Rumours vs. Tusk [Archive]

tilthefirefades

05-19-2010, 01:02 PM

Here we go! I want everyone to answer this age old question that was brought up in another thread. I am going with Tusk for many reasons. For me, it is much more enjoyable. It is the true shining moment of every member. Christine has Never Forget, Lindsey has Save Me A Place, and Stevie has Sara. Stevie's songs on this album are just incredible. But so are Christine's and Lindsey's of course. I think that over all, Chris totally makes this album for me. Over & Over, Never Forget and Brown Eyes help to bring together Lindsey's eccentricity and Stevie's darkness. The best way to enjoy Tusk though, is to just listen to it from beginning to end. It is hard to listen to a single song from it, with the exception of a few of course, without playing the next one in order.

Now onto Rumours. Maybe if they didn't play this album to death, and overexpose it to the point that it's damn near meaningless, it would mean more to me personally. Still yet, it is an incredible album also, to say the least. Rumours is nothing but the staple songs of Fleetwood Mac. The Chain has probably become my favorite from it, next to Songbird. Without Rumours, we may not still have them around with what little relevance they do have. At least they have not become just a has-been, and I personally thank Rumours for that.

chiliD

05-19-2010, 01:19 PM

Tusk still gets my nod...even though I think it's an overblown exercise in narcissistic BS. Should've been a single album, there's an entire album's worth of "filler" that could've been left out and the album most likely would've been infinitely more successful.

Here's how I listen to this 800 lb gorilla of an album (giving it a lap-band to cut it down to chimpanzee size)

side one:
Honey Hi
I Know I'm Not Wrong
Brown Eyes
Sisters Of The Moon
Tusk
Over & Over

side two:
Angel
What Makes You Think You're The One
Think About Me
Save Me A Place
Sara
Never Forget

bonus tracks (in the rare times when I'm in the mood):
Storms
Walk A Thin Line
Beautiful Child
Never Make Me Cry (the alternate "piano" version)
Farmer's Daughter (from disc 2 of the deluxe version)

The whole Rumours phenomena was the worst thing that could've happened to Fleetwood Mac, IMO.

ButterCookie

05-19-2010, 01:20 PM

Tusk. Because whenever I listen to Rumours, I get pissed off at the lack of Silver Springs.

bluefox4000

05-19-2010, 01:30 PM

I'm going with Tusk. It's weird it's all over the place......I love it. Lindsey just shines in this. Just makes me love him even more. Love save me a place, It's Not That Funny, The Ledge, Walk a Thin Line. All his tracks are Great. Stevie's great here too. Angel, Sara, Storms, Beautiful Child.......Come on:blob2: The only member who's below par.....and I will get flack for this......is Chris. I mean, I love Over and Over and Think About Me. But Brown Eyes and Honey Hi.......are like audio wallpaper. I KNOW they are loved. Lord I know...not by me:sorry: Anyway Still love the album.

I Love Rumours. However for me sometimes it sounds a little too polished, which is the same problem I have with Steely Dan's Aja. If that makes sense. I listen to Tusk far more. My fav double album after The White Album.

Mick

HomerMcvie

05-19-2010, 01:57 PM

As a musician, I know it's my duty to vote Tusk, but it's just not how I feel. Rumours is an absolute classic pop gem, and the album that changed my life, and cemented my obsession with music. Yeah, from overplay, I pretty much hate it now,:D but it still rules!

And I agree with Chili, Tusk should have been pared down to a single album...those record executives could have had a much better Christmas that year. Everyone could have lost two songs each, and it probably would've fit on a single album.

KarmaContestant

05-19-2010, 02:18 PM

I know it's my duty to vote Tusk, but it's just not how I feel. Rumours is an absolute classic pop gem, and the album that changed my life, and cemented my obsession with music. Yeah, from overplay, I pretty much hate it now,:D but it still rules!

What he said.

I know I'm supposed to think Tusk is better, because it's 'arty' and represents Lindsey's attempt to take back his presumed loss of creativity - and it works, it does. Tusk is an excellent album. But it's not Rumours.

