Review Buckingham Nicks Forgotten Gem Revived ★★★★✩

Forgotten 70s gem fuels rumours of a Fleetwood Mac reunion

BUCKINGHAM NICKS:

Buckingham Nicks (Rhino)
Verdict: Forgotten gem revived ★★★★✩

By Adrian Thrills - The Daily Mail September 19, 2025

THE rumour mill went into overdrive back in July when Stevie Nicks and her estranged Fleetwood Mac bandmate Lindsey Buckingham posted two cryptic messages on Instagram.

They contained lyrics from a song, Frozen Love, by their early 1970s band, Buckingham Nicks, but that didn’t stop fans from speculating that another reunion of the famously combustible Fleetwood Mac could be on the cards.

Alas, that reunion — which would have been the first since the death of keyboardist Christine McVie in 2022 — has yet to materialise. But the apparent thaw in relations between Nicks and Buckingham suggests it isn’t wholly out of the question, especially as the pair are jointly overseeing today’s re-release of an album they made as a duo in 1973... a reissue that turned out to be the real reason behind those enigmatic posts.

Their tempestuous relationship is the stuff of legend. Having met at high school in California, they became lovers and musical partners in Buckingham Nicks before joining Fleetwood Mac in 1974, rejuvenating the British blues band by adding their Californian harmonies to the mix.

They went on to chronicle their crumbling romance on 1977’s classic Rumours, with Buckingham writing Go Your Own Way about Nicks; and Nicks responding by penning Dreams and Silver Springs about him.

Many of the building blocks of Rumours (and the self-titled Fleetwood Mac album that preceded it) are present on this reissue, a sought-after collector’s item that is now available on vinyl (€35), CD (€14) and streaming services for the first time in decades. Vocalist Stevie and guitarist Lindsey pool their talents superbly, with their contrasting writing styles (hers poetic, his more matter-of-fact) offering a glimpse of what was to come.

‘She’s a tarnished pearl, she’ll take your money, she’ll wreck your world,’ sings Nicks on Crying In The Night, the cautionary tale of a femme fatale that displays the melodic flair that would later make her a superstar.

Crystal, a pastoral ballad written by Stevie and sung by Lindsey, is another indication of the pair’s natural chemistry.

It’s not all hippie hearts and flowers. Nicks sings of the challenges of living with Buckingham on Long Distance Winner (‘you burn brightly, in spite of yourself’). The guitarist, foreshadowing the soap opera that lay ahead, gives his side of the story on Don’t Let Me Down Again: ‘Baby, baby, don’t treat me so bad / I’m the best boy that you ever had.’

Not everything stands the test of time. Buckingham’s Lola (My Love) is throwaway, and the album’s two guitar instrumentals are superfluous, despite one, Stephanie, being a love letter from Lindsey to Stevie, who was born Stephanie Lynn Nicks. But, with drummer Jim Keltner and guitarist Waddy Wachtel adding muscle, there’s plenty to admire on an album that made so little impact in the 1970s that it was soon deleted, with the band subsequently being dropped by their record label and Nicks going back to her old job as a waitress.

It’s heartening that the pair seem to be back on speaking terms. Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac for a second time in 2018 after a fallout with Nicks (he’d previously quit in 1987), but that now appears to be forgotten.

What happens next is anyone’s guess, but this neglected gem is a timely reminder of the opening steps on the road to Rumours.