Tusk

Fleetwood Mac

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: October 1979
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: WEA/Reprise
• ASIN: B000002KKC
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,967 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
A liner portrait of the big Mac, then coming off the commercial bonanza of Rumours, shows them looking anxiously at guitarist, singer, songwriter, and de facto auteur Lindsey Buckingham, a moment given weight by the sprawling ambitions behind this 1979 double album. Buckingham's superb sense of pop craft had catapulted the once blues-based rockers into multiplatinum ubiquity, and he responded not with a safe return to form but with an invitation for his songwriting partners to chase their respective muses. Comparisons to the Beatles' White Album abounded and remain apt: Stevie Nicks twirls dreamily through extended variations on her crystal visions, Christine McVie turns in a reliably fine set of sunny pop-rock cruisers and tender ballads, and Mick Fleetwood and John McVie sustain their reputation as one of rock's most powerful yet deft rhythm sections. Buckingham provides the wild cards, in largely self-recorded plunges into his own skittish psyche, culminating in the massive title song, beefed up by the University of Southern California's marching band, but more cannily in dreamy music-box exercises ("That's All for Everyone") and sudden bursts of gonzo, fuzz-toned rock ("That's Enough for Me"). Better than its detractors thought upon release, Tusk was a brave platinum "failure" that actually charts where subsequent Mac and Buckingham projects would go. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars CD 3 stars, Vinyl easily 5 stars, January 20, 2000

By	SonOfPFunk (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews

Like John said a few reviews ago, find this album on vinyl and burn your own cd. That's what I've attempted to do, but my burner is broken. Anyway there are at least two major problems with the CD. Most people know that Sara is edited, and that you can actually hear the edit when it takes place (ouch!). But then there is also a practically new version of I Know I'm Not Wrong, and its horrible. I'm sure there are other differences, but I only played the CD twice, and then immediatly sold it. However, on vinyl, Tusk is a masterpiece. Lindsey Buckingham proves to be an excellent producer/songwriter. Of the 20 songs, 5 are stellar Buckingham songs: Save Me A Place, What Makes You Think You're The One, That's All For Everyone, I Know I'm Not Wrong, and Walk A Thin Line. Despite a few extremely slow parts (Brown Eyes, Beautiful Child), the other 15 songs are great. Anyway, YOU WANT THIS. Look for the vinyl. Tusk is BY FAR the greatest FM album, and my #3 favorite album of all time.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get it in spite of the edited "Sara", March 1, 2001

By	Michael Topper (Pacific Palisades, California United States) - See all my reviews

"Tusk" stands as the peak, shining moment in Fleetwood Mac's entire career, a truly special album that transcended commercial expectation and still demands close attention. With all three songwriters in full bloom, Lindsey Buckingham was able to fashion stunning arrangements for their creations which made them work as both catchy pop tunes and avant-garde experiments. Stevie Nicks would never sound better, as she expanded her witch-poet persona into full blown explorations of the heart and mind; "Sara", with its airy harmonies and lacey, intricate overdubs, manages to evoke the flavor of its lyric with disarming grace. An instant classic, it appears in edited form here, which is of course the one frustrating gripe with the CD. "Storms" and "Beautiful Child" quietly build their moods with a mystical subtlety and craftsmanlike precision, while "Sisters Of The Moon" is kind of a Rhiannon Part Two. Buckingham responds with songs that take on a nervous, almost manic tone ("The Ledge", "Not That Funny", "What Makes You Think You're The One"), and then he cuts back with intimate torch moments that will tear you to pieces ("Save Me A Place"--which has the finest harmonies on any Fleetwood Mac record--and "Walk A Thin Line"). McVie ocassionally treads water, offering up middle-of-the-road pop like "Think About Me" and "Never Forget", although she too contributes the exquisite ballad "Never Make Me Cry", the glorious harmony exercise "Honey Hi" and the atmospheric "Brown Eyes".

