What if Tusk had been Rumours 2?
 

Tusk is my favorite Mac album. But what if Lindsey hadn’t pushed so hard for it to be less mainstream, and a double album? What do you think the tracklist would have been if there were, say, 10 or 11 tracks, produced with more of an ear toward radio friendliness?

I know which tracks I’d put on that album and I’ll share it after we get some other suggestions in this thread. But the problem I have is that I can’t sequence it well, because nothing on Tusk is a great, classic sounding opening track. Don’t get me wrong; I adore “Over and Over,” but it wouldn’t have been the right opener for Rumours 2. And “Think About Me,” the most mainstream-sounding track on Tusk, isn’t the best opening track either. I feel like it would have needed to kick off with an uptempo Lindsey track.

Thoughts?

The phrase Rumours 2 was created by Lindsey. I understand wanting to be creative and different. But had the album been as successful as Rumours I don't think much would have happened. I still think the solo careers would have happened after the album. The Tusk tour was mismanaged by Mick so I think they would have still gotten their own managers. I do think Lindsey's desire for creativeness would have taken over and maybe Lindsey would have left sooner. I heard Chris say once that the band was afraid Lindsey was going to leave so they allowed him to work by himself on many of the Tusk tracks.
But Lindsey eventually left anyway. The Eagles had a huge album with Hotel California and their follow up The Long Run was almost just as successful. No one accused the Eagles of selling out. But the personality conflicts in the band were far too great to keep them together.
Lindsey did not want to chase commercial success and wanted to challenge the listener. The blowback from Tusk made the band chase commercial success more than ever. Both Mirage and Tango are very light pop creations. The Tusk hangover lasted well past their next 2 albums. I once was listening to rock critics on radio once. As they discussed Fleetwood Mac they talk about their pivot from rock to soft pop in the 1980s. This probably would not have happened without Tusk. Although he never talks about it but it had to eat at Lindsey to be overly concerned how these post Tusk albums would be received by the record company. I do not dislike the album Tusk but I despise what it did to the band in their post Tusk career.

Definitely! But trying to answer the thread title, I would first ask what songs would have contained "Rumours 2". If they had wanted to create a "second" Rumours, the playlist wouldn't have been just a stripped-down Tusk. Some songs would have had to be replaced with others that sounded more like Rumours.

Of the Rumours songs that would be there, I think Think About Me would be there without a doubt. Maybe Angel and Sisters. Lindsey's Tusk songs were the most different, so it is difficult for me to choose one. Walk a Thin Line could be there but with a modified arrangement, more guitar ala NGBA. Other songs might fit, but if they were recorded as a band, not as they were in Lindsey's garage with his shoe boxes.

Definitely there should be other songs, which makes me think of solo songs from all 3 of them, in this what if game. Trouble is the first one that comes to mind.

This is kind of what I meant when I started this thread: Which Tusk songs could have formed a more commercial-sounding Rumours, with or without different production?

Personally I think something like this might have worked:

SIDE 1
1. Angel
2. What Makes You Think You’re the One (with slick production and a less frenzied feel)
3. Over and Over
4. Think About Me
5. Walk a Thin Line (again, with slicker production, maybe along the lines of Lindsey’s songs on Mirage)
6. Sisters of the Moon

SIDE 2
7. Storms
8. That’s Enough for Me (but less “countrified” and more of a full band feel)
9. Honey Hi (with a more rocking tempo. The harmonies here are so good that this could have been a hit single if it had a less intimate arrangement.)
10. Sara
11. Tusk (just the way it is, because there still needs to be a little weirdness)
12. Never Forget

Now not all of these are my FAVORITE Tusk songs — I truly can’t stand Sisters of the Moon and would rather have Beautiful Child as another Stevie song, but this sequence is already a bit ballad-heavy