It Was 40 Years Ago Today...

Agreed.
I used "interesting" in comparison to the current iteration which is basically a top 40 band. FM, in all make ups, was fabulous prior to buckingham/nicks.
Thanks

In my book, Fleetwood Mac has produced some great music in every configuration. The purest straight-up pop (or bubblegum, if you prefer) tends to come from Christine MacVie, rather than Buckingham or Nicks and was present in the band's catalog prior to Buckingham or Nicks joining on. Check out the track "Homeward Bound " on Bare Trees for one good example.

For me, the most aggressive hard rock to come out of the Mac is 100% Buckingham. From the album Tusk, which included several Buckingham tracks that are essentially punk to their latest studio release, "Say You Will" which features the screaming electric guitar workout "Come", Buckingham rocks more ferociously than Peter Green or Danny Kirwan ever did. Even hit songs like "The Chain" and "Go Your Own Way" feature extended rock n roll passages.

I'm a huge Peter Green fan and believe that Danny Kirwan is a criminally underrated guitarist and songwriter. Later Fleetwood Mac guitarists like Bob Welch, Dave Mason, and Rick Vito add up to an over time guitar line-up that I prefer to all others, all due respect to The Allmans, Mothers, etc. Among that lot, Buckingham's my choice, but that's obviously a matter of personal taste.

Catchy pop songs are a big part of the overall Fleetwood Mac experience, but so are the blues rock of Green and Kirwan, the guitar driven pop of Bob Welch, the spacey mid tempo pop and intensely personal singer-songwriter material from Stevie Nicks, and the everything including the kitchen sink from Buckingham.

The notion that Buckingham and Nicks transformed Fleetwood Mac from a blues rock band into a pop band ignores an extended period in between the departure of Green and the arrival of Buckingham and Nicks. It also ignores a ton of great material they've done thereafter. Obviously everyone's entitled to an opinion, but characterizing Buckingham Nicks period Fleetwoood Mac as "bubblegum" says more about the individual doing the characterizing than it does about the music.

Oh snap, a personal insult.
That speaks directly to the individual rather than the subject matter.

Sorry if I offended.

My point was that your characterization of Mac's music as interesting until the "bubblegum team " reflects a rather limited view of both Mac's music prior to Buckingham Nicks and after their arrival (for the specific reasons stated). That's the substance of the subject matter - and I'll stand by the assertion.

You might want to listen thru the Mac catalog a bit more carefully before assigning the broad characterization. There was plenty of pop before BN and there's a ton of material thereafter that's a million miles from bubblegum. You're certainly entitled to prefer the before to the after, but that doesn't change the fact that your brush was simply too broad.

I'm older than you, have all the original pressings, and saw the band 5 times before 1976.
Don't lecture somebody who knows more than you. It could be embarrassing.