I'm fairly certain that when Rumours was being recorded, the band was not trying to craft a pop-radio sensation - it just happened to turn out that way. It could easily have been the other way around had Tusk not been a double LP, which really did hurt it's prospects.

In the end, I would prefer to listen to Tusk if that were the choice, but only because I've listened to Rumours so much. In fact I'll put Tusk on right now in all of it's remastered glory.

My vote however has to go to Rumours. The songs are just better; everyone can relate to the subject matter on a personal level, and isn't that how music is supposed to be?

MikeVielhaber

05-19-2010, 03:09 PM

Tusk. Because whenever I listen to Rumours, I get pissed off at the lack of Silver Springs.

Have you never listened to the 2004 remaster?

ButterCookie

05-19-2010, 03:19 PM

Have you never listened to the 2004 remaster?

Yes, of course I have :lol: I rarely, however, play the mp3 or CD versions of Rumours (namely because I don't have a CD player) so when I have the vinyl on there's no Silver Springs.

HejiraNYC

05-19-2010, 03:38 PM

Oh, here comes the one disc vs. two-disc debate again. :rolleyes: For me it's obvious that Tusk had to be a double; it's because it wasn't full of hit single material. So, in a nutshell, one could argue that Rumours was "quality vs. quantity" and Tusk was "quantity vs. quality." Indeed Rumours is audiophile perfection. There is not a single note out of place or a spare drum beat or hi-hat. Every single note on every single track was deliberately and painstakingly placed. By comparison, Tusk was a technically sloppy mess full of stray background noises, inhaled breaths, overmodulated parts and stray guitar plucks. If they released a single album that was as technically sloppy as Tusk, they would have been lambasted for being lazy and for rushing to put out an unfinished/unrefined collection to cash in on the Rumours overhang. By having the space of four sides, it allowed them to completely divorce it from Rumours and to chart new artistic territory. It was looser, rawer, and yes, sloppier, but it was also ambitious and spontaneous. They had the space to do ambitious 5-, 6-minute songs as well as knocking out a few concise hit singles. While Rumours wins in terms of commercial appeal, precision and listenability, Tusk wins in terms of depth, complexity and artistry. Rumours is the Pepsi to Tusk's aged Bourdeaux. Both are great for what they are, but Tusk lingers a bit longer on the palette.

HomerMcvie

05-19-2010, 03:50 PM

Tusk. Because whenever I listen to Rumours, I get pissed off at the lack of Silver Springs.

But you can't rewrite history, no matter what.

Silver Springs wasn't on Rumours, period. Stevie might not have liked it that way, but that's the way it was. I don't feel it fit on there, anyway. IDWTK fits much better.

bluefox4000

05-19-2010, 03:55 PM

ButterCookie

05-19-2010, 03:58 PM

I do have valid arguments as to why I love Tusk more, I'm just far too lazy to write them down :lol: The biggie being that I get more Chris :rolleyes: But then Rumours has Songbird... *brain argues with itself*

michelej1

05-19-2010, 04:01 PM

I have nothing against Rumours, except that I hear the songs too much. If I could listen to both Rumours and Tusk for the very first time, I'd probably like Rumours better, but I can't . . .

By the time I became an FM fan in late 1979, Rumours was already out and overplayed and I just can never imagine what it would have been like to hear it fresh.

In all honesty, if I had to vote, I'd probably say I liked Mirage better than Rumours too:eek:. Although I still enjoy GDW an GYOW in concert, by and large, my ears just don't hear Rumours songs anymore.

Michele

TrueFaith77

05-19-2010, 04:24 PM

But you can't rewrite history, no matter what.

Silver Springs wasn't on Rumours, period. Stevie might not have liked it that way, but that's the way it was. I don't feel it fit on there, anyway. IDWTK fits much better.

ditto x 100000000000

besides, Silver Springs had two perfect incarnations that fulfilled its potential/meaning/pleasure-making: 1. as a b-side with Go Your Own Way (plus with all that radio play that afforded it) and 2. its triumphant resurrection (and superior rendition) on The Dance.

