Rumours vs. Tusk

[bluefox4000]

I actually heard Tusk before Rumours. Actually before I was even into the Mac.
My Uncle had a copy. I thought wow...how.......Amazing. THEN I heard Rumours. While I loved it. It was still too polished. Almost......Almost a bit rigid. There's not not a question.....It's amazing. But too slick for my tastes. So yea I loved Tusk first.

Mick

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by ButterCookie

Lindsey.

Personally, I much prefer Honey Hi to Oh Daddy

So do I and I like Think About Me better than I like anything she did on Rumours.

Originally Posted by David

All the songwriters are at their zenith--each was never better than DREAMS, YOU MAKE LOVING FUN, & GO YOUR OWN WAY.

If I thought that Dreams and YMLF were the best those 2 had to offer, I'd be very sad and desolate. My heart would turn into a small, hard little raisin that rolled unnoticed under the kitchen counter and collected dust and ants for a year or two. Not that I don't love the studio version of Dreams, because I do . . . Just saying.


Michele

[MissLadyLoki]

Oh crap, I meant to vote for Tusk instead of Rumours.

Anyways, these days, Tusk has a slight edge for me. Don't get me wrong, Rumours is still a fantastic album, but Tusk is a bit like me: strange and off-the-wall, and yet, it manages to be oh-so awesome. It has some of my favorite Stevie songs (Sara, Storms, Angel, etc.) and some great contributions from Lindsey and Christine. IMO, it was a necessary album cause if they made another Rumours, sure they'd have the commercial success and all, but they'd probably wouldn't have lasted as long as they did and not be as well-repsected for their music had they not made it. Besides, all great bands have taken the chance with the double album (Physical Graffiti, White Album, Exile on Main Street, and The Wall are all chances that turned out fantastic), and the Mac should be no exception.

Now, Rumours is great, but it's overplayed so damn much, and when something is overplayed to hell, no matter how great it is, it can get annoying, so that's why I meant to vote for Tusk

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by David

...the vocal harmonies (new for rock at the time),

?????

Explain further, David...how did their harmonies differ from the Beatles' (for example, "Because" on Abbey Road) & the Beach Boys' (well, just pick any)??

To me, their harmonies were just culled from those influences (as well as the Every Brothers)

Don't get how their harmonies were "new for rock at the time".

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by MissLadyLoki

IMO, it was a necessary album cause if they made another Rumours, sure they'd have the commercial success and all, but they'd probably wouldn't have lasted as long as they did and not be as well-repsected for their music had they not made it. Besides, all great bands have taken the chance with the double album (Physical Graffiti, White Album, Exile on Main Street, and The Wall are all chances that turned out fantastic), and the Mac should be no exception.

They really DIDN'T last much longer...there was the 2+ year break at the end of the Tusk tour....then another 4+ year break after Mirage...then Lindsey bailed before the '87 tour. If Tusk was THAT important, they would've found it necessary to follow IT up fairly rapidly, and they didn't. What happened is that their "breaks" to do solo projects negatively affected the band....and Fleetwood Mac's popularity waned. Sure, it would spike when they'd release an album, but once the Fleetwood Mac travelling circus came through your town on tour, the interest went away....whereas, from '75 to '81, interest in the band was 24/7, even BETWEEN albums...the build up to the release of Rumours, then the massive tour to back it, then the Rumours "soap opera phenomena machine" was in full-swing....the build up to Tusk and the subsequent tour that dwarfed the Rumours tour. Once the Tusk tour ended...that was the end of Fleetwood Mac-mania as it had been for the previous 6 years. (and the end of their "relevance") Basically, they've been a "cult" band ever since...with a very large "cult" membership.

[Almost Simon]

Rumours for sure

[starshine]

I voted for Tusk.....as much as I do like or love Rumours for all that it was....I love Tusk because it is different and there's more songs on it....its more special in some ways cause all the songs haven't been played to death like everything from Rumours has been over all these yrs. I can put on Tusk and listen from track 1 to the end I may not love all of them but I can listen to them.....so ....I just love me some Tusk......

[Sahara]

It took me years to appreciate Tusk and fall in love with it, and it gets my vote, hands down.
Rumours is indeed an album full of Mac classics and staples, but I think that's what makes Tusk so much more interesting -- it presents the nuances and less straightforward sides of the band. It's not the basics that every fan should know; it's the subtleties of each songwriter (and they all have wonderful tracks here) that you can sink your teeth into over and over again, each time finding something new.

