Future Games

Future Games is the fifth studio album by Fleetwood Mac, released in September 1971 on Reprise Records. It marks the debut of American guitarist Bob Welch, who replaced Jeremy Spencer after Spencer walked away from the band mid-tour in February 1971 to join the Children of God religious organization in Los Angeles. Welch's arrival shifted the band's sound substantially away from British blues toward a more atmospheric, melodic rock style influenced by American soft rock and progressive tendencies, a direction that would define the band's output through the mid-1970s. Bob Welch and Danny Kirwan shared the bulk of the songwriting, with Christine McVie contributing several tracks; the title track, written by Welch, became a representative example of the new melodic direction and runs to nearly seven minutes, indicating the band's willingness to abandon the blues-era format of shorter, more structured pieces. The album was not a major commercial success in either the UK or the US, but it established the sonic blueprint that the band would refine across the next several albums. Danny Kirwan's increasing erratic behavior during the sessions and subsequent tour foreshadowed his dismissal from the band in 1972.