I hope to join in the fray on this debate eventually, but it's all too huge for me to discuss now.

I voted for Tusk.

I do have valid arguments as to why I love Tusk more, I'm just far too lazy to write them down :lol: The biggie being that I get more Chris :rolleyes: But then Rumours has Songbird... *brain argues with itself*

Perfectly put. That should also be the name of the next Mac album.

Peestie

05-19-2010, 04:24 PM

Tusk for me. I love the space and the sound of all the songs. I love trying to find 80 minutes to just sit and listen to it. It doesn't happen often but when I make the time I enjoy it.

Rumours is the perfect pop album, along with Lindsey's OoTC. Everything just fits and works and sounds like it belongs. Not to mention the fantastic sound quality.

In the end it's a close run thing because they are both perfect examples of what they represent. One is the all time classic pop album and the other is an arty masterpiece.

StreetAngel95

05-19-2010, 04:27 PM

I agree with the fact that Rumours is overplayed. But musically, it's a great album! And iconic in its own way. But for me, the edge goes to Tusk. It's just downright musical GENIUS. There are no weak tracks, and it flows AMAZINGLY......except....the vinyl packaging??????? HOLY SHYTE! It takes me a good hour and a half to put it back together!

RoseGarden

05-19-2010, 05:28 PM

roomsonfire21

05-19-2010, 05:40 PM

I am going with Rumors. Only because if Rumors hadn't come out first then perhaps I would not have even given the Mac a chance to listen to Tusk. At the time Rumors came out it was HOT and mystical. Expecting a Rumors II, Tusk seemed weird at the time. I have bought Tusk as many times as Rumors (Albums/8 tracks/cassettes/ cd's) and Love them both. (actually love Tusk more) but like stated , would of never given the Mac a listen to something that "weird" if it hadn't been for Rumors.

For me its the opposite. FM might have significantly lost popularity if they released a rumours II. At least by creating something original and weird they were able to prove that they're sucess wasn't a fluke without talent.

BTW, Tusk pwns Rumors in every way, shape, and form. Except for Gold Dust Woman, that song is def in my top 5.

jaycee

05-20-2010, 06:47 AM

Tusk all the way! :D
(I seem to be getting better at splitting hairs nowadays. :))

holidayroad

05-20-2010, 08:23 AM

I vote for Tusk.
Rumours is a fine album, it has great songs, I can't deny that. Like others have said though, it's been done, and done, and overdone to the point where it's hard to go back and listen to it at face value. I've tried going back and listening to it and saying to myself 'Listen to this like you've never heard it before' but that is almost impossible to do.
Tusk is overall an excellent album. It is different in a way that, even now, I can listen to it and get something new out of it. (I still feel that 'Save Me a Place' could have been dropped from it, though! That's the only LB FM song I can't stand.)

MikeVielhaber

05-20-2010, 03:38 PM

bucklind17

05-20-2010, 11:43 PM

Ordinarily, I would have voted Tusk but I just remembered how last Christmas, my brother got a record player and we put my vinyl copy of Rumours on it and sat around listening to it that way and I'm giving Rumours my vote today because of that memory. I love me some Tusk but I don't think it would have felt as magical if we had put that vinyl on that day.

belladonnadream

05-21-2010, 12:26 AM

Tusk..Stevie's contributions are masterpieces.

jbrownsjr

05-21-2010, 12:46 AM

Rumours... Sonically it's incredible... and they wrote the songs as a band more than Tusk...

Conceptually however.. both albums have their own distinct character....

This is what Say You Will lacks.... character...

aleuzzi

05-21-2010, 12:51 AM

Can't have Tusk and all it's "Tuskness" (to quote Stevie) without Rumours.

I listen to Tusk more now but Rumours is a perfect record.

Maybe it's because Tusk is so imperfect that I enjoy listening to it, enjoy re-imagining certain songs with different arrangements: it allows for space. I also think Tusk is only as "great" a record as it is because it IS a double album. If you pared that suite of songs down to one album it would be unremarkable--even bland--in comparison to Rumours. It's the fact that it IS excessive, messy, and comparatively random that it works so well.

