Hi All! I'm so sorry that I'm late to this party!
First of all I just need to say that I have literally been waiting for this for over 20 years when I first discovered Fleetwood Mac (yes, I'm aging myself a little...). Tusk is my all time favorite album for a number of reasons.
The Tusk Tour is still my favorite Fleetwood Mac Tour. IMO, there has never been an edgier, gritty, powerful version of the band. The leaders of the group were clearly trying to assert dominance on the stage each night and it came through in their performances. Stevie's vocals and stage presence can be downright haunting, and Lindsey's guitar tone sounds like a demon and madman (probably not too far from the truth...). To me, Lindsey has never played better than he did during the middle stages of the Tusk Tour!
This release was so welcome for me and especially for the live disc of unreleased tracks. Here is where I am most critical of the release though...
While I am very happy that we have some new shows that I don't believe have ever been circulated as bootlegs (i.e., London), I don't hear the band at their peak. Lindsey sounds coked out on some of the songs (I think from the first night, 06/20) and some of the singing from Stevie is sloppy; probably also suffering from the affects of nose candy. I wish they would have included some of the shows from May of 1980, which to me, were the pinnacle of that tour. Chicago, Cleveland (also on Live Album), some of those bootlegs are wonderful. Regardless, it's great to hear some of this new material even if it isn't quite their best.
The live version of Sara is phenomenal. I like it better than the Live Album version simply because it's more raw. I also love that they included songs like That's Enough For Me that I don't think I've ever heard even from bootlegs! And the 5.1 DVD audio? Please don't get me going on that... it's my own little version of heaven. I was so disappointed in 2003/2004 when we heard that Ken had mixed it but never received a release due to the death of DVDA and SACD
. The wait was worth it!
All in all, I just wanted to share my impressions and geek out on this release. THANK YOU BAND AND WARNER BROS for putting this material out for us to consume! I've bought it all, including the standalone In Concert and Alternate Tusk vinyl release and will continue to buy any material you release from the Tusk era! (wink wink)
I hope you all have been enjoying this release as much as I have!