ALT MAC BOX WIN

The recently released boxed set of five alternate versions of the 1975-1987 Fleetwood Mac albums, the core of the Buckingham-Nicks era, is a rich collection of acoustic takes, works-in-progress, and insights into the development of songs synonymous with this great pop-rock band.

When we reviewed 2020’s RSD release of The Alternate Rumours, we made a comparison between famous paintings and 'alternate' albums.

"Lovers of fine art know that strange but thrilling feeling of looking at an x-ray of a famous painting and seeing an early version underneath. Leonardo’s Mona Lisa is the most well-known example. That combination of familiarity and strangeness can often bring a new appreciation of a well-known work."

So it is with this collection: Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, Tusk, Mirage and Tango In The Night, plus the double LP live set. It is a bonanza for those obsessive fans (of either RSD releases or of Fleetwood Mac!) and a thoroughly entertaining journey for the rest of us. Stripping away production and layering of sound shows the underlying song, often to advantage. Sure, there isn’t the polished sparkle of the well-known versions, but we can observe  the craft and occasionally the vulnerability of the early explorations.

Obviously we cannot cover the entire box in a short review, but here are a handful of alternates to be savoured.

From Fleetwood Mac, the piano driven early take of Christine McVie’s "Over My Head" has a delightful rocking momentum, especially when Lindsey Buckingham adds some country flavoured guitar. Buckingham singing Stevie Nicks’ "Crystal" over a simple guitar accompaniment is special too.

On Rumours there are a number of revelatory versions, none more so than the acoustic demo of “The Chain”. This is an almost entirely different version of the original song. Over a strummed acoustic guitar, Stevie Nicks sings a lament totally at odds with Buckingham’s raging storm on the finished album. Worth the price of admission on its own, this one!

Although the sprawling Tusk unsettled some fans on release it has held up well as an ambitious pop-rock album. Interestingly, the songs are perhaps more accessible in these formative versions. Meanwhile, for those who were puzzled by the fierce pooch on the original cover, this alternate version is a great bonus (though there are no layered inserts).

Live albums present a problem for a project like this. Either you compile different performances of the same songs, which is rather too train-spotterish for most people, or you do something different. This set does the latter, putting together a completely new double LP from the same tour; there is no overlap with the original 1980 release. That’s a big bonus for fans, especially as we get to hear Lindsey Buckingham’s tearing version of "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)", his homage to Mac’s history and the legendary Peter Green (see our recent blog post for more on the Green era Fleetwood Mac).

Tango In The Night is an album to delight Lindsey Buckingham fans as he wrote or co-wrote just over half the songs. Indeed, he was planning a solo project before it morphed into a Fleetwood Mac album. His "Special Kind Of Love" is a delightful slice of upbeat pop that didn’t make it onto the final LP while the demo version of the title track is excitingly different, pulsing with a rough-hewn energy. Add in B-side "Down Endless Street" (sic) and you have an alt version that truly warrants the name.

The alternate covers are very entertaining, by the way. Some show the band’s lighter side while all provide insight into the process of making album cover art, while clearly evoking the originals. Talking of art, let’s end this musical survey by returning to the painting comparison.

No-one ever said “Oh, I wish Leonardo da Vinci had stuck with that demo Mona Lisa, let’s scrape away the finished picture”. The final incarnation is rightly the one we revere. Same thing here. Fleetwood Mac: The Alternate Collection is full of intriguing variations and pleasant surprises. It is an entertaining diversion that shines new light on both the songs and the production process. As a result we return to the original LPs with fresh ears and a deeper appreciation of a truly great band.

© Bruce Jenkins — December 2022