Oh--and I agree with a post above: Stevie's Tusk material is stellar, the only one of the three songwriters who seems to have made career-topping performances on the record. Lindsey and Chris have great moments, but they both soar above their Tusk songs on several other projects.

Meowi

05-21-2010, 03:58 AM

I go with both.
Both are awesome

jcalzaretta

05-21-2010, 08:48 PM

Many interesting comments.

I personally love Rumours more. I find it to be flawless. Not a weak track. While I love Silver Springs and love having it on the DVD and remasterd CD, I also love I Don't Wanna Know. In fact, I think the next FM show, they should suprise people and open with that song. But not to digress.

I like Tusk too. I think Stevie's songs on both are downright amazing, perfect and flawless. I think Christine and Lindsay's songs are much better on Rumours than on Tusk, in total. There are songs on Tusk that I just don't care for. I love - I Know I'm Not Wrong, Walk a Thin Line, Brown Eyes and Over and Over. But then I don't care for Not That Funny and Honey Hi. And the rest are good but not as great as the tracks on Rumours.

I think also for me - I love Rumours for what it stands for - and that is the heartbreak in their personal lives. And I think others who love Tusk more part love it for what it means - being not a Rumours II.

ButterCookie

05-22-2010, 02:04 AM

I think Christine and Lindsay's songs are much better on Rumours than on Tusk, in total.

Lindsey.

Personally, I much prefer Honey Hi to Oh Daddy :nod:

TrueFaith77

05-22-2010, 08:27 AM

Lindsey.

Personally, I much prefer Honey Hi to Oh Daddy :nod:

Oh Daddy gave birth to Tusk, I think.

David

05-22-2010, 09:27 AM

I have to say RUMOURS is it for me. All the songwriters are at their zenith--each was never better than DREAMS, YOU MAKE LOVING FUN, & GO YOUR OWN WAY. All four musicians were at their instrumental zenith in terms of creating perfect parts. The Caillat+Dashut engineering, too, was the most remarkable it's ever been. The flow of the songs & the sounds, the physical package, the compression of the audio signal, the vocal harmonies (new for rock at the time), & the hip way the album bridges the gap between the '60s & the '70s--all combines in so excellent a way that it exemplifies the best pop of the era, like a great Beatles album of a decade earlier.

TUSK is just a great band doing some remarkable screwing around. We love it because we love Fleetwood Mac. But with RUMOURS, you love it FIRST.

bluefox4000

05-22-2010, 11:20 AM

I actually heard Tusk before Rumours. Actually before I was even into the Mac.
My Uncle had a copy. I thought wow...how.......Amazing. THEN I heard Rumours. While I loved it. It was still too polished. Almost......Almost a bit rigid. There's not not a question.....It's amazing. But too slick for my tastes. So yea I loved Tusk first.

Mick

michelej1

05-22-2010, 12:57 PM

Lindsey.

Personally, I much prefer Honey Hi to Oh Daddy :nod:

So do I and I like Think About Me better than I like anything she did on Rumours.

All the songwriters are at their zenith--each was never better than DREAMS, YOU MAKE LOVING FUN, & GO YOUR OWN WAY.

If I thought that Dreams and YMLF were the best those 2 had to offer, I'd be very sad and desolate. My heart would turn into a small, hard little raisin that rolled unnoticed under the kitchen counter and collected dust and ants for a year or two. Not that I don't love the studio version of Dreams, because I do . . . Just saying.

Michele

MissLadyLoki

05-27-2010, 08:18 AM

Oh crap, I meant to vote for Tusk instead of Rumours.

