Why Tusk is the "Perfect" Album

[David]

Originally Posted by michelej1

That's a good point. I'm surprised they didn't put their foot down.

Imagine the studio's having put its foot down about anything in 1979 to Fleetwood Mac. Warner Brothers was in Mac's back pocket. The band could have done anything it wanted to.

Even with Tusk as the single, I think most people still approached Tusk thinking it would sound more like the first two.

People loved Tusk, so I think you're right. It was the perfect first single by a long shot. It was playful, inventive, energetic, wild, creepy, cinematic, inspired on every level. The Rolling Stone critics voted it the best single of 1979. Other critics loved it; the public loved it; and the USC audience at the Coliseum loved it. It was a newsmaking single: jungle chants and a renowned college marching band. There wasn't a single misfire with Tusk. It was a fabled moment for Fleetwood Mac and for USC, and its triumph has lived to this very day: Go to a Trojan football game at the Coliseum and hear the marching band get the SC fans pumped up at halftime with it. There's nothing else like it in rock history since the Beatles.

But you're right because the really weird weirdness with the album—not the peppy, cool weirdness of Tusk that everyone loved—hit people when they played the rest of the tracks. All those scratching and screeching sounds in the production—of guitars tuned down and played like bass guitars, of sound fields awash in oversaturated gain and distortion, etc.—confused and turned off DJs and a lot of the public that bought Tusk (the single and the album). The martial horns riffing out the title song had the world tapping its feet and clapping along, but the dry-humping & pig-grunting of Not That Funny made people truly sorry not only that they had bought the album but also that a band that previously wrote such great hooks had lost it.

[elle]

Originally Posted by mikephxaz

Lindesy's over production was in full swing on SYW...what started with the songs on Tango In The Night with his "family man" obscure, over production continued on with Say You Will where Tusk represents the BEST of Lindsey's funky, honest, earthy approach to music...(which was brilliant for Stevie's songs on Tusk) I wish he could get back to that place.

thanks for responding to my query. you might be right... i think you might be also referring to possible production unevenness from song to song - b/c i don't find most of LB's songs on SYW to be overproduced (except Say Goodbye, but other than the great guitar parts that one is even worse schmaltz imo as a slowed down live version). i can't say too much about SN's SYW songs b/c i so dislike most of them that i hardly listen to them (while i love her Tusk songs)... however i hear many SN fans having gripes with arrangements and production on them, usually listing Smile At You as an example (i can see why - i think the original angry version is rocking but don't care at all for the version on SYW - whether it's LB's production fault or somebody else's decision to go with different version).

re LB getting back to more raw production - did you hear Seeds We Sow? many people say that album is underproduced (although he did do that artificially-making-voice-higher on it too).

Originally Posted by David

The martial horns riffing out the title song had the world tapping its feet and clapping along, but the dry-humping & pig-grunting of Not That Funny made people truly sorry not only that they had bought the album but also that a band that previously wrote such great hooks had lost it.

i don't know, seems most people hate NTF on Tusk (but love the pot-smoking-orgasm-faking-high-pitch-screaming 10 min Mirage tour version ). when i listen to NTF on Tusk, to me it's the pinnacle of what LB was doing there - not just punk/new wave, but i hear on his Tusk songs a lot of what became popular as world music - in singing, in accompanying instruments and sounds... you can hear a lot of folk music influences from different [mostly European i think] countries. LB used different influences, but if you think of it, using regional music influences was something that Peter Gabriel and others made huge right about that time (in the 80s i guess? may have started during late 70s, idk) but with African music influences. except using different inspiration and instruments, LB didn't work with local artists from countries he seemed to have been taking inspiration from, unlike Gabriel.

clarification: maybe "folk" is the wrong expression... what i mean by that expression in this context is endogenous music from certain regions.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by elle

(except Say Goodbye, but other than the great guitar parts that one is even worse schmaltz imo as a slowed down live version).

Agree about the stultifying live version, especially listening to it. If you're in concert and see it, it's a little interesting to watch, because Stevie is not that comfortable and it's kind of fascinating, but just hearing the live song with nothing to engage me visually is deadly.

I like the album version much better and I actually like them "talking to each other" on the album closers. That sequencing works fine for me.

Michele

[GreenMagic]

@Danigirl - Right on! I really think Stevie was at a songwriting peak for the Mac on Tusk. Then on Mirage, with Gypsy being an awesome exception, she started sputtering.

But I think that was because of saving her best songs for the solo. I do often wonder what Stand Back would have sounded like if Lindsey produced it instead. I like the solo version dont get me wrong, but I'm curious of how far Lindsey would have taken it musically.

Leather and Lace I think would have been an awesome Lindsey and Stevie duet given their history together.

Aside from her first solo album, I'm kind of meh on Stevie's solo work till Trouble In Shangri-la. While it is a flawed album, there are some gems. I think Sheryl Crow on the tracks she produced, did a great job. And she sang wonderful harmony with Stevie. Too bad she couldn't have produced the rest of the album. Cause the weakest tracks to me are the John Shanks ones.

