Tusk and Tango in the Night

[He's So Unusual]

Originally Posted by Bandon

Regarding Tusk...it is revered on this site because its a fan site, but to most others it was a flop given its potential after Rumours. But there was most likely no way FM ćould have succeeded artistically or commercially after Rumours' success. So looking back, Tusk wasn't such a bad move.

I don't think the fact that Tusk underperformed back when it was released in 1979 has affected its acclaim over the years, I think a lot of critics and music fans have re-evaluated it and have come to appreciate it a lot more. I remember when it was re-released about 10 years ago and most of the reviews were glowing.

Originally Posted by chiliD

No, they're (HH's, Turtles, etc) not playing one-nighters, they're selling out 6,000 seat casino theaters & fair amphitheaters multiple nights in a row. But, still, both Herman's Hermits & Fleetwood Mac are peddling NOSTALGIA by the droves. A group that releases one album a decade, only to tank in the charts after the "faithful" buy their copies in the first 3 weeks, cannot in ANY stretch of the imagination be considered "relevant".

In terms of new music I don't think Fleetwood Mac is relevant at the moment, but in terms of influence they are. There seems to be a lot of bands and singers who are name-checking them at the moment as a big source of inspiration. Fingers crossed that the band do release a strong final album that will top things off.

[fleetwoodguy79]

Originally Posted by He's So Unusual

I don't think the fact that Tusk underperformed back when it was released in 1979 has affected its acclaim over the years, I think a lot of critics and music fans have re-evaluated it and have come to appreciate it a lot more. I remember when it was re-released about 10 years ago and most of the reviews were glowing.

Yep, this. Not only did they re-evaluate it, they in many cases fell in love with it. There are numerous music journalists who have re-written reviews of it, including Rolling Stone, who now state that it was some of the band's best material.

A similar story occurred with Weezer. Their sophomore album "Pinkerton" was a departure from the poppy college rock that came before it. Rolling Stone and a number of other magazines flogged the album -- hating the songs. So much, in fact, that the lead writer (Rivers) left the band for a while due to him not coping well to the critical failure. Only a few years later, after the fans had declared it to be the band's best work, Rolling Stone re-wrote a review and essentially rated it at the top of the chart. It's funny how fans and a little bit of time can change your perception and appreciate of an album.

Tango is similar. While it has a distinct 80s vibe (at times, a little cheesy), it was quite ahead of its time in terms of style and feeling. It still holds up to this day.

I love modern bands like Cut Copy who claim that both Tusk (and especially Tusk) and Tango were hugely influential in their musical process. It's nice to see brilliant albums still being regarded so highly. In retrospect, one has to wonder what music we might NOT have had if Tusk was never released...

[michelej1]

Arkansas Times, by Benji Hardy, August 26, 2014

http://www.arktimes.com/RockCandy/ar...-fleetwood-mac


For over a month now, my friends and I have been listening to the 1979 Fleetwood Mac double album “Tusk” almost every day. Let me qualify that by first admitting that my musical knowledge isn't exactly encyclopedic. I don’t have a complete discography of anything, I rarely know the lineups or lineages of bands, and I don’t really understand what it means to remaster something. So while I realize this may be old news to some of you, I’m still excited about discovering that “Tusk” is an unbelievably good piece of music.

Fleetwood Mac released the double LP as the follow up to 1976’s “Rumors” — still among the best-selling albums of all time — and though it's got much the same sound, "Tusk" is quite a bit weirder than its predecessor. There’s a hyperactive, carnival attitude to some songs, like Lindsey Buckingham’s “I Know I’m Not Wrong,” that reminds me of a candy-fueled ten-year-old jumping up and down on a bed. Then there are meltingly lovely Christine McVie tracks like“Honey Hi” and the absurd, wonderful drama of Stevie Nicks on songs such as “Sisters of the Moon” (can you think of a Stevie Nicksier name?) and so much in between. It all hangs together as a jumbled whole; listen to the entire thing to get the proper effect.

Wikipedia tells me that “Tusk” cost more to record than any rock album up until that point — over $1 million, for whatever reason. When first released, It was priced at the equivalent of $52.46 in 2014 dollars; the record sold four million copies worldwide, and its label, Warner Brothers, considered that to be a failure. This summer, my roommate bought the double record in perfect condition for five bucks. — Benji Hardy

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by He's So Unusual

I was watching a documentary about Fleetwoood Mac the other night and it got me wondering about a few things. What do you think would have happened had the band played it safe and released another Rumours style album (i.e. Rumours Part 2) in 1979 instead of letting Lindsey experiment around? No one will know for sure, but it's interesting to think about. Tusk is a revered album that many fans name-check as their favourite, but do you think the band benefited from going a little to the left with Tusk? If the band had released another radio friendly album in 1979, do you think they would have left it three years to follow it up?

The other thing I wondered about is Lindsey leaving the band prior to the Tango Tour. How do you think things would have played out had he not left the band? Would Behind the Mask be a better album? Would The Dance have happened? It's interesting to think about, at least for me.

Well, 'Rumours' had reached cultural zeitgeist level. It basically took on a life of its own, well beyond how good the songs were. Everything: Album title, album cover, songs, media coverage, etc., was "firing on all cylinders" and led to atmospheric sales levels. So IMO, an album that wasn't a sudden left turn would not have matched 'Rumours' sales. I think Lindsey was correct on the assertion that there was simply no way to do so.

