Rumours vs. Tusk
 

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

Mick

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*

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

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.

[QUOTE=ButterCookie;891166]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*[/QUOTE]

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

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.