I do like In Your Dreams. But I've only heard it once in a sitting. So I can't give a definitive opinion. That album is a definately a grower.

Anyway in regard to NTF I listen to the musical arrangement moreso than the lyrics. I think it's awesome but to each their own. To me, the worst Lindsey song is Bwana. That's a piece of junk. That is hard for me to admit given how I love Lindsey's solo work. In fact aside from 2 or 3 songs I dont really care for Lindsey's first solo album. I do love Go Insane, Out of The Cradle, indifferent to UTS, love Gift of Screws and undecided on Seeds we sow.

I wish Lindsey get back more into adventurous music territory. I love his current stuff. But kind of feel he's treading some water musically. Would love to see him work with Brian Eno, as their production styles are very similar.

[louielouie2000]

For me, Tusk is the only Rumours era Mac studio album that I never need to put on the shelf for extended periods of time (Live '80 is the only live Mac recording I can't get enough of). The sheer difference in the 3 singer/songwriters, combined with the variety and scope of musical styles on this album have kept my attention and love after all these years. I don't think it was just Stevie who was at her peak on this album... it's arguable every single member of the band was at the top of their perspective mountains on Tusk (and about to plummet off the cliff into burnout territory). Stevie & Chris were recording the most beautiful and introspective songs of their careers... Lindsey was smashing the moulds of his traditional style and was laying the groundwork for his musical direction for the next 3+ decades. Mick and John were making the most entrancing rhythms of their careers (just listen to Brown Eyes!). To me, Tusk was sort of the Rumours incarnation of the Mac's swan song... they pretty much slowly & painfully self destructed over the next decade, and really never recovered. Tusk will always be their masterpiece, though.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

For me, Tusk is the only Rumours era Mac studio album that I never need to put on the shelf for extended periods of time (Live '80 is the only live Mac recording I can't get enough of). The sheer difference in the 3 singer/songwriters, combined with the variety and scope of musical styles on this album have kept my attention and love after all these years. I don't think it was just Stevie who was at her peak on this album... it's arguable every single member of the band was at the top of their perspective mountains on Tusk (and about to plummet off the cliff into burnout territory). Stevie & Chris were recording the most beautiful and introspective songs of their careers... Lindsey was smashing the moulds of his traditional style and was laying the groundwork for his musical direction for the next 3+ decades. Mick and John were making the most entrancing rhythms of their careers (just listen to Brown Eyes!). To me, Tusk was sort of the Rumours incarnation of the Mac's swan song... they pretty much slowly & painfully self destructed over the next decade, and really never recovered. Tusk will always be their masterpiece, though.

Maybe it's just me, but I think Tusk was a bit of a happy accident... borne of extreme burnout and weariness as opposed to some orchestrated masterpiece by musicians who were at the top of their game. I love it because it is deeply flawed and because the songs are as uneven as they are intimate and revealing. Sure, Lindsey has gone on record to say that the sonic template for the record was a response to the new wave/punk sounds of the time, but I can't help but wonder whether the rough edges were there because people just couldn't be bothered to fix them up into something conventionally pretty. I have a feeling that the Stevie of today would demand remixes and removal of all of the random little noises that are scattered throughout the album. But in 1978/79, she was still the forgotten stepchild in the band who was too busy plotting her solo career to take a stand. If the rest of the band truly cared about the direction of Tusk, wouldn't they have fought to wrest control from Lindsey? In the end they didn't fight him and Lindsey was allowed to run amuck, doing what pleased himself above anything else. Accordingly, the instrumental tracks are relatively loose and meandering- almost as if they couldn't be bothered to play or record with the deliberate precision of every single note on Rumours. In fact, in many cases, they didn't even bother to play at all. While evergreen inspiration is often wonderful, the lack of inspiration can also be a thing of tragic beauty as well.

Ultimately I think Tusk would have failed as a single album- just like The Lord of the Rings would have failed as a half-hour sitcom. The sheer breadth and length of Tusk wears you down, and it envelopes you and takes you into their blurry-eyed, hung over, occasionally intense world. The miraculous beauty of Tusk is a fragile one, and any misstep could have thrown off the balance and rendered it unlistenable.

[Dodfather]

It's not. She was McVie by then.





Sorry... couldn't resist. A more sensible comment/review etc will follow!

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by GreenMagic

I do often wonder what Stand Back would have sounded like if Lindsey produced it instead. I like the solo version dont get me wrong, but I'm curious of how far Lindsey would have taken it musically.

Leather and Lace I think would have been an awesome Lindsey and Stevie duet given their history together.

I do like In Your Dreams. But I've only heard it once in a sitting. So I can't give a definitive opinion. That album is a definately a grower.

Anyway in regard to NTF I listen to the musical arrangement moreso than the lyrics. I think it's awesome but to each their own. To me, the worst Lindsey song is Bwana. That's a piece of junk. That is hard for me to admit given how I love Lindsey's solo work. In fact aside from 2 or 3 songs I dont really care for Lindsey's first solo album. I do love Go Insane, Out of The Cradle, indifferent to UTS, love Gift of Screws and undecided on Seeds we sow.

