Fleetwood Mac - Tusk - The official Song by Song thread!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Lynd8, Aug 25, 2020.

  1. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    "Over & Over": Took me years to figure this slightly subdued song out. In the beginning I wondered why one would open an album with what I initially saw as a "weak" tune.

    It's not "weak" at all. In fact it sets the stage beautifully, creates a mood for the things to unfold.
     
  2. Lynd8

    Lynd8 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York
    Quite correct, and I also think the liner notes to the live LP are less than truthful about "Farmer's Daughter". I believe that was recorded at Village Recorders with the rest of this LP - it's a bonus track on the 2004 reissue and there is no crowd noise but the songs is note for note the same.
     
  3. Lewisboogie

    Lewisboogie “Bob Robert”

    I enjoy how Lindsey references “Come Together” with those licks in the fade out.

    Beautiful song. Great opener to set the mood. Almost a reversal of what one would expect — sounds like it could a closing song.
     
  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

  5. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    So interesting that they opened the album with a mellow ballad. In light of the fact that we have such a diverse batch of songs, it seems sort of odd.
    As someone said, Christine writes these, generally soothing songs that with her voice, sort of instantly become sort of soothing meditative pieces .
    This is a really nice track. I'm just not sure it should have been the first track.
     
  6. brother1002

    brother1002 I'm hungry....

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    One of the best sounding cymbal crashes at the end. Even on my old vinyl copy, it just explodes. Love this song!
     
  7. ryno

    ryno Forum Resident

    Over & Over is great although i can see why it'd be too downbeat to ever be released as a single. Personally i'd have swapped it with Never Forget to end the album with.
     
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  8. manxman

    manxman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Isle of Man
    My opinion of Tusk differs from the majority – I think it's a textbook example of an album that was significantly underrated on first release, only to be insanely overrated in retrospect. There's no doubt that it was a bold follow-up to Rumours – the band were indeed determined not to make Fleetwood Mac part three – but that doesn't mean I think the songs are comparable in quality to those on the two previous albums. In fact, I'd say that Buckingham and McVie managed only two great songs apiece ("The Ledge" and the title track and "Over And Over" and "Think About Me" respectively), though Nicks's five compositions probably add up to her best work on any Mac album. (Had the original version of "Brown Eyes", with a lot more Peter Green, been included, I'd probably revise my tally of great McVie songs up to three.)

    That said, they deserve some kudos for not repeating a formula, and that extended to the artwork and the running order: had they followed the template, the album would have opened with a punchy rocker (in this case, "Think About Me") and closed with an angry, impassioned number with a long coda ("Sisters Of The Moon"). They were also incredibly brave in choosing the title track as the first single instead of the more obvious "Think About Me" or "Sara", and were deservedly rewarded with the band's first real transatlantic hit.

    But what of "Over And Over"? It just may be my favourite Christine McVie song due to the magnificent arrangement, which creates a genuinely dream-like mood, especially the lengthy, relaxed coda. The sudden shift of mood to "The Ledge" is effectively jarring, and that song is wonderfully catchy and admirably radical in its structure. I wish I could say the same about most of Buckingham's other contributions, but for the most part they sound to me like adequate demos of merely adequate songs blending influences from Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan and the new wave in combinations that I don't find enormously exciting. So overall, much as I like Tusk, I'd overall rate it in the middle of Fleetwood Mac's oeuvre – below the other Buckingham/McVie/Nicks LPs and well below the "holy triumvirate" of Rumours, Bare Trees and Future Games.
     
  9. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    I've only owned Tusk for a couple of years, so I have no idea how I might have reacted to it when it came out. As it is I enjoy it, but probably wouldn't rate it above the previous two albums.

    The thing I have found surprising is that some of Lindsey's songs don't bear repeated listening as much as I would expect, but we'll get to those in due course.

    No such problems with "Over & Over" - a lovely sparse, understated ballad that's a strange choice for an opener, but works for me. Contains some of Mick's trademark touches (including the occasional snare hit on the "one" beat).
     
  10. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I am definitely in to participate! I have been massively into Fleetwood Mac this year, and by that I mean all eras of the band. I am fascinated by the history of the band and I like every 'version' of Fleetwood Mac. The classic pop years was my first exposure to the band (as with many people) but this was many years after the fact. I was born in the late '80s. I got The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac 2-CD compilation for my 15th birthday in 2003 (along with a two-disc Elton John compilation). I wore it out. I played it constantly for months. That was a great comp to start with, as it is non-chronological and pulls in lesser known album tracks, including several songs from Tusk such as 'Storms' and 'What Makes You Think You're the One.' I was intrigued. I got Tusk after Fleetwood Mac 75 and Rumours but I loved it instantly. I love exploratory double albums and this is one of the best.

    My favorite thing about Tusk is the way the material of the three songwriters contrasts and plays against each other. I wouldn't want an album of just Lindsey's wacky New Wave lo-fi. But when those songs are blended and mixed with Christine's warm, classy pop and Stevie's ethereal mood pieces it all works together beautifully. I never get bored playing this record.

    Over & Over
    I have decided that Christine McVie is one of the most underrated pop songwriters ever. Even I was guilty of underrating her. She wrote more than 50 great songs for Fleetwood Mac and she just doesn't often get the credit for it in my experience. Even these years of the band are often referred to by the shorthand of the Buckingham Nicks years. Meanwhile, Chris wrote six top 20 hits for this band and contributed beautiful, elegant songs on every album, along with being a great keyboardist and a wonderful singer. (Her songs from the Wilderness Years are exceptional and shouldn't be missed!)

