Fleetwood Mac

Here's a theory: the Stones ditched psychedelia for gritty blues and rock 'n' roll in 1968 not because they sucked at the psych, but because they heard the first recordings from Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac and said, "Damn, we gotta get heavy again." The Mac, you see, didn't sound like any other band on the British blues scene, as their debut obviously points out. The band had soul, attitude, rhythm and a guitarist in Green who unleashed utter desolation with every stinging note.

Why is this Fleetwood Mac album different from all other Fleetwood Mac albums? The answer is supergroup fragmentation in reverse: the addition of two singer-songwriters who as Buckingham Nicks were good enough--or so somebody thought--to do their own LP for Polydor a while back. And so, after five years of struggling for a consistency that became their hobgoblin, they make it sound easy. In fact, they come up with this year's easy listening classic. Roll on. (Grade: A-)