Greatest Hits (1988 Fleetwood Mac album)

Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by the British and American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 21 November 1988 by Warner Bros. Records. It covers the period of the band's greatest commercial success, from the mid-1970s to the late-1980s.

Other than the identical title, it is completely different from the 1971 "Greatest Hits" album (which covers the early Peter Green incarnation of the band) and the two releases have no tracks in common. The 1988 album draws only on recordings from after Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the group in 1975, omitting earlier hits such as "Albatross" and "Oh Well".

The album has proven to be a major success since the time of its release. It peaked at number 14 on the US Billboard 200 and sold steadily over the years since its release, and has to date been certified 8× platinum for shipping eight million copies there. In the United Kingdom, it reached number three upon release and has returned several times to the UK album chart and has been certified triple platinum for shipping 900,000 copies there.

Background

The album contains two new tracks, "As Long as You Follow" (which was released as a single to promote the album), and "No Questions Asked". In the United States, "Big Love", "Over My Head", and "You Make Loving Fun" were exclusive to cassette and CD versions of the album. The track listing for the US release lacks the 1987 track "Seven Wonders" and the 1982 track "Oh Diane", both of which were included on European and Australian copies of the album.

This was the first Fleetwood Mac album to feature contributions from Rick Vito and Billy Burnette, who joined the band in 1987. Vito described the compilation album as "a presentation of the new band" and "the ushering in of a new era".

A number of sources state that this album was the last to be commercially released as an 8-track tape by a major label.

Track listing

US release

1. "Rhiannon" from Fleetwood Mac (Stevie Nicks) – 4:11
2. "Don't Stop" from Rumours (Christine McVie) – 3:12
3. "Go Your Own Way" from Rumours (Lindsey Buckingham) – 3:38
4. "Hold Me" from Mirage (C. McVie, Robbie Patton) – 3:45
5. "Everywhere" from Tango in the Night (C. McVie) – 3:42
6. "Gypsy" from Mirage (Nicks) – 4:24
7. "You Make Loving Fun" from Rumours (C. McVie) – 3:31
8. "As Long as You Follow" (previously unreleased) (C. McVie, Eddy Quintela) – 4:10*
9. "Dreams" from Rumours (Nicks) – 4:14
10. "Say You Love Me" from Fleetwood Mac (C. McVie) – 4:10
11. "Tusk" from Tusk (Buckingham) – 3:30
12. "Little Lies" from Tango in the Night (C. McVie, Quintela) – 3:38
13. "Sara" from Tusk (Nicks) – 6:22
14. "Big Love" from Tango in the Night (Buckingham) – 3:38
15. "Over My Head" from Fleetwood Mac (C. McVie) – 3:34
16. "No Questions Asked" (previously unreleased) (Nicks, Kelly Johnston) – 4:40*

One US reissue by WB as #R1 25801, does not include tracks 7, 14 or 15, and the order of the tracks on the back side is different.

European and Australian releases

1. "Rhiannon" – 4:11
2. "Go Your Own Way" – 3:37
3. "Don't Stop" – 3:11
4. "Gypsy" – 4:22
5. "Everywhere" – 3:41
6. "You Make Loving Fun" – 3:31
7. "Big Love" – 3:38
8. "As Long as You Follow" – 4:11*
9. "Say You Love Me" – 4:09
10. "Dreams" – 4:15
11. "Little Lies" – 3:37
12. "Oh Diane" from Mirage (Buckingham, Richard Dashut) – 2:33
13. "Sara" – 6:25
14. "Tusk" – 3:26
15. "Seven Wonders" from Tango in the Night (Sandy Stewart, Nicks) – 3:33
16. "Hold Me" – 3:44
17. "No Questions Asked" – 4:41*

• "As Long as You Follow" and "No Questions Asked" were new tracks at the time of the album's release. The former was released as a single to promote the album in December 1988, peaking at No. 66 in the UK and No. 43 in the US. "Hold Me" was also re-released in the UK with "No Questions Asked" as its B-side in February 1989.
• "You Make Loving Fun", "Big Love", "Oh Diane" and "Seven Wonders" are not included on the UK vinyl version, but are included on the cassette and CD formats. The LP contained 13 tracks.

Personnel

Fleetwood Mac

• Lindsey Buckingham – lead and backing vocals, guitars, additional keyboards, percussion (except "As Long as You Follow" and "No Questions Asked"), banjo ("Say You Love Me")
• Stevie Nicks – lead and backing vocals, additional keyboards ("Sara")
• Billy Burnette – rhythm guitar, backing vocals ("As Long as You Follow" and "No Questions Asked")
• Rick Vito – lead guitar, backing vocals ("As Long as You Follow" and "No Questions Asked")
• Christine McVie – lead and backing vocals, keyboards, synthesizer
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References