Future Games

Future Games is Fleetwood Mac's fifth album, released on 3 September 1971 on Reprise Records. It was recorded that summer at Advision Studios in London and marks a turning point for the band: Christine McVie appears for the first time as a full member, and American guitarist Bob Welch arrives, the first of five albums he would play on. Mick Fleetwood later recalled that Welch came from a very different background, rooted in R&B with a jazzy streak, and that he felt part of the band before they had played a note together.

It sits between Kiln House and Bare Trees, in a period when the group was reshaping its blues rock identity. British listeners largely ignored it and it did not chart there, but it did better in America than any earlier Fleetwood Mac record, reaching number 91 on the Billboard 200. The RIAA certified it Gold in 2000, a fitting reward for a record that points towards the band's later direction.