Tusk [Expanded]

Performer: Fleetwood Mac
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Fleetwood Mac: Lindsay Buckingham (vocals, guitar); Christine McVie (vocals, keyboards, synthesizer); Stevie Nicks (vocals); John McVie (bass); Mick Fleetwood (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: The U.S.C. Trojan Marching Band. Producers: Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut, Ken Caillat. Engineers: Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut, Lindsey Buckingham. Recorded at The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California. This deluxe edition of Tusk includes a bonus disc featuring roughs, outtakes and demos. Fleetwood Mac: Lindsay Buckingham (vocals, guitar); Christine McVie (vocals, keyboards, synthesizer); Stevie Nicks (vocals); John McVie (bass); Mick Fleetwood (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: The U.S.C. Trojan Marching Band. Producers: Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut, Ken Caillat. Engineers: Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut, Lindsey Buckingham. Recorded at The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California. Originally released on Warners Bros. (3350). Includes liner notes by Parke Puterbaugh. Personnel: Lindsey Buckingham (vocals, guitar); Christine McVie (vocals, keyboards, synthesizer); Stevie Nicks (vocals); Mick Fleetwood (drums, percussion). Audio Remasterers: Dan Hersch; Bill Inglot. Liner Note Author: Parke Puterbaugh. Recording information: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA; Home; Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, CA. Photographers: Jayne Odgers; Norman Seeff; Richard Aaron; Sam Emerson; Peter Beard; Laura Levine. No home should be without at least one copy of TUSK. Fleetwood Mac's magnum opus of 1979 is considered by some to be their greatest work. And while you are probably familiar with the hits, you may not realize that this recording is full of gems like Christine McVie's gorgeous "Brown Eyes" and Lindsey Buckingham's rousing and infectious "I Know I'm Not Wrong." Of course, even the Nikei industrial average would sound beautiful if it were sung with Christine's wonderful voice. And Lindsey Buckingham's home recordings that show up here are a virtual blueprint for the indie-rock home-recording scene that would flourish nearly 20 years later. While some records from this period seem campy and quaint in retrospect, TUSK still sounds terrific, thanks to those Dashut/Buckingham production values. But what's up with that marching band on the title track? No home should be without at least one copy of TUSK. Fleetwood Mac's magnum opus of 1979 is considered by some to be their greatest work. And while you are probably familiar with the hits, you may not realize that this recording is full of gems like Christine McVie's gorgeous "Brown Eyes" and Lindsey Buckingham's rousing and infectious "I Know I'm Not Wrong." Of course, even the Nikei industrial average would sound beautiful if it were sung with Christine's wonderful voice. And Lindsey Buckingham's home recordings that show up here are a virtual blueprint for the indie-rock home-recording scene that would flourish nearly 20 years later. While some records from this period seem campy and quaint in retrospect, TUSK still sounds terrific, thanks to those Dashut/Buckingham production values. But what's up with that marching band on the title track? In the spring of 2004, Warner Strategic Marketing reissued as remastered expanded editions Fleetwood Mac's first three albums with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Tusk restores "Sara" to its original running length (on the previous CD edition, it was offered in a truncated single edit in order to fit the whole album on one disc), and is given a bonus disc with 21 tracks, which is longer than the original double album. Of these, two are previously released single versions of "Think About Me" and "Sisters of the Moon," and of the remaining 19 tracks, only two are previously unheard songs -- and both of those are covers, of Jorge Calderon's "Kiss and Run" and the Beach Boys' "Farmer's Daughter" (the former is a rough studio jam, the latter is polished and very good). The rest of the bonus disc contains demos, alternate takes, and working versions of songs from Tusk. Unlike the Rumours bonus disc, where the alternate takes often sounded like unpolished versions of the final takes, these are often really rough takes, which makes them more interesting listens. What's particularly fascinating is to hear several of Buckingham's songs develop from these demo and alternates to the finished versions on the album. "I Know I'm Not Wrong" is singled out with no less than three versions, and it's compelling listening to hear it grow and mutate from each take. Given that it consists of almost nothing but demos and alternates, the bonus disc is more for the historical record than for listening for enjoyment, but it does offer considerably valuable insight into the creation of the great, unwieldy album that is Tusk, which is what makes this one of the finest expanded reissues of a classic record yet released. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Uncut (4/04, p.112) - 5 stars out of 5 - "[T]his was the exact AOR equivalent of PiL's METAL BOX, where a mainstream icon suddenly subverts their art from within the system..." Uncut (4/04, p.112) - 5 stars out of 5 - "[T]his was the exact AOR equivalent of PiL's METAL BOX, where a mainstream icon suddenly subverts their art from within the system..." Mojo (Publisher) (4/04, p.122) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[T]he collection had some moments of shimmering beauty....TUSK's greatest worth is as an accurate and telling musical indication of where the band members' solo albums would go." Mojo (Publisher) (4/04, p.122) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[T]he collection had some moments of shimmering beauty....TUSK's greatest worth is as an accurate and telling musical indication of where the band members' solo albums would go."

Making endless shifts in personnel and style, Fleetwood Mac went from being one of the most original British blues bands of the 1960s--under the leadership of Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood--to becoming purveyors of a smooth, masterful L.A. pop aesthetic that conquered the American airwaves during the '70s. Their most successful album, 1977's RUMOURS--featuring the group's most well-known lineup of Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks--is one of the best-selling records of all time. Although never quite able to repeat that success, the band continued touring and recording off and on for the next three decades in various incarnations.

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