Anyways, these days, Tusk has a slight edge for me. Don't get me wrong, Rumours is still a fantastic album, but Tusk is a bit like me: strange and off-the-wall, and yet, it manages to be oh-so awesome. It has some of my favorite Stevie songs (Sara, Storms, Angel, etc.) and some great contributions from Lindsey and Christine. IMO, it was a necessary album cause if they made another Rumours, sure they'd have the commercial success and all, but they'd probably wouldn't have lasted as long as they did and not be as well-repsected for their music had they not made it. Besides, all great bands have taken the chance with the double album (Physical Graffiti, White Album, Exile on Main Street, and The Wall are all chances that turned out fantastic), and the Mac should be no exception.

Now, Rumours is great, but it's overplayed so damn much, and when something is overplayed to hell, no matter how great it is, it can get annoying, so that's why I meant to vote for Tusk

chiliD

05-27-2010, 10:38 AM

...the vocal harmonies (new for rock at the time),

?????:confused:

Explain further, David...how did their harmonies differ from the Beatles' (for example, "Because" on Abbey Road) & the Beach Boys' (well, just pick any)??

To me, their harmonies were just culled from those influences (as well as the Every Brothers)

Don't get how their harmonies were "new for rock at the time".

chiliD

05-27-2010, 10:54 AM

IMO, it was a necessary album cause if they made another Rumours, sure they'd have the commercial success and all, but they'd probably wouldn't have lasted as long as they did and not be as well-repsected for their music had they not made it. Besides, all great bands have taken the chance with the double album (Physical Graffiti, White Album, Exile on Main Street, and The Wall are all chances that turned out fantastic), and the Mac should be no exception.

They really DIDN'T last much longer...there was the 2+ year break at the end of the Tusk tour....then another 4+ year break after Mirage...then Lindsey bailed before the '87 tour. If Tusk was THAT important, they would've found it necessary to follow IT up fairly rapidly, and they didn't. What happened is that their "breaks" to do solo projects negatively affected the band....and Fleetwood Mac's popularity waned. Sure, it would spike when they'd release an album, but once the Fleetwood Mac travelling circus came through your town on tour, the interest went away....whereas, from '75 to '81, interest in the band was 24/7, even BETWEEN albums...the build up to the release of Rumours, then the massive tour to back it, then the Rumours "soap opera phenomena machine" was in full-swing....the build up to Tusk and the subsequent tour that dwarfed the Rumours tour. Once the Tusk tour ended...that was the end of Fleetwood Mac-mania as it had been for the previous 6 years. (and the end of their "relevance") Basically, they've been a "cult" band ever since...with a very large "cult" membership.

Almost Simon

05-28-2010, 07:29 AM

Rumours for sure :cool:

starshine

05-30-2010, 04:29 PM

I voted for Tusk.....as much as I do like or love Rumours for all that it was....I love Tusk because it is different and there's more songs on it....its more special in some ways cause all the songs haven't been played to death like everything from Rumours has been over all these yrs. I can put on Tusk and listen from track 1 to the end I may not love all of them but I can listen to them.....so ....I just love me some Tusk......:thumbsup::angel:

Sahara

07-08-2010, 08:51 AM

It took me years to appreciate Tusk and fall in love with it, and it gets my vote, hands down.
Rumours is indeed an album full of Mac classics and staples, but I think that's what makes Tusk so much more interesting -- it presents the nuances and less straightforward sides of the band. It's not the basics that every fan should know; it's the subtleties of each songwriter (and they all have wonderful tracks here) that you can sink your teeth into over and over again, each time finding something new.

On another note -- I don't really ever listen to the album Rumours. Having listened to so many live versions of most of these songs, the studio versions sound too polished and, frankly, odd to my ear. Even lifeless, if I'm allowed say that :p
Not to say that detracts from the album itself, it just makes it less appealing that Tusk to sit down and listen to all the way through.

michelej1

07-08-2010, 01:38 PM

On another note -- I don't really ever listen to the album Rumours. Having listened to so many live versions of most of these songs, the studio versions sound too polished and, frankly, odd to my ear. Even lifeless, if I'm allowed say that :p
Not to say that detracts from the album itself, it just makes it less appealing that Tusk to sit down and listen to all the way through.

I never listen to Rumours either, but because I hadn't heard it for years (except on the radio), when the DVD-A came out, I found it immensely enjoyable to relive the album again as a whole, in sequence. But I can easily OD on it. It's just been done to death.

