What song would you wish lead off Tusk?
 

This question comes out of a discussion in the thread about Lindsey's Tusk songs freaking out the WB executives. At one point, someone said she loved Over and Over and felt it was the best album opener ever. Another person wrote something along the lines of "are you kidding me, it's the worst opener ever."

Personally, I like (do not love) the song and agree that it is a strange opener for any record, but especially for Tusk, given that album's experimental edge.

What song do you think would have made the perfect opener for the record? And if you think the band made the right choice, explain!

I think the best opener would have been Never Forget. It's "up," bright, catchy, and very listenable. The title track would have been superb, too, but I doubt anyone could have handled that as the opener back in 79. Maybe Sisters of the Moon could have worked, too.

I reckon The Ledge, though its weird like all of Lindsey's tracks on this album, it still has that Second hand News, Monday morning feel to it, where there isn't really any build up in the song its straight at you and it showcases all three of the vocals together.

Over and over is toooo slooow and mellow. The Ledge is a great example of Fleetwood Mac as a whole musical display, and i love the lines "buy another fixture, tell another lie, paint another picture, see whos suprised, you can love me baby but you can't walk out.."

That's a representation of Fleetwood Mac if i had ever seen one.

Think About Me.

Tusk is perfection, so I really do like Over & Over as the opener. It sets a great tone to what starts a really unusual album.
No offense, but Never Forget is the perfect and only choice to close the album.

If I were to switch out Over & Over (I would have to be forced), I would swap Think About Me and Over & Over.

I'd have to say "Sisters of the Moon". I love long instrumental introductions to albums... which is why I had such an adverse reaction to "Monday Morning" the first time I played TVBOFM! MM's a fantastic concert opener though! :nod:

Monday Morning is perfect to lead out BN to FM on the FM album, showcasing something different, and I feel Over and Over was a great choice for Tusk, likewise, because it was very different from the material on Rumours, the Ledge being great for number 2 for the same reason.

I'm glad the Ledge didn't start it off, not contemporary enough, and I find Linds' vocals incomprehensible when I casually listen to it (not that anyone really listens casually to Tusk other than FM fans :P ).

- Spike

I can't imagine Over & Over being anywhere else on the album but the leadoff track. It works perfectly- it sets the tone not just for an unusual album but also for a double album. A short, lively tune (such as Think About Me) would just sound out of place and would do nothing to settle the listener in for the experience known as TUSK.

The only other track that could possibly work as an opener would be SOTM... but, like I said, I'd be at a loss of where to put O&O (maybe a direct swap)

Over and Over is the perfect opener. And as to a direct swap with SOTM Luke, I think Not That Funny, Over and Over and Angel would be absolutely horrible. NTF, SOTM and Angel is perfect.

On CD, perhaps... but as it was originally sequenced for two vinyl LP's, I think Over & Over could have been a nice way to end Side Two.

I have always felt this way too.

Especially the way they ended Never Forget as well, I don't know whose idea it was but I can only describe it as magical. It's like Christine McVie is required to begin and end the album properly. :P

Over and Over is the perfect, slow yet unusual lead in, Never Forget the perfect soft, but with longing and mystique, lead out. Both leave you craving more. I love it.

Am I the only one who thinks CM's best work is on this album?

- Spike

I always found it strange that on the Tusk Tour Christine didn't perform any of her Tusk songs. Over and Over was performed at a few shows and Think About Me was performed at a few, but that's it.

Over and Over is the greatest opening song ever.

But I don't think the band wanted "nice" with Tusk. I think the band wanted to shake the listener's expectations of various formulae that had, even by then, mummified on pop music records (including, perhaps most importantly, on "Fleetwood Mac" & "Rumours").

"Over & Over" introduces not only the album, of course, but also the sense of toying with expectations: in this case, expectations of assertive anthems or hook-laden radio-ready "jingles" that seemed designed by Billboard chart compilers.

"Over & Over" is relaxed; it takes its time as it wends its way through verse & chorus & instrumental bridge. The Rolling Stone critic Stephen Holden characterized the track in his summary: "Tusk" finds Fleetwood Mac slightly jet-lagged, tipsy in the late-afternoon sun.

Another suitable opening track for the album? In my view, "Save Me a Place," which would have amplified the (non)suitability factors of "Over & Over" tenfold.

I think Over and Over was the right choice. If I had to say another song, I guess Angel would have been a good beginner.