Tusk

Tusk
Studio album by Fleetwood Mac
Released	October 19, 1979
Recorded	1978-79
Genre	Rock
Length	68:57
Label	Warner Bros. Records
Producer	Fleetwood Mac Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Rolling Stone (Favorable) 13 Dec 1979 Robert Christgau B+ link
Fleetwood Mac chronology
Rumours (1977) Tusk (1979) Mirage (1982)

Tusk is a double album released in 1979 by Fleetwood Mac. Considered somewhat experimental due to Lindsey Buckingham's apparent attempts to allow punk rock and New Wave influence into his work, Tusk did not achieve the level of success of its mega-hit predecessor, Rumours. However, it still went double-platinum in the U.S. (sales in excess of two million copies) and gave the group two top ten hit singles.

Overview

The unusual title track, "Tusk", featuring the University of Southern California's Spirit of Troy marching band, proved to be a hit, reaching both the US and UK Top 10. The accompanying promotional film was often played as a fill-in segment by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) TV channels during the 1980s (the single had enjoyed its highest international chart placing in Australia, peaking at #3 in the singles charts).

The album was one of the first to employ digital mixing.

The project had apparently made some record executives nervous, not only for its million-dollar production budget, but the label had expected a similar formula to that which had made Rumours so successful. The luxurious packaging and product that resulted did top the UK album charts on 10 November 1979 and reached #4 in the US, and although a commercial success, the album failed to reach the heights of Rumours. Warner Bros attributed this to the record being "over produced" by Buckingham, making it less commercially viable.^{[citation needed]} However, Fleetwood himself stated that matters were not helped by a major US radio station playing all 20 of the tracks in their entirety just prior to the album's release, thus allowing for home taping.^{[citation needed]} A remastered and expanded version of the album (featuring 41 tracks) was released on a double CD in 2004. The first disc is the complete 20-track album (with the full length version of "Sara", which had been edited for the original CD release of the album due to running time constraints on earlier compact discs). The second disc features a collection of demo tracks, alternative cuts and other rarities from the time of the album. In 2002, the group Camper Van Beethoven made a cover album of Tusk, with the same songs more "Camper Van Beethoven-ized".

Track listing

Original album

1. "Over & Over" (Christine McVie) – 4:36
2. "The Ledge" (Lindsey Buckingham) – 2:02
3. "Think About Me" (McVie) – 2:44
4. "Save Me a Place" (Buckingham) – 2:40
5. "Sara" (Stevie Nicks) – 6:26
6. "What Makes You Think You're the One" (Buckingham) – 3:32
7. "Storms" (Nicks) – 5:29
8. "That's All for Everyone" (Buckingham) – 3:04
9. "Not That Funny" (Buckingham) – 3:13
10. "Sisters of the Moon" (Nicks) – 4:45
11. "Angel" (Nicks) – 4:53
12. "That's Enough for Me" (Buckingham) – 1:48
13. "Brown Eyes" (McVie) – 4:30
14. "Never Make Me Cry" (McVie) – 2:14
15. "I Know I'm Not Wrong" (Buckingham) – 3:02
16. "Honey Hi" (McVie) – 2:43
17. "Beautiful Child" (Nicks) – 5:23
18. "Walk a Thin Line" (Buckingham) – 3:48
19. "Tusk" (Buckingham) – 3:36
20. "Never Forget" (McVie) – 3:44

Bonus CD

1. "One More Time (Over & Over)"
2. "Can't Walk Out of Here (The Ledge)"
3. "Think About Me"
4. "Sara"
5. "Lindsey's Song #1 (I Know I'm Not Wrong)"
6. "Storms"
7. "Lindsey's Song #2 (That's All for Everyone)"
8. "Sisters of the Moon"
9. "Out on the Road (That's Enough for Me)"
10. "Brown Eyes"
11. "Never Make Me Cry"
12. "Song #1 (I Know I'm Not Wrong)"
13. "Honey Hi"
14. "Beautiful Child"
15. "Song #3 (Walk a Thin Line)"
16. "Come on Baby (Never Forget)"
17. "Song #1 (I Know I'm Not Wrong)" [alternate]
18. "Kiss and Run"
19. "Farmer's Daughter"
20. "Think About Me" [single version]
21. "Sister of the Moon" [single version]

Credits

Fleetwood Mac

• Stevie Nicks – vocals, keyboards, occasional guitar (uncredited)
• Lindsey Buckingham – guitar, piano, bass, drums, harmonica, vocals
• Christine McVie – keyboards, vocals
• John McVie – bass
• Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• USC Trojan Marching Band – appears on "Tusk"
• Peter Green – appears uncredited on "Brown Eyes"

Production

• Producers: Fleetwood Mac. Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut
• Engineers: Lindsey Buckingham, Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut, Hernan Rojas
• Assistant Engineer: Rich Feldman
• Mastering: Ken Perry
• Remastering: Ken Caillat
• Photography: Peter Beard, Jayne Odgers, Norman Seeff
• Art Direction: Vigon Nahas Vigon
• Design: Vigon Nahas Vigon

Charts

Album

Singles

Miscellanea

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2007)

• In 1991, R.E.M. covered "Tusk", introducing it by noting that, earlier in their career, they were able to take advantage of Fleetwood Mac's unused recording studio time.
• In 2002, Camper Van Beethoven, an alternative/new wave/punk rock group, released a full cover of the original "Tusk". The cover art and track listings are almost identical.
• The name for the album Tusk was inspired by a giant mammoth tusk in the museum of a small town called Saffron Walden, in Essex, England. The band saw it while touring and "tusk" became a running joke over the tour.
• Tusk is often played at USC Trojan football games by the marching band with the fans chanting "UCLA sucks" at their crosstown rivals.
• Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie & Mick Fleetwood have stated in interviews that "Tusk" is their favorite Fleetwood Mac album, although Stevie Nicks has at times been upset about both the album's cover artwork and title.
• The album is referenced in The Mighty Boosh episode "Party", where Tony Harrison asks for "Tusk...in its entirety...with the pauses...as Lindsey Buckingham intended it to be heard" to be played at the party. He receives disparaging comments. It is also referenced in the season 1 episode "Tundra", as Naboo is listening to it on his headphones. On the 2008/2009 Boosh Live tour, a section of the title track is played at the beginning of the show. It is often implied in the Boosh that Rumours is generally preferable to Tusk, usually by characters portrayed by Richard Ayoade, such as Saboo and Dixon Bainbridge.
• You can hear the music Engineer Hernan Rojas shouting "Puta La Cago" (the equivalent to "Damn this thing" in Spanish) on minute 1:33 on the song Tusk.

Footnotes and references