Michele

HomerMcvie

07-08-2010, 01:44 PM

I never listen to Rumours either, but because I hadn't heard it for years (except on the radio), when the DVD-A came out, I found it immensely enjoyable to relive the album again as a whole, in sequence. But I can easily OD on it. It's just been done to death.

Michele

This is me, too. Too many YEARS of listening to it. It's my #1 album ever, which changed my life, but about the 3 millionth listen, and I had to pull the plug.

michelej1

07-31-2010, 01:02 AM

Prince Rama compiled a list of 10 albums for Dusted Magazine. Fleetwood Mac made the cut:

http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/917

10. Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

If pop was to grow fangs and feed on the blood of his lovers while still succeeding to woo them by day, these are the songs he’d sing on acoustic guitar under the balcony. This album will totally seduce you immediately, but then after listening to it for awhile, you realize your seduction is rooted in your own slow death; perhaps the power of this album lies the fact that it draws its strength not from the platonic ideal of eternal love, but from the utterly fleeting, painfully ephemeral, beautifully mortal experience of love as it arrests you in the arena of everyday.

lesliedahlink

08-05-2010, 09:13 PM

I see people love Tusk more, but I love Rumours best. It was my first Fleetwood Mac album.

Almost Simon

08-06-2010, 04:18 AM

I've never gotten into Tusk depsite many, many tries over the years. There's only a few songs I ever listen to - Sara, Tusk. Erm, thats about it.

Whereas with Rumours EVERY track is glorious.

No question - Rumours is the one.

ryan4136

08-08-2010, 10:40 PM

Two obviously amazing rock/pop albums. For me it's clearly Tusk though. Rumours is a masterpiece of pop/radio gems. But Tusk is a masterpiece of art. This debate while relevant and ongoing, is much like asking do you like Abby Road or the White Album, to me it was always the white album any day of the week. Tusk is much the same way. It is without question 3 solo albums being pushed together into one (with a heavy LB influence directing the songs).

While Rumours is defined by it's percision, Tusk is defined by it's creativity. Radio hits will always get your feet tapping and will always make more $$, but creativity in art gets you to stop and think. For me if I want to have fun and throw a party throw on Rumours, but if I get stuck on an island with one album let it be Tusk.

To hit another point that always seems to come up regarding Tusk. Single v. Double album. I almost find it blasphemy to think of Tusk as a single, it's greatness comes from it's depth, and vast tempo changes. However obviously they could've put together a much higher selling single album. The question always for me is what if, it had been a single and doubled or tripled sales....how long would the band have topped the charts...alas it was not to be. So to play the game how about this lineup....

1. Think About Me
2. I know I'm Not Wrong
3. Angel
4. Honey Hi
5. Sara

6. WMYTYTO
7. Storms
8. Brown Eyes
9. Sisters of the Moon
10. Tusk

I know I know...no Save Me a Place, no Ledge etc. Think about me as an opener sets a totally different tone for the album. LB's most catchy song next. My opinion Angel gets lost in the album, I feel it would've been a bigger hit with a smaller album setup, not Dreams but might have been pushed to try to be. HH great happy tune keeping it upbeat, and we know how big Sara was. WMYT graps you just as it does currently when you flip over, Storms gets the call over BC, which really do the same thing for the album, allowing BC maybe to be Stevie's signature on a future album. Brown Eyes perfect melodicaly as a middle song for a side that will ramp up. Sisters again not a Rhiannon, but will try to fill that slot, and Tusk to catchy too fun.

When you break the album down this way, an album that I find experimental and mellow in it's double form, feels much more upbeat/loud, and buyer friendly. But again I almost feel like I'm sinning against FM by going down that road. Many of the outtakes could've turned Law and Order into a double album....talk about experimental, adding Not that funny, That's all, ledge, that's enough for me, thin line to that album.

