23/07/2026
You've probably thought, "Gee, I bet the people at ADAL Records get a TON of fan mail."
Well, the truth is... we do! Like Chinese water torture, our lives are a constant drip of fan comments, threats, and requests. "Can I have your autograph?" or "I know where you live," or "Here's a girthy dick pic," are all common messages. We get them monthly, weekly, daily.
But it's not often we receive a message with any thought put into it. For example, this short essay that was sent to the ADAL Inbox this morning from our friend, Ashley Legere.
"So another sleepless night has left me in a place between chaos and creativity and for some reason or another - I decided to write an opinion piece on Rumours as the best break up album of all time but why sweet and gross made it better.
Opinion: We’ve been asking the wrong question about breakup albums.
For decades, music critics, heartbroken exes, and people three glasses of wine into a Tuesday have debated one question:
Is Rumours the greatest breakup album ever made? Yes. Nobody is seriously arguing otherwise. That case was settled years ago. Frankly, it should probably be protected under law.
The question we’ve ignored is whether Sweet and Gross from Springhill somehow managed to make the greatest breakup album even better simply by playing it.
On paper, none of this should work. You don’t casually take one of the most iconic albums in rock history and decide, “You know what this needs? A bunch of guys from Springhill.”
And yet Mike King, Joe King, Kody Smith and the rest of Sweet and Gross did exactly that.
The secret is they never try to be Fleetwood Mac. They’re not chasing perfection. They’re just great musicians who genuinely love playing together, and it shows. Every song feels less like a performance and more like you’re sitting in a room with friends who happen to be incredibly talented. That’s harder to pull off than people realize.
Fleetwood Mac gave us heartbreak.
Sweet and Gross gave us hometown heartbreak.
There’s a difference.
Fleetwood Mac asks what happens when love falls apart. Sweet and Gross asks what happens when love falls apart, but everyone in the room knows your mother. That’s a distinctly Maritime genre.
As someone who has recently become a reluctant student of breakup albums, I can report that their version of Rumours has become unexpectedly therapeutic.
Not because it fixes anything. It doesn’t. It just reminds you that even the worst chapters of your life deserve a soundtrack. Preferably one played by people who would absolutely make fun of you afterward for crying through Silver Springs.
That’s friendship and it’s convinced me in the wee hours of the unbearable silence that somebody should study this. There has to be a measurable improvement in emotional recovery after hearing Sweet and Gross play through your favourite classics. If nobody has applied for that research grant yet, I’d happily review the findings.
What surprised me most isn’t the music. It’s the joy.
Fleetwood Mac recorded Rumours while relationships were falling apart around them. You can hear every ounce of it. Sweet and Gross plays those same songs like they’re reminding everyone that heartbreak doesn’t get the last word. You can laugh. You can sing along. You can remember that life eventually gets funny again.
Maybe that’s why their version sticks with people. It isn’t trying to replace the original. It simply reminds you why the original mattered in the first place.
So yes, Rumours is still the greatest breakup album ever made. History settled that years ago. But if you’ve never heard Sweet and Gross play it, you’re working with incomplete information. And until you have, I’m not convinced you’re qualified to participate in the conversation."
Thanks, Ashley! I guarantee you've put more thought into Sweet 'N' Gross' RUMOURS than the band ever did. Hopefully everything with you is okay, and we're glad we were unexpectantly able to help!
Well, since we've been talking about it, here's a shameless promotion...
RUMOURS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WwWGTtCBOc&list=PLyTNrWVjOXhshDW_k9GZzRsiWS0crJ85U
RUMOURS on BandLab: https://www.bandlab.com/adalrecords/albums/c18b1f31-48eb-eb11-b563-0004ffd2ff5a
