REVIEW: Various Artists, Legacy: A Tribute To Fleetwood
Mac's Rumours
- Bob Gajarsky
Rumours, the album which nearly destroyed Fleetwood Mac (and at the same time, became the benchmark for any albums to aspire to), has sold more than 40 million copies. Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine and John McVie and Mick Fleetwood created a masterpiece that inspired an entire generation looking for an escape from disco beats and leisure suits. Now, twenty years after its original release, comes Legacy: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.
This time around, it's up to people who were in grade school when Rumours was first released to steal the show. Jewel offers a predictable, but solid performance of "You Make Loving Fun"; the Irish folk-harmony group The Corrs provide a stunning rendition of "Dreams", which is the album's first single, and newcomer Duncan Sheik continues the vocalization which made "Barely Breathing" such a radio staple in 1997.
The songs of the Mac bring out the best in bands I normally can't stomach. Tonic's "Second Hand News" is an upbeat, irresistible rocker, and even the Cranberries - whose wailing songs seem to bring out the dogs in the neighborhood - come out smelling like roses on their nearly-faithful version of "Go Your Own Way".
It's impossible for the Goo Goo Dolls to shake the Paul Westerberg tag that has dogged them for so long, and the cover of "I Don't Want To Know" won't do anything to dispel that comparison. But while the Goo Goos provide the expected, Hootie-compared Sister Hazel break the mode, offering a Steve Tyler (Aerosmith)-like performance of "Gold Dust Woman".
Ironically enough, it's Elton John's cover of "Don't Stop" which serves as this album's weakest cut. And regardless of anyone's opinion of Captain Fantastic, the fact that his song lies at the bottom of the performances herein is a testament to the strength of this collection.
Nearly flawless in songwriting, production, choice of bands and execution, Legacy is a perfect addition to the collection of teens, twenty-somethings, thirty-somethings... in other words, most of the people who already own Rumours in the first place.
BANDS FEATURED (In Order): Tonic, The Corrs, Matchbox 20, Elton John, The Cranberries, Duncan Sheik, Shawn Colvin, Jewel, Goo Goo Dolls, Tallulah, Sister Hazel