This would've allowed for solid groundwork for the next album to reduce studio time next time around.....Over and Over, Save me a Place, Never Make you Cry, Beautiful Child, Never Forget, 1/2 way to another album right there.

shackin'up

08-16-2010, 02:41 PM

Tusk, yes. Because it is the best album ever recorded. By anyone.

Silver Springs

08-22-2010, 01:06 PM

Wow. Considering how many people I've come across who have dismissed Tusk as nothing more than dreck, I am bowled over by how many people have voted it up. I adore the album, and it's one of the albums that takes pride of place amongst my vinyl collection. Of course, the most prominent song from the album is its namesake, and perhaps Storms considering how close it eminates from the Lindsey/Stevie saga (I heard it live in November of last year and I am not ashamed to say that I cried at that show. It blew me away). Having said that, The Ledge is probably my favourite song of the album. It demonstrates what most of the album stands for in my humble opinion, having a bit of fun. It's very Lindsey heavy, and because I'm eccentric enough to appreciate his more nutball style music (That's How We Do It In LA, people?) it's just the way I like mah FM.

AncientQueen

08-22-2010, 05:25 PM

I don't ever listen to Rumours anymore, can't stand it, everything sounds better live with that band and this particular album. It happened that Rumours was playing and I thought "I should put a record on" because Rumours was only a background noise I was so used to that I blocked it out.

My first FM album was Tusk, the first song I've ever heard of them was the song Tusk, and I loved them from that point on, even if their other work was nothing like this little firecracker.

While I probably like the Tusk album more as a whole, I have the time to do a song for song assessment, just for my own fun.

Points:
0=meh
1=okay, but not my cup of tea
2=good
3=very good
4=song that has a place in my life's soundtrack

Rumours
Second Hand News - so Lindsey has a sense of humour, interesting=2
Dreams - wake me up when it is over=0
Never Going Back Again - the hook is very thin=1
Don't Stop - excellent use of the voices=3
Go your own way - best song of Lindsey Buckingham=3
Songbird - I think they should have used the longer version, but still=3
The Chain - rocks=3
You make loving fun - not exactly my favorite Christine song=1
I don't Want To Know - the least overexposed song, fresh and fun=3
Oh Daddy - wake me up again, extra No-Go! for the use of "Daddy" in a love song=0
Gold Dust Woman - ghoulish, the lyrics are so Stevie, perfect=3

22 points

Tusk
Italics indicate a track which should have been on the single LP that Tusk should have been.

Over & Over - great harmonies, but I am easily bored and this should not be the opener, again they try to connect the album to the last and it doesn't work=1
The Ledge - fun=3
Think about Me - even more fun=3
Save me a Place - what is this about, musically? =0
Sara - so basically here it starts, the saccarine attack of Stevie Nicks produced by Lindsey Buckingham. Judging from the too long Cleaning Lady version there is a great song underneath it all=3
What makes you Think you're the One - at least it sounds raw=2
Storms - 5:28 of lukewarm breeze to make the point that she has always been a storm? Come on=0
That's all for Everyone - okay, a more hectic song would kill you after the borefest of Storms=0
Not that Funny- I love that one, it is so unfunny, but yet so catchy for my ears=3
Sisters of The Moon - ghoulish worked on GDW, so Stevie tries grand Guignol melodrama, only this time, she (and the production) goes to far, one point is for the lyrics =1
Angel - only to follow the mess with her best FM song, I love it :)=4
That's enough for Me - for me, too=1
Brown Eyes - the harmonies are great, alot of atmosphere for a Christine song=3
Never make me cry - it's lovely, but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz=1
I know I'm not Wrong - in many ways, he is=1
Honey Hi - great harmonies AND not that boring= 2
Beautiful Child - that is difficult, it is great and stuff, but also overly long and dramatic, but still=2
Walk a Thin Line - he should have sniffed a long line.. =0
Tusk - hikahakahu. In every second, everything can happen and then totally happens, unpredictable, bold and fun=4
Never forget - Christine manages to speed up, with fine results=3

Points: 37

So it is 22 to 37

Rumours scores 2 points per song on average
Tusk scores 1.85 points per song

My eleven tracks for the single Tusk album blow Rumours out of the water with 32 points and an average of 2,9

Mh, so it is only natural that I feel that Tusk is the winner and will vote for it...

