Fleetwood Mac

marty:
so appropos of nothing much i listened to the whole of tusk tonite and conclude that it is in fact the fm masterpiece, at least of the latter day iteration--vastly superior to the overrated, biggerselling fleetwood mac and runours. it helps me to understand your lindsey buckingham fixation--he's stellar here, with the brian wilson thing really happening.

Loomis,

I kind of agree. I always place Pet Sounds, The White Album, Exile, and Tusk in a class of their own as outlying artistic statements from bands expected to simply fire up another collection of radio hits. (It's easy to forget how deliberately outré the White Album sounded on first listen.) Obviously, Tusk has a special place in my heart, given my own quirky fascination with FM. I'd personally be a little kinder to the previous two FM albums (taken on their own terms, both shone IMO) but I'd also be the first to acknowledge that Tusk is braver and more ambitious than either of them.

IMO, Tusk a great record largely because it eschews the mass appeal of the previous two mega-hits. To really appreciate it, however, I believe that it must be heard live. As good as the record is, I also believe that (along with Say You Will), Tusk is the anomalous FM record in that the power of one writer's songs (Buckingham's in the case of Tusk and Nicks' in the case of SYW) is diminished in the tracking - very unusual for FM which is usually expertly recorded IMO.

When I first heard it performed live, Tusk just astonished me. The rockers became absolutely ferocious and the range of the band as they move from ballad to pop hit to stripped down rock was pretty incredible. FM did a mini-set from Tusk on the last tour and I thought it was the highlight of the show. Sadly, I suspect they won't go there again this time out, simply because they have a large catalog and like to change it up.

I'm glad you're enjoying the record, I hope that you do get an opportunity to hear it at its best -live, live, live- one day.

Judy...Judy...Judy, such a cynic. I hope Stevie casts a spell on you.

A rap and punk-loving friend, who generally disdains melodic pop) uncharacteristically idolizes "tusk" on the basis that "the songs sound like nursery rhymes." it's a good observation--the bulk of it is fundamentally simple, three-chord tunes indelibly pounded into your skull by virtue of buckingham's drive and intensity--it's the rare record where you remember the songs the first time you hear them.