Singer-songwriter Stevie Nick’s place has long been assured in the history book of rock n’ roll, courtesy of her starring role in the group Fleetwood Mac.

It was not until Nicks and her then music partner and boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac in 1974 that the group really hit the big time and since then they have sold many millions of records with their landmark album ‘Rumours’ alone having clocked up sales of over forty million.

The Fleetwood Mac story would be ideal soap opera material too for as well as serving up much great music, their history has involved a marriage of two of the members, divorces, several affairs between the group personnel, copious amounts of drug taking and alcohol consumption, bitter feuding, members leaving the band then later returning to the fold with a well-publicised ‘kiss and make-up’, huge worldwide tours, private jets and stints in rehab facilities.

A script writer really would struggle to dream up a more intriguing tale.

Throughout their history there have been periods when Fleetwood Mac have barely functioned as a group with lengthy gaps between albums and tours and the individual members, particularly Nicks and Buckingham, have used these times to pursue solo careers with Nicks being the one who has enjoyed by far the greatest success going it alone, even managing to maintain her flourishing solo career in tandem with her Fleetwood Mac duties.

The band are presently on another one of their sabbaticals though there is no evidence to suggest that they have called time on the group yet, especially since their most recent world tour a couple of years back saw them playing better than ever and garnering fantastic critical reviews.

But whilst we wait for the next instalment in the Fleetwood Mac saga, Miss Nicks has just released her seventh studio album and her first new one in over a decade entitled ‘In Your Dreams’ (Reprise), with the title subtly doffing a cap to one of Mac’s best known songs, ‘Dreams’ (from the ‘Rumours album) that featured a classic Nicks vocal.

‘In Your Dreams’ is largely produced by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame with Glen Ballard also ‘on board’, best known for his work with Alanis Morissette and this is easily Nick’s best offering since the Eighties.

‘In Your Dreams’ is very much a quintessential Nicks record but that does not mean it’s an album that finds her simply re-treading old group. The trademark Nicks vocal, that can be both silky smooth and a delicious raspy/husky drawl in equal measures and often managing to be both within the same song , is still in fine fettle and there’s a nice mix of powerful rock tracks and ballads on display here.

The track ‘Secret Love’ is actually a previously unreleased rocker that Nicks penned during the Fleetwood Mac ‘Rumours’ era but which has now been dusted down and updated and is one of the record’s standout moments along with ‘Soldier’s Angel’, inspired by war veterans, the acoustic ‘For What It’s Worth’, the country-tinged title track, the soulful southern ballad ‘New Orleans’ and the delicious ‘Moonlight’.

Stevie Nicks is not without her critics who are often most cruel when referencing her solo work, frequently accusing her of being in a time warp and being ever so predictable especially in respect to her lyrical symbolism but her loyal fans have got used to hearing such remarks and, I hazard, care not one bit.

Nick’s herself can point to solo album sales that pass the several million mark as the perfect retort to these digs.

But even her staunchest knockers would have to acknowledge that with ‘In Your Dreams, Miss Nicks has hit a rich vein of form.