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lagringader&r
06-10-2005, 04:03 AM
I was looking up reviews on Tusk and found this one from RS, 79. Bonus reviews at the end. For an album that didn't sell as well as anticipated, it sure got some rave reviews.

http://www.superseventies.com/fleetwoodmac4.html
desertangel
06-10-2005, 04:29 AM
Wow... so many references to The Beatles!! :thumbsup:

Notice the line about Stevie's tonality change. I always wondered if she permanantely lost range from putting too much the wrong way into the Rhiannon performances prior to and during the Rumours era. :confused:

Tusk, "poor sales," decent reviews, huge marketing campaign... hmmm I agree with LB... poor sales was prolly because it didn't sell quite as many as Rumours. BFD. I don't think double albums were selling well at all back then... no matter who's they were or what they sounded like. Quadraphonic albums didn't sell well either because they cost a little more... well and you had to have a special stereo to play them on, but money was kinda tight during that time period.

Tusk has and always will be an incredible work of art. If SYW would have been double and if there would have been some CMV songs on there, I think it would have been the modern version of Tusk.

Thanks for sharing those reviews!

Laura
David
06-10-2005, 10:54 AM
For an album that didn't sell as well as anticipated, it sure got some rave reviews.Tusk got outstanding reviews from virtually all the American critics back then who counted (Creem was a notable exception, but Creem was a stronghold of punk, fringe & roots). From Stephen Holden in RS to Noel Coppage in Stereo Review to metro daily critics like Robert Hilburn & Ken Tucker, Tusk was heralded not only as a collection of great tunes but a dazzling display of pop-visionary instinct & conceptualizing. The only other work in the post-1974 Fleetwood Mac canon that rivals Tusk in terms of its critical reception is Out Of The Cradle (which I think is a less interesting work). But Tusk has easily outstripped Cradle in terms of its influence.

Other Fleetwood Mac albums were well-liked (Rumours, Mirage, Tango, Trouble in Shangri-La, Law & Order, Say You Will), but were mostly received in the spirit of recapitulation rather than as documents of something completely new.

It's a shame that Tusk is dogged by so many inaccurate labels: "unpopular," "bad reviews," "poor sales" &c. That just wasn't the case, for anyone who bothers to research the critical reaction or the sales figures.
catinthedark
06-10-2005, 11:27 AM
And didn't the Westwood One Radio network air the entire Tusk album, beginning to end, on a much-hyped, much-publicized broadcast? One has to wonder how many sales were lost to people with casette recorders. Quality of sound is not a priority to many people who just want the latest tunes. I believe that show was one of the dumbest concepts in all of broadcasting history. JMO.
cliffdweller
06-10-2005, 11:57 AM
"With a pure, dusky alto that's reminiscent of Sandy Denny, this woeful woman-child who's in perpetual pursuit of "daddy" evokes a timeless sadness."

This is an interesting observation. Does Christine have daddy issues?
chiliD
06-10-2005, 12:03 PM
And didn't the Westwood One Radio network air the entire Tusk album, beginning to end, on a much-hyped, much-publicized broadcast?

Yep, the night before the album was released.

But, still...to sell 4.5 million DOUBLE albums..."poor sales" my a$$. :shrug:
shackin'up
06-10-2005, 12:12 PM
Yep, the night before the album was released.

But, still...to sell 4.5 million DOUBLE albums..."poor sales" my a$$. :shrug:


I agree. One of the most unfair and unrealistic perceptions of an album ever. Commercial failure my ASS too.

:thumbsup:
shackin'up
06-10-2005, 12:16 PM
Other Fleetwood Mac albums were well-liked (Rumours, Mirage, Tango, Trouble in Shangri-La, Law & Order, Say You Will), but were mostly received in the spirit of recapitulation rather than as documents of something completely new.


Absolutely. That's why it still is, and I think will ever be the best album ever recorded by anyone.
catinthedark
06-10-2005, 12:19 PM
Yep, the night before the album was released.

But, still...to sell 4.5 million DOUBLE albums..."poor sales" my a$$. :shrug:

I totally agree. They were never going to win. After the sales phenomenon that was Rumours, they were doomed to fail. Yeah, a 4.5 million failure. Go figure.
chiliD
06-10-2005, 12:27 PM
They were never going to win. After the sales phenomenon that was Rumours, they were doomed to fail.

Which was exactly Lindsey's point about trying to record an album that would've sounded exactly like Rumours. "Why try?" So, we got Tusk...yay, Lindsey!
SteveMacD
06-10-2005, 05:51 PM
"With a pure, dusky alto that's reminiscent of Sandy Denny, this woeful woman-child who's in perpetual pursuit of "daddy" evokes a timeless sadness."

