Rated: 2
Overall, Fleetwood Mac's four-CD box set, 25 Years - The Chain, contains a lot of great music, with plenty of the 70s hits that made them one of the biggest bands in the world. As a complete chronicle it fails; not enough weight is given to the early, blues-based Mac with Peter Green (especially to Bare Trees and Future Games) and there are too many songs (nearly a whole disc's worth) from the lightweight albums from the 80s. Also, the haphazard song sequencing doesn't help matters -- it doesn't make the case for Fleetwood Mac's music as a body of work and it doesn't trace their evolution which should be apparent from the diversity of the music. Despite these shortcomings, the set is enjoyable if not definitive. If nothing else, 25 Years - The Chain offers evidence that Lindsey Buckingham was a brilliant pop composer and that the band's 70s success was well-deserved.