Why Tusk is the "Perfect" Album

[brad975]

My bf has a turntable at his place, so I'd brought over some old albums. I'd played Tusk once before, so it wasn't completely knew to him. But yesterday was the first time we just lounged and really listened (after a big fat J). It was interesting to hear his reaction and comments:

* Over & Over (he pleasantly nodded along, though he mistakenly thought it was Stevie on lead at first; rookie mistake)
* The Ledge (he tapped his fingers on the chair, surprisingly seeming somewhat engaged)
* Think About Me (he jammed along to this one)
* Save Me a Place (he asked "Is this Lindsey 'I've Got To Be On Every Song' Buckingham"? I explained that in this case, Lindsey likely WAS the whole song)
* Sara (his favorite; he got out a blonde Halloween wig and twirled a little)
* What Makes You Think You're the One (I skipped this as to not harsh our mellow)
* Storms (he agreed this was dreamy magic)
* That's All For Everyone (he didn't really react, but I like this one okay, mainly because I can at least imagine that Christine is layered in there vocally, where she is or not)
* Not That Funny (he said, "This is lame"; My assessment is not quite as harsh, but I think this one would only be okay on the reissue's bonus disc of otherwise unused demos)
* Sisters of the Moon (I think we both got lulled into a trance, though he may have been napping)

We'll try Disc 2 later.

My main problem with Tusk is that you can really tell there's a Lindsey solo album running through it that feels almost entirely disconnected from the other members. How much better would "Save Me a Place" sound with all 3 singers harmonizing? A bunch, I bet!

But the upside to all those Lindsey songs (most of which I delete from my 'Tusk' playlist) is that the 2 discs freed up enough space for 5 great Stevie songs and some good Christine ones. Lord knows they both deserved more space. But Stevie never would've gotten 5 songs without the longer running time.