On another note -- I don't really ever listen to the album Rumours. Having listened to so many live versions of most of these songs, the studio versions sound too polished and, frankly, odd to my ear. Even lifeless, if I'm allowed say that
Not to say that detracts from the album itself, it just makes it less appealing that Tusk to sit down and listen to all the way through.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by Sahara

On another note -- I don't really ever listen to the album Rumours. Having listened to so many live versions of most of these songs, the studio versions sound too polished and, frankly, odd to my ear. Even lifeless, if I'm allowed say that
Not to say that detracts from the album itself, it just makes it less appealing that Tusk to sit down and listen to all the way through.

I never listen to Rumours either, but because I hadn't heard it for years (except on the radio), when the DVD-A came out, I found it immensely enjoyable to relive the album again as a whole, in sequence. But I can easily OD on it. It's just been done to death.

Michele

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I never listen to Rumours either, but because I hadn't heard it for years (except on the radio), when the DVD-A came out, I found it immensely enjoyable to relive the album again as a whole, in sequence. But I can easily OD on it. It's just been done to death.

Michele

This is me, too. Too many YEARS of listening to it. It's my #1 album ever, which changed my life, but about the 3 millionth listen, and I had to pull the plug.

[michelej1]

Prince Rama compiled a list of 10 albums for Dusted Magazine. Fleetwood Mac made the cut:

http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/917

10. Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

If pop was to grow fangs and feed on the blood of his lovers while still succeeding to woo them by day, these are the songs he’d sing on acoustic guitar under the balcony. This album will totally seduce you immediately, but then after listening to it for awhile, you realize your seduction is rooted in your own slow death; perhaps the power of this album lies the fact that it draws its strength not from the platonic ideal of eternal love, but from the utterly fleeting, painfully ephemeral, beautifully mortal experience of love as it arrests you in the arena of everyday.

[lesliedahlink]

I see people love Tusk more, but I love Rumours best. It was my first Fleetwood Mac album.

[Almost Simon]

I've never gotten into Tusk depsite many, many tries over the years. There's only a few songs I ever listen to - Sara, Tusk. Erm, thats about it.

Whereas with Rumours EVERY track is glorious.

No question - Rumours is the one.

[ryan4136]

Two obviously amazing rock/pop albums. For me it's clearly Tusk though. Rumours is a masterpiece of pop/radio gems. But Tusk is a masterpiece of art. This debate while relevant and ongoing, is much like asking do you like Abby Road or the White Album, to me it was always the white album any day of the week. Tusk is much the same way. It is without question 3 solo albums being pushed together into one (with a heavy LB influence directing the songs).

While Rumours is defined by it's percision, Tusk is defined by it's creativity. Radio hits will always get your feet tapping and will always make more $$, but creativity in art gets you to stop and think. For me if I want to have fun and throw a party throw on Rumours, but if I get stuck on an island with one album let it be Tusk.


To hit another point that always seems to come up regarding Tusk. Single v. Double album. I almost find it blasphemy to think of Tusk as a single, it's greatness comes from it's depth, and vast tempo changes. However obviously they could've put together a much higher selling single album. The question always for me is what if, it had been a single and doubled or tripled sales....how long would the band have topped the charts...alas it was not to be. So to play the game how about this lineup....


1. Think About Me
2. I know I'm Not Wrong
3. Angel
4. Honey Hi
5. Sara

6. WMYTYTO
7. Storms
8. Brown Eyes
9. Sisters of the Moon
10. Tusk

I know I know...no Save Me a Place, no Ledge etc. Think about me as an opener sets a totally different tone for the album. LB's most catchy song next. My opinion Angel gets lost in the album, I feel it would've been a bigger hit with a smaller album setup, not Dreams but might have been pushed to try to be. HH great happy tune keeping it upbeat, and we know how big Sara was. WMYT graps you just as it does currently when you flip over, Storms gets the call over BC, which really do the same thing for the album, allowing BC maybe to be Stevie's signature on a future album. Brown Eyes perfect melodicaly as a middle song for a side that will ramp up. Sisters again not a Rhiannon, but will try to fill that slot, and Tusk to catchy too fun.

When you break the album down this way, an album that I find experimental and mellow in it's double form, feels much more upbeat/loud, and buyer friendly. But again I almost feel like I'm sinning against FM by going down that road. Many of the outtakes could've turned Law and Order into a double album....talk about experimental, adding Not that funny, That's all, ledge, that's enough for me, thin line to that album.



This would've allowed for solid groundwork for the next album to reduce studio time next time around.....Over and Over, Save me a Place, Never Make you Cry, Beautiful Child, Never Forget, 1/2 way to another album right there.

[shackin'up]

Tusk, yes. Because it is the best album ever recorded. By anyone.