I also think Mick was correct that 'Tusk' had to be a double album - to ease the pressure of the 3 songwriters fighting over space. It also had to be a left turn in order to appease Lindsey, who was already reacting (imo, over-reacting) to Mac being portrayed as "dinosaur rock" by punk rockers.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by wetcamelfood

Part of the perception on Tusk though has to be WB fault as well. They could've said "instead of releasing the title track as the lead single (the most adventurous track on the album), we're going to release something more commercial like "Think About Me". Then on to others (i.e. Angel, etc.). So the public wouldn't even know about some of the different sounding tracks until they bought it, and what would WB care if people didn't like the rest as by that point, they would've gotten their money and the general public may have even thought it was another Rumours if the most commercial tracks were released as the singles which is what WB wanted in the first place but I guess their marketing dept. didn't think that one through.

John

???To dupe the public isn't the smartest marketing tactic. Tusk was all over the radio then, so people were informed the album was not what they expected. Sara, and to a lesser extent, Think About Me were also staples on the airwaves. Lindsey was very forthcoming about not wanting to make a Rumours two. In hindsight, the album has grown immeasurable respect over the years, so the artistic risk eventually paid off in artistic merit. It just took a decade or two to season well, viewed with a fresh perspective. Having that album in their discography makes the band all the more interesting/dynamic.

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

???To dupe the public isn't the smartest marketing tactic. Tusk was all over the radio then, so people were informed the album was not what they expected. Sara, and to a lesser extent, Think About Me were also staples on the airwaves. Lindsey was very forthcoming about not wanting to make a Rumours two. In hindsight, the album has grown immeasurable respect over the years, so the artistic risk eventually paid off in artistic merit. It just took a decade or two to season well, viewed with a fresh perspective. Having that album in their discography makes the band all the more interesting/dynamic.

I think Tusk was a bit ahead of it's time, too. When it first came out nearly everyone was like "Wha..?" (although it did get a good review in Rolling Stone).

To me, the one weak link on Tusk is actually McVie. She does have some gorgeous songs on there - I'm thinking "Think About Me" and "Brown Eyes" - but none of her Tusk songs have the pop music hooks that she had in her songs on Rumours or on Mirage or Tango.

On Mirage, Lindsey is the weak link. It's probably from being burned on the commercial "disappointment" that the label and band felt about Tusk, which everyone blamed on Lindsey's punk-ish streak.

On Tango, the weak link is Nicks. Her self-penned songs don't hold a candle to her previous work.

So for me, ever since Rumours, every album that had the McVie/Buckingham/Nicks songwriting triad has had one of the writers not up to their usual standards of material.

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by He's So Unusual

The other thing I wondered about is Lindsey leaving the band prior to the Tango Tour. How do you think things would have played out had he not left the band? Would Behind the Mask be a better album? Would The Dance have happened? It's interesting to think about, at least for me.

If Lindsey had never left, imagine a version of Behind The Mask that doesn't have the Burnette/Vito songs but instead has 4-5 of the best songs from Lindsey's solo album from that era, Out Of The Cradle. It's also possible that Nicks' vocals would have been less prevalent - she's all over Behind The Mask as a background singer, probably a deliberate attempt to use her star status to try to propel sales: "In The Back of My Mind", "When The Sun Goes Down", "Save Me", "Skies The Limit", and "Behind The Mask" all have very noticeable Nicks vocals on them. Compare that to Tango In The Night where Nicks' vocals are only noticeable on "Little Lies", and supposedly "Everywhere" (although I can't really pick her out on that song, honestly).

And The Dance likely would never have happened, because that was totally a reunion album and a big deal since Lindsey came back.

[MikeInNV]

Originally Posted by tabruns

And The Dance likely would never have happened, because that was totally a reunion album and a big deal since Lindsey came back.

Actually all three were "coming back" in a way (Stevie to the group and Chris to the road), and the whole thing was a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Rumours.

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by MikeInNV

Actually all three were "coming back" in a way (Stevie to the group and Chris to the road), and the whole thing was a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Rumours.

Good point. I'd actually forgotten that Nicks had quit after Behind The Music, and that McVie had stopped touring.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by tabruns

I think Tusk was a bit ahead of it's time, too. When it first came out nearly everyone was like "Wha..?" (although it did get a good review in Rolling Stone).

To me, the one weak link on Tusk is actually McVie. She does have some gorgeous songs on there - I'm thinking "Think About Me" and "Brown Eyes" - but none of her Tusk songs have the pop music hooks that she had in her songs on Rumours or on Mirage or Tango.

On Mirage, Lindsey is the weak link. It's probably from being burned on the commercial "disappointment" that the label and band felt about Tusk, which everyone blamed on Lindsey's punk-ish streak.

On Tango, the weak link is Nicks. Her self-penned songs don't hold a candle to her previous work.


So for me, ever since Rumours, every album that had the McVie/Buckingham/Nicks songwriting triad has had one of the writers not up to their usual standards of material.

Wow! You summed it up really well. I see those albums as perfectly imperfect. They are what they are, and I still enjoy of all of the songs in all their disparity.