Thank you for reading this :)

Sahara

08-22-2010, 08:19 PM

^^
I love your analysis of the two albums! I don't agree with all of it but it's a really interesting way of stacking them up side by side!

Musicman408

08-23-2010, 04:27 PM

Tusk without a doubt!!!

astro-addy

08-28-2010, 09:06 PM

Silver Springs wasn't on Rumours, period. Stevie might not have liked it that way, but that's the way it was. I don't feel it fit on there, anyway. IDWTK fits much better.

hm... silver springs instead Idwk??? I always assumed silver springs would have pushed Oh Daddy... why does everyone assume idwtk pushed out silver springs? Is there a story there?

Artemis

08-28-2010, 09:20 PM

hm... silver springs instead Idwk??? I always assumed silver springs would have pushed Oh Daddy... why does everyone assume idwtk pushed out silver springs? Is there a story there?

Stevie's said that Mick told her Silver Springs was off the record and then they "made her" record IDWK "with a gun to her head" or words to that effect. I'll browse through my bookmarks, I know I've saved an interview somewhere.

Edit - Aha, found it. http://www.inherownwords.com/silver.htm

michelej1

11-10-2010, 09:59 PM

http://www.seattlepi.com/pop/429908_148163-blogcritics.org.html

[B]Music Review: Fleetwood Mac - TuskBy DAVID BOWLING
BLOGCRITICS.ORG

What do you do when you have just released one of the ten best selling albums of all time, which topped the American album chart for 31 weeks? This was the question and task that faced Fleetwood Mac when they returned to the studio during late 1978 to record their follow up album to Rumours.

The resulting Tusk would be a long and sprawling double album. It would receive some criticism at the time of its release and not have the commercial success of its predecessor. It would, however, reach number four in The United States and number one in England and sell four million copies worldwide, which would have been outstanding for almost any other band or release.

Unfortunately, it was considered a failure in many circles. In retrospect, it could not have lived up to the expectations which preceded it.

I remember being disappointed at the time of its release, but the album has grown on me as time has passed and as it escaped the Rumours shadow. Today it stands on its own as another brilliant pop/rock release by Fleetwood Mac.

If Tusk was originally one thing, it was ambitious. In many places the sound veers from the safe pop styling of their last two releases to a more adventurous rock direction.

Lindsey Buckingham wrote nine of the twenty tracks and takes the most chances musically. “Tusk” was a drum=based track featuring the USC Marching Band. It was released as the lead single, which quickly announced that this was a different Fleetwood Mac release.

While the song was one of Mick Fleetwood’s crowning achievements, his drumming is excellent throughout. Just check out “Brown Eyes” and “What Makes You Think You’re The One.” Songs such as “The Ledge,” “Not That Funny,” and “What Make’s You Think You’re The One” have a frenetic feel that was not what its fan base was expecting at the time but which seem fine today. His “Save Me A Place” returned the group to a more familiar place complete with tight harmonies.

Stevie Nicks contributed five songs that may have been her overall strongest group and were what the band’s fan base expected of her. “Sara” is one of the finest performances of her career and became a deserved hit single. The original album version was almost two minutes longer than the single and remains superior. It was written about Mick Fleetwood’s wife Sara and her effects upon the group. Its harmonies, overdubbing, and emotional vocal make it one of her better creations.

“Storms” is moody and quiet, while “Sisters Of The Moon,” and “Beautiful Child” continued to develop her mystical personality.

Christine McVie sort of put it on cruise control for this release. “Never Make Me Cry” is a nice piano-based ballad. “Honey Hi” is surrounded with beautiful harmonies. “Over & Over” may have a mournful sound but it is also well created pop.

In many ways, Tusk is the modern pop Fleetwood Mac’s most creative album. It is a release that has stood the passage of time well and bears repeated listens to be truly appreciated.

http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-fleetwood-mac-tusk/