Mention must also be made to the unique percussion sounds achieved for the album: Mick Fleetwood attains new heights of drum god status on "Brown Eyes", "What Makes You Think You're The One" and the title track; there is a tribal feel to his playing that is tempered by modern recording ideas. The famous "bathroom tile" echo shimmers on "That's All For Everyone" and "Walk A Thin Line", which saw Buckingham on his knees in front of a toilet, Brian Wilson-style, to achieve his aims. It is a credit to his production techniques that the arrangements are incredibly elaborate and yet at no point do they overwhelm the songs--indeed, their strength often lies in what is hidden. Many of the songs are not as immediately appealing as those on "Fleetwood Mac" or "Rumours", but they end up far more satisfying in the long run (indeed, after hearing "Go Your Own Way" a zillion times on classic rock radio, a gem like "Save Me A Place" can sound especially fresh). The group's creativity was so intense at this period, actually, that several A-quality Nicks songs, including "Watchdevil", "Lady From The Mountain" and "Beauty And The Beast" were left as outtakes and survive only on bootlegs. In sum, "Tusk" found Fleetwood Mac in a unique position, still reeling from the runaway commercial success of "Rumours" but intent on creating sound paintings that expressed the aftermath of the relationship turmoil that created that moment. What is needed now is a deluxe double CD-issue of Tusk, remastered with bonus tracks of outtakes from the sessions, since it is clear that many of these songs underwent interesting drafts before they made the final product.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An overlooked masterpiece, December 22, 1999

By	"gewertz" (California) - See all my reviews

Not to offend anyone, but I have to say that it is easy to identify those who reviewed Tusk after just hearing it and those who reviewed it after really listening to it (more than once or twice, that is). I have to admit that after only one "hearing" of this album, I was surprised at how different it sounded from all other post-blues-era Fleetwood Mac. Being a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, I was initially disapointed...however, once I had listened to it a few more times, my opinion of it changed dramatically. Having been brought up listening to Rumours and Tango in the Night on long road trips with my parents, I fell in love with the catchy, timeless, listener friendly hits found on those albums. What I initially heard on Tusk was not what I had grown accustomed to (with the exception of "Sara"). The more I listened however, the more I realized that it was not meant to be like anything else they recorded. Like some of the other reviewers have said, that is the beauty of it. Tusk, is truly a masterpiece, painstakingly crafted to reach the deepest of emotional regions. I will forever regard this as the best Fleetwood Mac album ever recorded. I brought this album along with me when I studied and travelled abroad in Europe last Spring and that is when I fell in love with it. Now when I listen to it, I am reminded of the long train rides through European countrysides, the self-discoveries I made during that time, and the early times I spent with my girlfriend. This album is not intended to make you dance or make you want to go out and party....it is to be listened to and reflected upon. Not all music has the capability to hypnotize and mesmerize...this album does. It's depth can only be compared to the emotional density found in classical music. I normally don't care too much about what other peoples opinions of music are (hence this being my first review) but I felt I had to say something about this very special and very much underappreciated album. I am so happy to see that there are many others out there who have felt the power of this album and have come to appreciate this album for what it truly is, and that is a unique musical masterpiece. For those who failed to notice, and who claimed it was boring, unexperimental?, unlistenable, or trite, all I can say is that you have to give it another chance. This was Lindsey Buckinghams creative offspring, and he wasn't going for the commercial sound that Fleetwood Mac had mastered with Rumours, he seemed to be driven by a creative force within him that needed to be explored...not for the sake of selling records but for the sake of it being fresh and ingenius. According to the interview I saw on Fleetwood Mac on VH1, not even all of the other band members were sure of what the album was going to sound like when they were recording it. They simply confided in him and his vision and went to painstaking measures to mold and fashion their talents to his ideas. Sometimes, begrudgingly at that. When it was completed, they even chose to move forward with out reflecting much on what they accomplished, feeling that it was so burdensome on the band. However, now that they have all moved on, they hear it almost as objective listeners and critics, and have claimed it to be a remarkable fusion of sound, lyricism, and creativity. I think, that in due time, anyone who listens to this album will feel that it is more than just a rock album, but that it is music for the heart, mind, and soul, which is what the human advent of artwork is intended to reach. If it could be put on canvas it might be worth millions, and if it was a book it would be an American classic, and required reading for all adults (but probably banned in China). However, all of this is only my opinion and I'm sure the songs mean different things to everyone who listens to them, but I do have to say that it is worth investing not only your money in, but sufficient time as well, because when the music does hit you, you will have opened yourself up to a rare beauty that does not come along too often.