Quote:
|
Originally Posted by lagringader&r
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.