figured out the first vinyls pressed contained a countdown at the beginning of the song, not the fade-in that many are familiar with, and a certain progressing loud dynamic structure at the end. So this is what you will be getting on the Hoffman and Gray masters. As a side note, just to give two examples, the fade-in came into existence because, over time, the intro to this song on the master-tape used for most of the issues deteriorated and the solution chosen was to simply use a fade-in for this song to cover-up the deteriorated intro. As for the ending of this song, the dynamics proved too challenging for mastering techniques at the time so, very shortly after release, the dynamics of the song's end had to be dampened so that mass production of vinyl could occur without Warner Bros. having a bunch of albums returned because record players skipped, distorted, etc., the end of the song. Only the Hoffman and Gray masters contain the correct intro, e.g. the European issue has the fade-in, so the Hoffman and Gray issue is the truest to the original issue (Without much elaboration, there have been different versions of Second Hand News over the years, even beginning in 1977. The Hoffman and Gray issue contains the version found on the earliest vinyl issue.). Now let's move on to the sound. The objective part is to write that if what you want is the best sound, there is pretty much universal agreement the Hoffman/Gray 2LP/45RPM version trumps the Hoffman/Gray 1LP/33RPM version. There is some debate out there on the relative sound quality between the US and European 2LP/45RPM versions. As I have not heard the European version, I will not comment on this. But remember, the European version does not contain the truest-to-the-original version of Gold Dust Woman. What I feel comfortable in saying is this: If one takes the time to read the relevant threads on Steve Hoffman's web site concerning Rumours it is quite easy to have a fair number of questions about the European issue. So, in the words of former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld: with Hoffman and Gray we have a known known, with the European issue we have unknown unknowns. The subjective part is to comment on the sound of the Hoffman/Gray 2LP/45RMP issue. Personally, I think it is wonderful, but it may not be what you are used to. The reason for this is the sound of Rumours, even when it was selling millions of copies in 1977 and 1978, kept changing with different pressings. Again, this is documented in Ken Perry's notes, Ken did the original mastering, and these notes were used by Hoffman and Gray to prepare their issue. As nearly always, Hoffman did some tweaking, using tubes at times to master, adding a decibel or two of EQ here and there (this is not a lot). But what is most important is the work done by Hoffman and Gray did not damage the dynamic range of the material. There is always a certain amount of art that goes into a reissue, and this (the art) is one factor that can make a reissue more appealing to some and less to others. Another factor that can contribute, and this might play a larger role with this reissue, is the fact the vast majority of people who have heard Rumours have not have heard the content of the songs, in that which was their original state, until this issue. So familiarity, or lack of familiarity, will play a role. Finally, the quality of one's sound system will play a role as well (On that note, my system's front end is a Rega P324 with a Dynavector 20X2H cartridge and the back end is comprised of a pair of Quad 988's with a Rel Britannia B2 Sub-bass.). In conclusion, no one knows what the future will bring. A very compelling case can be made that if one's goal is to own something that is closest to what Ken Perry heard when he finished the first mastering of Rumours, and one owns a sound system that can do justice to a true audiophile recording, then you should strongly consider purchasing the Hoffman/Gray 2LP/45RPM edition given the combination of the improvements in record mastering techniques since 1977 (being able to get the dynamics of Gold Dust Woman right now when it couldn't be done in 1977 is an example), and the natural deterioration that takes place with magnetic tape. Finally, given what Hoffman and Gray had to go through to put this project together, again best explained by Hoffman himself on his web site, don't expect high-resolution files of Rumours that will rival this release any time soon unless they originate from the work done by Hoffman and Gray. And, come to think of it, even if you presently do not have the ability to make high-quality high-resolution files, or a fine conventional CD burn of an LP, purchasing this album now will at least give you the ability to do so down the line and, therefore, have a definitive high-resolution digital version of this album. Again, some time after posting this, I will add a comment with hyperlinks that will aid those who wish more information on the mastering process and the foundations for my conclusions.