Review Summary: Just say that you want me
Tusk has been called a lot of things over the years. A mess, an experimental pop masterpiece, cocaine set to music, etc. It's truly hard to nail down Fleetwood Mac's twelfth album and the follow up to their incredibly successful smash hit album 'Rumours'. While the world expected another set of soft rock gems, what they got was a double album of confusing post punk experiments by Lindsey Buckingham, lengthy almost bluesy ballads by Stevie Nicks and one of the most bizarre lead singles to ever make the top 10 on the charts. Tusk is certainly one of the strangest albums to come from a mainstream rock act, and amazingly despite the confusing it created, it still sold 4,000,000 copies. But, is Tusk really a mammoth success compared to one of the greatest albums of all time? Let's see.
Musically, like several other double albums by hit artists (The White Album for example), Tusk offers a wide range of styles in its music. The group's soft rock stylings from their 1975 self titled album and Rumours remain, mainly on Christine McVie's songs ('Over and Over', 'Never Forget') Nicks' tracks are folk rock ballads ('Sara', 'Angels' and 'Sister of The Moon') and Buckingham's songs (bar three) are snarling Lo-Fi punk new wave tracks ('The Ledge' and 'Not That Funny') It all blends together to make a really unique sound, along with a country tinge on a few tracks ('Honey Hi') and harmonic beach Boys inspired pop songs ('That's All For Everyone', 'Beautiful Child'). Buckingham's tracks are really unlike anything the group had made up to that point, with blaring detuned fuzz riffs and percussion played on Kleenex boxes. Lindsey practically yells his lyrics over the blaring musical backing. The rest of the tracks are mainly slickly produced affairs, with McVie's ballads as sweet as ever and Nicks' tracks containing a familiar haunting feel to them, fitting with her almost ethereal lyrics. Then there's the title track, a crazed tribal freak out with a marching band horn section, an avant garden Zappa-like Drum solo and a collage of noise blaring under the track. It's probably the strangest single they ever released and as a testament to true popularity at the time, it was a top ten hit.
The standout tracks on this album are, in my honest opinion, some of the group's very best songs. 'That's All For Everyone' is lavish sounding song buried in Side 2, but contains layers of group harmony, heavily inspired by the Beach Boys (McVie was engaged to Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson at the time and Buckingham allegedly had access to the unfinished Smile tapes) which blend with heavy piano work to create a gorgeous yet severely overlooked track. Nicks' 'Sisters of The Moon' is an explosive track which starts off as a menacing folky track before bursting into a blazing guitar solo. The title track is an undeniable highlight and the slow creeping soft rock gem 'Brown Eyes' which features original guitarist Peter Green is another wonderful song. The main highlight is however Stevie's 6 minute ballad 'Sara', a vibrant and powerful track which rivals Rhiannon in its emotion. Are there faults here? Yes, many actually. Buckingham's tracks range from amazing to down right irritating ('Not That Funny' features him barking out lyrics over a shaky drum beat) and the length of the record means filler is of course In bound (McVie's 'Honey Hi' is very pleasant but lyrically incredibly weak).
Overall, Tusk is a very interesting set. At once combining lush soft rock and blazing post punk experiments, it's easy to understand the confusion it caused on release. But the positives heavily outweigh the negatives here. Tusk is a damn fine record which blends soaring ballads and aggressive avant garde rock to create a truly unique product which you'll undoubtedly come back to Over and Over.
Standout tracks:
Sara
The Ledge
That's All For Everyone
Sisters of The Moon
Brown Eyes
Tusk
Never Forget
