There's a certain relief that this 2016
Rhino
reissue of 2002's double-disc set
The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac
doesn't even attempt to dabble in the early blues work of the
Peter Green
band, and treats the addition of
Lindsey Buckingham
and
Stevie Nicks
as ground zero. The two eras of the band don't sit well together, and it's best to isolate them, since those who want the hits don't need to hear the blues. Here, it's the prime of the platinum years, with almost all of the big songs in their original hit versions (the one real exception is a live version of "Big Love" from 1997, but most listeners aren't going to be too upset with the substitution). The biggest complaint is that chronological order would have been welcome, but the sequencing here is still nice, and all the big hits and radio staples are here, along with enough great album tracks ("Think About Me," "World Turning," "What Makes You Think You're the One") to whet the appetite for full albums for novices, who will surely find this to be a good introduction. It's not dynamic or sharply sequenced to be a truly classic collection, but it gets the job done, and it will certainly satisfy those who just need the hits, plus a little bit more for the illusion of depth. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine