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Rhino is revisiting the first compilation of Fleetwood Mac’s “classic” quintet era – a push, it appears, ahead of a long-awaited, as-yet unreleased documentary on the band.
1988’s Greatest Hits will be reissued on July 31 in a new double-disc edition on CD and vinyl. In addition to the plethora of smash hits like “Rhiannon,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Dreams,” “Don’t Stop,” “Tusk,” “Gypsy,” “Little Lies” and “Everywhere” – as well as the then-new tracks “As Long As You Follow” and “No Questions Asked” – the set now includes a bonus disc of 10 songs from the same era/line-up; three were on certain CD pressings of the original set, and the rest include “Landslide,” “The Chain” and the sole chronological outlier, the live version of “Silver Springs” from 1997 live album The Dance.
In just over a decade between 1975 and 1987, Fleetwood Mac radically reinvented themselves from cult-favorite U.K. blues band to world-conquering pop/rock act. Band c0-founders Mick Fleetwood (drums) and John McVie (bass) and John’s then-wife Christine McVie (keyboards/vocals) joined up with singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks, adding up to three talented singer/songwriters with a tremendous instrumental interplay. Of course, most know that after the relative success of the band’s 1975 self-titled album, the band endured incredible personal strife – namely the breakups of Fleetwood’s and the McVies’ marriage and Buckingham and Nicks’ relationship – and created 1977’s Rumours, packed with four U.S. Top 10 hits and seller of tens of millions of copies. The band reconvened several times in the late ’70s and ’80s, even as Buckingham’s, Nicks’ and Christine McVie’s solo careers started to take off; the chapter closed when Buckingham departed the group after the release of 1987’s Tango in the Night. (The group soldiered on in various line-ups – the two new tracks here feature Fleetwood, the McVies, Nicks and guitarists Rick Vito (lead) and Billy Burnette (rhythm) – but the quintet reconvened for tours in 1997-1998 and 2014-2018.)
Despite being inactive for nearly four years – Buckingham was ousted again in 2018 (replaced by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn), and Christine McVie died in 2022 – it’s strangely as if Fleetwood Mac never left. Rumours has rarely left the Billboard 200 in recent months; as of this writing, it’s spending its 688th total week on that chart at No. 23. “Dreams” went viral during the COVID-19 pandemic after TikTok creator Nathan Apodaca filmed himself skateboarding to work while lip synching the song and swigging a bottle of Ocean Spray cranberry juice. The performance of “Silver Springs” from The Dance routinely goes viral thanks to Nicks’ thunderous presence in the live video, singing the song of wounded rejection directly to the ex-partner who inspired its writing. The duo’s long out-of-print Buckingham Nicks, which got them on Fleetwood Mac’s radar, was reissued last year (making its CD debut) and sold exponentially more than it ever did on first release – just missing the Top 10 in America. (Buckingham even hinted that more ice had thawed between the oft-estranged duo than fans might assume.)
All of this – and the reissue of Greatest Hits – all seems to gear up for the eventual release of an authorized documentary including participation from those five classic members. The feature, made in partnership with Apple and directed by Frank Marshall, will more than likely premiere next year, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Rumours. In the meantime, Greatest Hits is back out in expanded form on July 31 and can be pre-ordered below. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)
Greatest Hits (Deluxe Edition) (Warner/Rhino, 2026)
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Rhino.com (clear vinyl)
CD/LP 1: Original compilation (released as Warner Bros. 25801, 1988)
Rhiannon
Don’t Stop
Go Your Own Way
Hold Me
Everywhere
Gypsy
As Long As You Follow
Say You Love Me
Dreams
Little Lies
Sara
Tusk
No Questions Asked
CD/LP 2: Additional tracks 1975-1997
Landslide
Big Love
Over My Head
Oh Diane
You Make Loving Fun
The Chain
Think About Me
Seven Wonders
Never Going Back Again
Silver Springs (Live @ Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, CA – 5/23/1997)
Disc 1, Tracks 1 and 8 and Disc 2, Tracks 1 and 3 from Fleetwood Mac – Reprise MS 2225, 1975
Disc 1, Tracks 2-3 and 9 and Disc 2, Tracks 5-6 and 9 from Rumours – Warner Bros. BSK 3010, 1977
Disc 1, Tracks 4 and 6 and Disc 2, Track 4 from Mirage – Warner Bros. 23607, 1982
Disc 1, Tracks 5 and 10 and Disc 2, Tracks 2 and 8 from Tango in the Night – Warner Bros. 25471, 1987
Disc 1, Tracks 7 and 13 exclusive to this compilation
Disc 1, Tracks 11-12 and Disc 2, Track 7 from Tusk – Warner Bros. 2HS 3350, 1979
Disc 2, Track 10 from The Dance – Reprise 46702, 1997. Original studio version from “Go Your Own Way” single – Warner Bros. WBS 8304, 1977