    'Over & Over' is just another gem from Christine. Her songs have a kind of luminous quality to them. Understated but very melodic all the same with that rich voice of hers. It is indeed an unusual choice to open the album but I think it works extremely well. Like an embrace, beckoning us in. This is patient, lovely music. The band is excellent as well. Mick and John hold it down and Lindsey's playing is pretty enchanting all throughout. The soft washes of backing vocals are the cherry on top.
     
  11. Autotune Sucks

    Autotune Sucks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Little Rock, AR
    "Over And Over" is deceptive as it starts off sounding smooth and comforting but musically gets creepier and more unsettled as it unfolds. By the time you reach the ethereal "over and over" harmonies s near the end interwoven with Lindsey's angular guitar and Mick's disruptive fills, you know you aren't in Rumours-land anymore. And I am very grateful for it.
     
  12. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I like Brown Eyes (hello Peter) and a few more tunes, but I also think it's an overrated album. No threadcrap! But I was also always dumbfounded as to its "experimental" repution - it's hardly Captain Beefheart. There's a small number of quirky great to not very good Buckingham tracks, but overall it's slow, melodic and conventional, Over And Over being a perfect example. Good song. Subdued yes.
     
  13. Craig Slowinski

    Craig Slowinski Forum Resident

    Location:
    Omaha
    Anyone who loves this album, as I do, should get the book "Get Tusked" by Ken Caillat and Hernan Rojas - it's just great! A nice companion to Caillat's earlier book, "Making Rumours".
     
  14. pwhytey

    pwhytey Forum Resident

    Yes! It's a brilliant moment.

    'Over & Over' floats along like a dream and I think it's a wonderful opener. I've always thought the sequencing was quite cheeky, as this song lulls the listener into a deceptive sense of calm, only to slap them with track two.

    I've loved Tusk ever since I first listened to it in the mid-80s, so I'm really looking forward to this thread.
     
  15. ivtoon

    ivtoon Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX USA
    This.
    A terrific few seconds - every time after your first listen, you anticipate the build up, the crescendo of the cymbal, and then the release of what you realize has been the tension building in the song.
     
  16. gregorya

    gregorya I approve of this message

    I have to ask, how do you wear out a CD?... :):)
     
  17. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    You play it so often that your parents beg you to please put something else on? :D
     
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  18. Craig Slowinski

    Craig Slowinski Forum Resident

    Location:
    Omaha
    The title track is extremely experimental, especially when you consider it was the title track and lead single! Not what AM radio (or FM for that matter) was expecting from the band after Rumours! Also, Lindsey's first cut in the running order, "The Ledge", is SO quirky that it just comes out of left field. The cuts "What Makes You Think You're The One" and "Not That Funny" are so under-polished and full of raw unbridled anger (and displaying definite new wave influences, if not actual punk influences) that they definitely caught people off-guard. The rest of his stuff is a bit more conventional, but I remember how off-guard as a whole this album caught people at the time. Maybe it's not that "experimental" compared to what was going on with other bands like Devo, but it was definitely experimental compared to the previous Buckingham/Nicks Fleetwood Mac catalog.
     
  19. Lynd8

    Lynd8 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York
    Obviously this thread is for all of us to review the album and share opinions, but I don't think anyone of us would mind reading some extended thoughts about this book. If you have a few minutes, could you tell us a little more? I considered buying it, but some of the reviews indicated errors galore and also mentioned a lot of time spent talking technical issues of recording.

    I was going to mention the book in the coming days, but now is a good a time as any. I also ran across this long interview with Ken about the book if anyone is interested:

     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2020
  20. side3

    side3 Younger Than Yesterday

    Location:
    Tulsa, OK
    I will be following this thread. I was a teen in the late 70's. I was listening to Cheap Trick, The Clash and The Who. I had no time for Fleetwood Mac until this album came out. This was the first Mac album I bought. The Buckingham tracks really appealed to me, and I have been an LB fan ever since. I grew to like Christina McVie's songs, but still am not a fan of Stevie Nicks.
     
  21. Daring

    Daring My quest to marry Stevie Nicks has failed

    Location:
    Grove Ok
    The live performances of Sisters of the moon are my favorite FM videos. Those were some incredible shows.
     
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  22. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I do love the title track and it is quite odd. It's like the title track has influenced the reputation of the whole album! The other songs you mention are angry and harsh (but imho they aren't very good).
    Think you have to see it in the context of "who bought Rumours". Likely mostly fans of commercial pop music, Eagles, Doobie Brothers. From that angle it's a slightly disconcerting album.
     
  23. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    Over & Over
    Peculiar choice for an album opener, closer would seem better.
    Nevertheless it's well written, excellent guitar work, delicately balanced drums with occasional variations, bass playing support act, good lead and backing vocals. The outro with keyboards and drums is excellent.
     
  24. ryno

    ryno Forum Resident

    I've always wondered why Stevie never got to have the lead single off a FM album, Sara would have been the perfect lead single. She'd almost always manage to get the 2nd single off the album though.
     
  25. ralph7109

    ralph7109 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Franklin, TN
    It has it all for me -
    Christine McVie songs that are awesome, plus songs of hers that should have never seen the light of day, which is typical for a Fleetwood Mac album.
    Over & Over is one of the good ones.
     

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