Why Tusk is the "Perfect" Album

[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!

[shackin'up]

Tusk is the best album ever recorded by anyone.


It breathes 5 and maybe even 6 decennia of popmusic, it's as much inspired by the sixties and seventies as it is by punk and new wave. It throws it's shadow over the alt singersongwriters of the nineties and 00's too. contemporary bands like Tame Impala are directly influenced by it and I'm pretty sure there's more to come in the next eight years.

People who are irritated when something is deliberately brought as an artistic, alternative product will never agree with me. So be it. It's THE album that bonds the popworld with the alternative world.

And therefore...

Tusk is the best album ever recorded by anyone.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by shackin'up

Tusk is the best album ever recorded by anyone.


It breathes 5 and maybe even 6 decennia of popmusic, it's as much inspired by the sixties and seventies as it is by punk and new wave. It throws it's shadow over the alt singersongwriters of the nineties and 00's too. contemporary bands like Tame Impala are directly influenced by it and I'm pretty sure there's more to come in the next eight years.

People who are irritated when something is deliberately brought as an artistic, alternative product will never agree with me. So be it. It's THE album that bonds the popworld with the alternative world.

And therefore...

Tusk is the best album ever recorded by anyone.

ZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzz!

Gimme XTC's Oranges & Lemons ANY day! Even Buckingham's own Out Of The Cradle. Tusk is Lindsey's "yank job"...took Stevie & Christine's good material and just wanked on top of it all.

I STILL STAND ON MY PREMISE THAT BOTH BUCKINGHAM AND NICKS SHOULD'VE GONE SOLO AFTER THE TUSK TOUR and stopped holding Fleetwood Mac hostage to the insane!!

[dino]

Originally Posted by chiliD

ZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzz!

Gimme XTC's Oranges & Lemons ANY day! Even Buckingham's own Out Of The Cradle. Tusk is Lindsey's "yank job"...took Stevie & Christine's good material and just wanked on top of it all.

Isn't that what he always does though? Say You Will is a wank-feast!

[TrueFaith77]

List time!

My 10 Fav Albums OF ALL TIME!

1. Tusk (1979), Fleetwood Mac
2. Siren (1975), Roxy Music
3. Rubber Soul (1965), The Beatles
4. Bad Girls (1979), Donna Summer
5. Remain In Light (1980), Talking Heads
6. Very (1993), Pet Shop Boys
7. Fear of a Black Planet (1990), Public Enemy
8. Cupid & Psyche 85 (1985), Scritti Politti
9. You Are The Quarry (2004), Morrissey
10. Sticky Fingers (1971), The Rolling Stones

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by chiliD

I STILL STAND ON MY PREMISE THAT BOTH BUCKINGHAM AND NICKS SHOULD'VE GONE SOLO AFTER THE TUSK TOUR and stopped holding Fleetwood Mac hostage to the insane!!

Well, they did sorta... I mean they both put out solo albums in '81. And, wasn't there always the talk or the assumption the band was broken up at that point? Sounds like the heavy handed management led to a lot of the splintering within the group anyway. But, I think burnout is inevitable for any artist. And, they are always going to be doomed to try to recreate what the public really liked - and what made everybody a lot of money.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by chiliD

ZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzz!

Gimme XTC's Oranges & Lemons ANY day! Even Buckingham's own Out Of The Cradle. Tusk is Lindsey's "yank job"...took Stevie & Christine's good material and just wanked on top of it all.

I STILL STAND ON MY PREMISE THAT BOTH BUCKINGHAM AND NICKS SHOULD'VE GONE SOLO AFTER THE TUSK TOUR and stopped holding Fleetwood Mac hostage to the insane!!

chili (and all who are getting upset in this thread).. do you know that writing in uppercase means you are screaming? I don't know why we get that mad for a discussion about albums. I do think Tusk is far from perfect. I just like the album, I like more Rumours, I don't think the arguments (about Tusk) I have read in this thread are valid, cause.. with all respect, they just came from fans, as I am (so I don't need to convince anybody Rumours is better, cause is just better for me)... but all of that doesn't make scream or say "zzzz".. come on is just music, we are not arguing about our mothers, religion, politics, etc. to get that upset.

If GreenMagic thinks Tusk is a perfect album and shackin'up thinks Tusk the best album ever recorded by anyone, good for them.. and good for shackin'up cause he has the privilege of have listened all the albums in the whole wide world .. Then you see my point is that I can take all those arguments so seriously. They just come from fans. As I am, a fan. So I'm not trying to belittle or underrate those reasons, nor trying to offend anybody, but also I can't overrate those. They are just opinions, not evidences or proof.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by Villavic

chili (and all who are getting upset in this thread).. do you know that writing in uppercase means you are screaming? .

Of course I know. My all-caps was intentional and with an obvious purpose.
Not exactly an internet newbie here, ya know.