Why Tusk is the "Perfect" Album

[bethelblues]

That definitely makes sense! When songs are less familiar, they feel fresh and new and exciting. There's no need to press skip when a song comes up on your iTunes shuffle list. It surprises you and it's a gratifying listening experience.

Tusk has some great songs. Perhaps some of the best the band has done. I do think production hurt some in terms of accessibility. Lindsey could've probably had one or two more hits had his songs felt more complete...but that was clearly not what he was going for. I think Stevie's songs set her as one of the pre-eminent female singer-songwriters. Sara, Beautiful Child, and Storms are really special songs, devastating even. I wish the latter two were more known by the world and music critics. I'd be citing them as among her best songs and most essential. Sisters of the Moon was such a great rocker for the Tusk and Mirage tours, just an incredible live moment for Stevie and the band that again didn't pierce the popular consciousness like her other songs did, unfortunately. And Christine shows quite a lot of diversity on the album. The layering and production of "Brown Eyes"...my God! I remember thinking "Honey Hi" was just so short and stupid, but now it has completely absorbed me...I love the vocals and I love how they keep building to the end's "round." No, not every song works. I would point to the album's biggest problem being its pacing. Listening through the album in the car, for example, can be quite difficult, since there are so few upbeat songs. And slow ballads or slow songs don't give the overall listening much momentum and drive. Still, this is a very important album for the band and certainly gets close to The Beatles' White Album for its experimentation. I think The Beatles (and Led Zeppelin) did more with songs, where you'd have 3-5 enormous changes in rhythm and tempo that effectively made 3-5 songs in 1 song...but FM gives you more interesting vocals and personalities. If only the band would do more to draw attention to this album. Some songs here could only be described as sublime.