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25 Years: The Chain (4 CD Box Set)

Fleetwood Mac - 25 Years: The Chain (4 CD Box Set) Audio CD

A fair review of the Fleetwood Mac "25 Years: The Chain (4 CD Box Set)" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Fleetwood Mac reviews here, or go back to the Fleetwood Mac tabs.

Band: Fleetwood Mac
Title: 25 Years: The Chain (4 CD Box Set)
Rating:

Release Date:
Media: Audio CD

Tracks:

How Not To Package A Penquin
This {Now deleted} 4 CD Box Set was the record companies attempt at a Celebration of a 1/4 century of the Mighty Mac Attack. In 1992 Fleetwood Mac had reached their 25th year as a band.

Well, there is both good news and bad to report about this Box. With 72 tracks included here, there is a good portion of songs {11} that represent the early Peter Green years of 1967-1970. Nine selections appear from the "Middle Years" {post Green, pre Buckingham-Nicks. } And the rest is of course from the Buckingham-Nicks years of 1975 onwards. Some tracks are presented in alternate mixes {"Lay It Down", "Angel. "} Five un-released cuts mark their first appearance on this, and four new songs were recorded for inclusion on this set.

There is a lot of music to explore over the course of these four discs. And for fans of post-1975 editions of the band, this could be an education for them to discover the first seven years {1967-1974} of FM, that ranges from Raw Blues to The California Rock of the Kirwan/McVie/Welch years of cool Pop. The Buckingham/Nicks years include all the hit songs and great key album cuts that hold up well right next the top 40 material. A wealth of great music of Classic Pop/Rock and blues can be found in this band's history.

The bad news to report is that the packaging of this Box is far less than Fleetwood Mac deserves. The booklet contains many posed studio portraits of Christine and Stevie from The Rumours and Tusk years. But no information about the Band's history is included here. A book would have covered the dramas and the musicial history of this great band quite nicely, but you will not find that document herein. There is much fluff, but little substance to go with the fine music that is presented here.

I do like this collection, but even with the treasures you will find within this, I wish that when the 50th year of the group rolls around in 2017, a better produced Set Of Fleetwood Mac's music will be brought forth.
Three Stars.

Awesome Curio
amazon. Watch Video Here: http://www. amazon. com/review/R3FS8X7WOW3ERG .

Excellent Box Set
Buy it or die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A Classic . This is the great and excellent musical Fleetwood Mac's chain.

Links From the Chain
This box set shows as good a selection of songs from more than a great selection of band members. Few bands have had the range of players as "Fleetwood Mac". As a collection, it goes along admirably, showcased in a nice small black box with a thick booklet full of photos, trivia and memories. That part works. But the arrangement of songs is odd. The first two discs are composed of songs from the mid-seventies era of, "Rumors", "Fleetwood Mac", "Tusk" and their 1980 `live' album (well, one good song from there - "Not That Funny"). This was Fleetwood Mac at its most financially popular, with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham standing out from the original Mick Fleetwood and John and Christie McVie.

The fourth disc contains most of their forgettable, but pop-laden songs from the eighties on albums that didn't fare well, like, "Mirage" and "Behind The Mask". At least it pulls in four new songs, a Stevie Nicks "live" solo song and the great alternate version of, "Isn't It Midnight". There is plenty of material to choose from in the eighties.

The strangest thing about this box set is the fourth disc, which relegates at least six earlier albums, "Heroes Are Hard To Find", "Mystery To Me", "English Rose", "Mr. Wonderful", "Then Play On" and the classic "Bare Trees". Nineteen songs from before 1975 doesn't seem fair. You simply get a sampling of that era with great musicians like, Bob Welch, Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer. It's definitely a more eclectic mix, but that is what Fleetwood Mac has always been about. There should have been two box sets - one before 1975 and one after. There is simply too much good material to choose from and any music aficionado would argue which era was the most critically productive.

Collectively, this is one of the best box sets to have come from that time period and even if you can't have all the albums fairly represented, at least someone took the effort to include the absolute best from all the band members over the years.

Trivia: Amazing that out of all the songs over the years, "Dreams" (a former solo song from Nicks) was the only Fleetwood Mac song to go to #1 on the Billboard Charts.
.

Not the Definitive Retrospective
So, why has it gone out of print? For starters, fans of the Buckingham/Nicks hit-making version of Fleetwood Mac will be better served by 2002's two-disc THE VERY BEST OF. When this box set was released in 1992, it was to commemorate 25 years of what had become one of the biggest selling bands of the seventies. Fans of the earlier versions of the band (and there were many) that included, at various times, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, Jeremy Spencer and Bob Welch, will be sady disappointed by their limited inclusion.

Of the first three discs, all of the songs but two are from 1977's breakout FLEETWOOD MAC or later. That leaves only disc four to tell the rest of the Fleetwood Mac story. While it's difficult to argue with what gets included on this final disc (from their first U. K. single "I believe My Time Ain't Long" through Peter Green's classic "Black Magic Woman"), to include only one track (Bob Welch's "Sentimental Lady") from a classic album like BARE TREES then turn around and include four tracks from 1990's mediocre BEHIND THE MASK, only serves to show that the compilers were not really interested in telling the band's full history.

Another problem with this box set is the sequencing. The four new recordings are scattered throughout disc one. The songs are not presented chronologically--you hear "Over My Head" (1975), followed by "Little Lies" (1987), then "Eyes of the World" (1982)--which provides for a haphazard listening experience.

Also at issue is the 64-page booklet. It contains dozens of photos, but not a single word on the history of the band. Sure, they include a roster of each of the various incarnations of Fleetwood Mac as well as a U. S. /U. K. singles and album discography, but nothing else.

I purchased my copy as a factory sealed cut-out for only $10 so I can't complain too much, but this could have been so much better. [Disc-1 73:24, Disc-2 72:17; Disc-3 75:08; Disc-4 72:37] .

You can see a complete list of all Fleetwood Mac discography, or go back to the Fleetwood Mac tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.