[8] After founder and original bandleader Peter Green departed Fleetwood Mac in May 1970, the remaining members recorded the album Kiln House, with bassist John McVie's wife Christine Perfect being a major collaborator during the sessions.

Fleetwood Mac held auditions for a replacement during the summer and eventually selected Bob Welch after hearing his demo tape.

McVie recalled in a 1988 interview that the band encountered difficulties in recording "Sands of Time", which she attributed to the structural complexity of the song and the expectation of playing it from start to finish without any mistakes.

The title track, written by then-newcomer Bob Welch,[14] was later re-recorded for his 1979 solo album The Other One and again for His Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond in 2003.

On the back are individual shots of the band members, with the exception of John McVie, who instead opted to replace his headshot with one of his photographs of a penguin from the London Zoo, which he visited on a near-daily basis.

[5] Early UK and American releases of this album, along with some other country's issues, have a yellow background to the picture of the two children and cover text.

The 2013 vinyl reissue by Warner/Rhino available in the Fleetwood Mac: 1969 to 1972 4-LP box set restores the original yellow background to the album artwork, and it was released as a standalone LP two years later.

[17] On 4 October 2000, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States.