It’ll Soon Be Here: Rhino Marks “Rumours” Box As 2013’s First Big Catalogue Piece

The first big catalogue release of 2013 has been officially announced: Rhino Records comes back in a big way with a box set edition of Rumours, the immortal album by Fleetwood Mac.

“I know there’s nothing to say / Someone has taken my place…” The first couplet of “Second Hand News,” the album’s lead track, indicated something rather different from anything one could expect from the long-running British/American blues/rock band. That poppy sound belied one of the most prominent musical pressure cookers since The Beatles struggled their way through the Get Back sessions. Like The Fab Four’s eventual Let It Be, Rumours was at once true to the band’s form and something a little different from the norm at the same time. Unlike that album, though, it opened the floodgates for the band, catapulting them to a new plateau of success that they’re arguably still reaping the benefits of, 35 years later.

After the success of the band’s 1975 self-titled album, personal turmoil rocked the quintet: the personal couplings of guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks and married bassist and singer/keyboardists John and Christine McVie came to an end; drummer Mick Fleetwood’s marriage was also rocked by an affair at the same time. The band pressed on, pairing their own mixed personal feelings with airtight, immaculately-arranged pop songs primarily cut at the famed Record Plant in Sausalito, California under the watch of producer/engineers Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut.

That mix of rawness and radio-ready perfection caught the ears of both old fans and new: Rumours topped the charts in seven countries, including the U.S. and the U.K., and spun off four Top 10 singles in America, including “Go Your Own Way,” “Don’t Stop,” the chart-topping “Dreams” and “You Make Loving Fun.” The album has been certified 19 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, still one of the top 10 best-selling albums in the country. (A one-two punch of a new Stevie Nicks album and a Rumours-themed episode of the FOX series Glee sent the album back to No. 12 on the Billboard charts in 2011.)

Now, as the Mac embarks on their first tour in three years, Rhino readies a Rumours box that builds upon the band’s two-disc reissue of the album in 2004. And what’s included this time around? Don’t stop here! Hit the jump to find out!

The good news about the 4 CD/1 DVD/1 LP deluxe box edition of Rumours is it retains everything from that 2004 reissue. The album, along with non-LP B-side “Silver Springs,” makes up the first disc (that extra song has been relegated to the end of the disc, where the 2004 reissue included it within the track order), while the 18-track bonus disc of demos, alternate takes and unreleased songs from the original reissue is the fourth disc in this box. In the middle: a disc of a dozen live tracks from the band’s 1977 tour, recorded in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Nashville and Columbia, South Carolina, and another disc of 16 more outtakes from the album sessions. The box is rounded out with a 140-gram vinyl pressing of the original album and a DVD featuring Michael Collins’ documentary The Rosebud Film, a 1977 feature that “includes interviews, rehearsal footage and live performances of ‘World Turning,’ ‘Rhiannon,’ ‘Say You Love Me,’ ‘Go Your Own Way,’ ‘You Make Loving Fun’ and ‘I’m So Afraid.’”

For those looking for something a little smaller, a new expanded edition CD set will feature the album plus the two new discs from the box – so, if you’ve got the 2004 edition, you’re not paying for the same bonus material plus more, which is decent. Both formats are available on January 29, and can be pre-ordered now at both Amazon U.S. (CD expanded edition, deluxe box) and Amazon U.K. (CD deluxe edition, deluxe box).

Fleetwood Mac, Rumours: 35th Anniversary Edition (Warner Bros./Rhino, 2013)

Disc 1: Original album (released as Warner Bros. BSK 3010, 1977) and B-side

1. Second Hand News
2. Dreams
3. Never Going Back Again
4. Don’t Stop
5. Go Your Own Way
6. Songbird
7. The Chain
8. You Make Loving Fun
9. I Don’t Want to Know
10. Oh Daddy
11. Gold Dust Woman
12. Silver Springs (originally released as B-side to “Go Your Own Way” – Warner Bros. WBS 8304, 1976)

Disc 2: Live 1977

1. Intro
2. Monday Morning
3. Dreams
4. Don’t Stop
5. The Chain
6. Oh Daddy
7. Rhiannon
8. Never Going Back Again
9. Gold Dust Woman
10. World Turning
11. Go Your Own Way
12. Songbird

Disc 3: Recording Sessions, Roughs & Outtakes

1. Second Hand News (Early Take)
2. Dreams (Take 2)
3. Never Going Back Again (Acoustic Duet)
4. Go Your Own Way (Early Take)
5. Songbird (Demo)
6. Songbird (Instrumental – Take 10)
7. I Don’t Want to Know (Early Take)
8. Keep Me There (Instrumental)
9. The Chain (Demo)
10. Keep Me There (with Vocal)
11. Gold Dust Woman (Early Take)
12. Oh Daddy (Early Take)
13. Silver Springs (Early Take)
14. Planets of the Universe (Demo)
15. Doesn’t Anything Last (Acoustic Duet)
16. Never Going Back Again (Instrumental)

Disc 4: More from the Recording Sessions (originally released as second disc of expanded edition – Warner Bros./Rhino R2 73822, 2004)

1. Second Hand News (Outtake)
2. Dreams (Outtake)
3. Brushes (Never Going Back Again) (Outtake)
4. Don’t Stop (Outtake)
5. Go Your Own Way (Outtake)
6. Songbird (Outtake)
7. Silver Springs (Outtake)
8. You Make Loving Fun (Outtake)
9. Gold Dust Woman #1 (Outtake)
10. Oh Daddy (Outtake)
11. Think About It (Outtake)
12. Never Going Back Again (Demo)
13. Planets of the Universe (Demo)
14. Butter Cookie (Keep Me There) (Demo)
15. Gold Dust Woman (Demo)
16. Doesn’t Anything Last (Demo)
17. Mic the Screecher (Jam)
18. For Duster (The Blues) (Jam)

Disc 5: DVD – The Rosebud Film

Original LP

Fleetwood Mac, Rumours: New Expanded Ediition (Warner Bros./Rhino, 2012)

Contains Discs 1-3 of deluxe box set