Quote:
Originally Posted by HomerMcvie
I wouldn't mess with side one for anything. It's perfect. You can kick Storms or Beautiful Child anywhere you like.
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TUSK is a collection of songs that refuses to be sequenced in a wholly satisfying way. The disparate nature of the material and the radically different manner in which many of the LB songs were recorded, means the material will never easily hang together. I like this about the record. There are pockets of strong, balanced sequencing, such as the last five songs, but overall the running order is disruptive. This feels deliberate: following the easy-listening lead with one of the record’s most out-there songs—which proves to be a pattern, as it happens again on the last two songs from sides 3 and 4, respectively; placing two McVie numbers together on side three after a (too) long absence from the proceeding; beginning side two with an intentionally goof-ball tune after the earnest, lushly-orchestrated Sara…All of these decisions seem provocations aimed at deconstructing the expectations of listeners who had become accustomed to smooth, flawless FM records.
One of the great ironies of TUSK is that Stevie’s songs end up sounding as integrated as they are. She only has five songs, but all of them surpass the four-minute mark, and all of them (with the possible exception of Sisters) sounds thoroughly at home in the mix. Usually on FM records, Stevie’s songs, even when they are excellent, sound as if they are inserted rather than organic to the running order.