This is an interesting observation. Does Christine have daddy issues?
Well, she quit touring with Fleetwood Mac after her daddy passed away :shrug:
SteveMacD
06-10-2005, 05:53 PM
Which was exactly Lindsey's point about trying to record an album that would've sounded exactly like Rumours. "Why try?" So, we got Tusk...yay, Lindsey!
And, didn't the white FM album initially sell like five million? So "Tusk" was far from a flop or failure. And, the only time it actually went up in price was last year, when it was issued as a two-CD set. For an album that has been listed at about $17 since 1979, that's not bad at all.
goldie
06-10-2005, 06:05 PM
I still am upset that Stevie only had 5 songs on that album! FIVE!
catinthedark
06-10-2005, 06:12 PM
Which was exactly Lindsey's point about trying to record an album that would've sounded exactly like Rumours. "Why try?" So, we got Tusk...yay, Lindsey!

Exactly!! It was the perfect time to do something different. It would have been easy to do Rumours II, but you know what? If they had, the critics would have panned them. But this is exactly the kind of thing that happens to many mega-artists. Madonna sold kajillions of albums (er, give or take a few), but as far as I've witnessed, it's only her true, deep fans who believe Ray of Light is her most brilliant work. The "fans" who loved Like a Virgin and Material Girl were long gone whe it came out. Similarly, I think Fleetwood Mac's "fans" who died for Dreams and GYOW were on to the next craze by the time Tusk came out. Even if the band had done Rumours II, I don't think it would have sold 20-million.

Is this making any sense? It's like crystal in my mind! :laugh:
Jyqm
06-10-2005, 09:20 PM
For an album that didn't sell as well as anticipated, it sure got some rave reviews.


You make it sound like that's the exception rather than the rule.
SteveMacD
06-10-2005, 10:41 PM
I still am upset that Stevie only had 5 songs on that album! FIVE!
Yeah, but her FIVE songs combined take up about the same space as Lindsey's NINE.
Jyqm
06-11-2005, 01:41 AM
Yeah, but her FIVE songs combined take up about the same space as Lindsey's NINE.

More. Actually, if you add up the running times of each singer/songwriter's songs, Stevie gets more time than anyone else on the album. I'm sure she could have had more songs on there if she'd been willing to edit some of them down, and I'm sure she was perfectly happy with her decision to include fewer songs without sacrificing length. I doubt she felt slighted in the least.
blinker12
06-11-2005, 02:36 AM
I doubt she felt slighted in the least.

Certainly not in the way she did with "Silver Springs" on Rumours (rightfully so, I might add). What outtakes were there of hers from Tusk? "The Dealer" and "Beauty and the Beast" spring to mind... fine songs for sure, but not in the league of "Silver Springs."
David
06-11-2005, 10:59 AM
What outtakes were there of hers from Tusk? "The Dealer" and "Beauty and the Beast" spring to mind.Personally, I don't think "Beauty" is a Tusk outtake. I don't think it was ever actually tracked for Tusk. I think the one recording we've heard of the band playing it is not studio tracking but a live thing, & if they're all set up live like that, playing an obviously very loose rendition, I conclude it's just passing some time at a tour rehearsal. We have only Maureen's word that it was done at Village Recorder during the making of the album, & what's her word worth? She used to sell CDs from venue X & label them venue Z all the time.
lagringader&r
06-11-2005, 02:08 PM
You make it sound like that's the exception rather than the rule.

I guess it is the rule, sadly. I think the same thing when I listen to Buckingham Nicks. I just think they are two of the most underrated artists in history, not to be dramatic about it. :laugh: Maybe it's why I'm a fan, but I don't understand how some people just don't get them. How can you listen to either Buckingham or Nicks and not feel something? :shrug:
goldie
06-11-2005, 04:23 PM
Yeah, but her FIVE songs combined take up about the same space as Lindsey's NINE.


True! I never thought about it that way!! lol! I feel better now.
gldstwmn
06-12-2005, 12:38 PM
And didn't the Westwood One Radio network air the entire Tusk album, beginning to end, on a much-hyped, much-publicized broadcast? One has to wonder how many sales were lost to people with casette recorders. Quality of sound is not a priority to many people who just want the latest tunes. I believe that show was one of the dumbest concepts in all of broadcasting history. JMO.

That probably didn't help matters along with the price, which I think was around $15.
johnny4406
06-15-2005, 12:52 PM
I still am upset that Stevie only had 5 songs on that album! FIVE!


I read somewhere that those five AMAZING songs have more actual time on the record than Lindsey's 10 songs. :woohoo:

Ah, Stevie ROCKS MY SOCKS! :nod:
Moony
06-15-2005, 03:39 PM
Certainly not in the way she did with "Silver Springs" on Rumours (rightfully so, I might add). What outtakes were there of hers from Tusk? "The Dealer" and "Beauty and the Beast" spring to mind... fine songs for sure, but not in the league of "Silver Springs."
Wasn't "Lady From The Mountain" a Tusk-era demo? Now THAT would have been amazing...