The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac (2CD)

Spanning 22 years, this double-disc, 36-track compilation chronicles the initially unlikely and ultimately triumphant conflation of a failing, veteran English neo-blues band (Mick Fleetwood and the McVies) with a pair of mercurial American also-rans (the baroque folk-rock genius Lindsey Buckingham and crypto-songbird Stevie Nicks). The creative alchemy was immediate, as 15 epochal tracks ("Dreams," "Say You Love Me," "The Chain," "Don't Stop") from Fleetwood Mac and Rumours here attest. They could have arguably repeated that mega-successful formula for a decade, but chose a more musically expansive tack, represented "Sara," Think About Me" and the other core tracks drawn from the ambitious Tusk. While the band's megahit luster faded as the solo careers of Buckingham and Nicks took flight in the '80s, their power was still apparent in the dusky-bright pop of Christine McVie's "Hold Me" and "Little Lies." Sequenced with compelling listening rather than chronology in mind, this set also includes the strongest of the Mac's latter-day recordings (Nicks's "Paper Doll," "Silver Springs," and "No Questions Asked"; McVie's "As Long As You Follow"), as well the Lindsey Buckingham showcases "Go Insane" and "Big Love" from '97's The Dance. --Jerry McCulley