I wish Lindsey get back more into adventurous music territory. I love his current stuff. But kind of feel he's treading some water musically. Would love to see him work with Brian Eno, as their production styles are very similar.

Well SB would have been a completely different creature. You know that Prince wrote the music(although uncredited), right? So obviously, it wouldn't be the same song...not even close!

I can't imagine L&L without Don Henley's signature rasp. I don't think Lindsey's whine would have worked.

I finally got In Your Dreams, a couple of weeks ago. So far, "meh". There are a couple of tracks that I like, but the rest just hasn't excited me, yet. I've listened to the whole thing, 3 times. I always give any album at least 5 full listens, before I make final judgement, though...

I like Bwana, and honestly, for me, Law and Order is a masterpiece. Hands down, my favorite LB album. Even weirder than Tusk!

I agree that he's treading water now. Can he or Stevie, either one, no longer make a song that ROCKS? Come on, enough with the sleepy MUZAK!

[TrueFaith77]

GAG doesn't rock? The last half of that song sends me to the moon.

[mikephxaz]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

GAG doesn't rock? The last half of that song sends me to the moon.

I agree...I love Ghosts are Gone...its a true rock n roll song...the guitar licks are second only to Edge of 17...I wanted her to open her tour with GAG

[elle]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

I agree that he's treading water now. Can he or Stevie, either one, no longer make a song that ROCKS? Come on, enough with the sleepy MUZAK!

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

GAG doesn't rock? The last half of that song sends me to the moon.

exactly TrueFaith. sometimes i read people's posts like Homer's above and go - huh? have you even listened once to the stuff that you are providing this sooo authoritative opinion about?

one can like or not GAG, or That's The Way Love Goes, Illumination, One Take, the list goes on and on... but saying there's nothing that rocks in the most recent output from SN or LB just makes such posts completely non-credible.

puzzling...

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Well SB would have been a completely different creature. You know that Prince wrote the music(although uncredited), right? So obviously, it wouldn't be the same song...not even close!

Prince wrote the Stand Back music? I had read he collaborated and I was going to say the he didn't he actually co-wrote it. However after a short research I found more details of his participation in this song (that's why I love The Ledge, it makes me learn new things every day). What I always knew was what Stevie said in the Timespace cd book:

I got married the day i wrote this song. We were driving to Santa barbara and a new song by Prince came on, so we pulled over somewhere and got the tape. It just gave me an incredible idea, so I spent many hours that night writing a song about some kind of a criz argument, and it was to becamo one of th most important of my songs.

Funny to find she said she got married in a cd book, while she said she "never got married, because there wasn't time" in the Making of Rumours 1997 VH1 DVD.

So then I found today this MTV interview, where she describes more the Prince participation (again she mentions the marriage, one of her typical contradictions):

"I'm driving to my honeymoon night in Santa Barbara from L.A., and 'Little Red Corvette' comes on," she recalled. "We're like oh my God, it's Prince! So I start singing all these words, and I'm like, 'Pull over, we have to get a cassette player! And we have to record this!' I'm writing in the car — here we are, newlyweds, and we get to our hotel and we're setting up the tape recorder and I've made up my whole new melody to [the song]. So I haven't really ripped off the song, because I'm admitting that I have done this. So we go into a studio in Los Angeles a couple weeks later and I track down Prince's phone number — and because I'm Stevie Nicks, I can get it.

"I call him, and I never thought he was going to answer, or that it would be him, or that I would ever find him — and he answers. I said, 'Prince, this is Stevie Nicks, and I wrote a song to your song 'Little Red Corvette,' and we're at Sunset Sound right now, and I was wondering — first of all, I wanted to tell you that I'm giving you 50 percent of [the royalties] it if it ever goes anywhere, but are you in town? If you are, how would you feel about coming down and playing on it?' Never in a million years did I think this man would be like, 'I'll be right there.' He was there in 20 minutes and he played [she mimes instrumental parts of the song] on 'Stand Back,' and he was there an hour and a half, and then he left."
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/160...h-prince.jhtml

PS: Is he still receiving the royalties of all Stand Back versions??

[elle]

Originally Posted by Villavic

PS: Is he still receiving the royalties of all Stand Back versions??

my understanding is that Prince is uncredited for whatever arranging/producing/composing (not sure which) work he did on Stand Back - so therefore would not be receiving royalties.

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Agree about the stultifying live version, especially listening to it. If you're in concert and see it, it's a little interesting to watch, because Stevie is not that comfortable and it's kind of fascinating,

I sort of really hate I missed that tour then...

I like the album version much better and I actually like them "talking to each other" on the album closers. That sequencing works fine for me.

Michele

Hear that Stevie?

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by CADreaming

Hear that Stevie?

Since Ken says Stevie didn't sequence Rumours, it would be interesting to hear sequencing stories about the other albums -- other than from Stevie herself.

Michele