The Original Fleetwood Mac cover

The Original Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac · 1971

55 min · 16 tracks · blues

Elevation

Our rating, out of 100 — and why.

AI-generated from five scored dimensions. An opinion, not a measurement.

58 /100
Foothills
Higher than 22% of albums we've rated

Green’s guitar and the band’s blues performances give the songs character, but this anthology’s shifts between cuts do not form a sustained album arc.

What we noticed

  • The opening run moves from the slow instrumental slide of “Drifting” into the brisker “Watch Out,” then returns to a slow blues on “A Fool No More.”
  • Instrumentals such as “Fleetwood Mac” and “Rambling Pony No. 2” sit between vocal blues cuts; the live “Jumping at Shadows” and two later tracks extend the catalogued sequence.
Composition 25% of the score
6/10

the writing — melody, harmony, structure, lyrics

Craft 20% of the score
7/10

production, performance, arrangement

Durability 25% of the score
6/10

whether it rewards returning to it

Distinctiveness 18% of the score
5/10

whether it sounds like itself

Sequencing 12% of the score
4/10

running order, pacing, length

Influence 2/10

Little footprint beyond its audience. Reported but not counted — how far a record travelled describes its reception rather than the record, and a newer release has had less time to travel than an older one.

Tracklist

Best experienced from track one — press play and let it unfold.

  • 1 Drifting 3:33
  • 2 Leaving Town Blues 2:56
  • 3 Watch Out 3:27
  • 4 A Fool No More 4:37
  • 5 Mean Old Fireman 3:48
  • 6 Can’t Afford to Do It 2:04
  • 7 Fleetwood Mac 3:56
  • 8 Worried Dream 5:24
  • 9 Love That Woman 2:29
  • 10 Allow Me One More Show 3:01
  • 11 First Train Home 4:08
  • 12 Rambling Pony No.2 3:01
  • 13 Mighty Cold 2:24
  • 14 Jumping at Shadows (live) 4:06
  • 15 Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite 2:41
  • 16 Man of Action 3:58

Reference: MusicBrainz · Wikidata