Tusk

Following Rumours was never going to be an easy task, but rather than taking the safe option and producing a ten or eleven track album in the same style they decided to go for a double album for their twelfth studio release (the third with the classic line-up of Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood), with a style that new and old fans alike would either love or compare to the classic tracks on Rumours.

I think a lot of people are divided on this album, but it's all about giving it a chance. Yes, it's far less commercial than Rumours and a lot of the songs aren't so immediate, yet if you give the tracks time to blossom in your mind you come to realise what a brilliant collection of songs this is.

Released in October 1979, Tusk is a massive twenty tracks long and it starts with Over & over, a Christine McVie track that is somewhere between an upbeat pop song and a ballad. She gives a good performance but like much of the album it needs time to grow. The Ledge is a short, two minute, instantly infectious little ditty that is indicative of what Lindsey Buckingham will mostly be doing on this album. Think about me is a better Christine McVie track than the opener, although Lindsey's vocals are also prominent and you can also hear Stevie. It's a good little pop/rock song that was also a single, I think. Save me a place is Lindsey again and is simple and melodic, with a folk-like catchy chorus. Like The Ledge it has you instantly hooked, and is also short at under three minutes long.

A Stevie Nicks masterpiece is next. Sara is by now one of her most famous, and best, songs, having been released as a single and included on the 1988 Greatest Hits and the Best of's. You need the full six and a half minute definitive version of this rather than the four minute single edit that it was replaced with on earlier versions of the CD. There's not much more to say about this really, except it has gotten right under my skin and I absolutely adore it.

Side two, track one is What makes you think you're the one, another joyously catchy Buckingham track and I've come to notice an air of New Wave about his songs on here. Sandwiched in between two of his though is another absolute treasure of a ballad by Stevie Nicks, Storms is one mighty grower and it has slowly become one of my favourite songs of hers. It's basically about the end of a relationship (possibly hers and Lindsey's). That's all for everyone is Lindsey again, and one of his strongest tracks on here. Quite a haunting melody, it sounds like he's about to up and leave the band in the lyrics - maybe it was time to go off and make his debut solo album, which he did in between this and Mirage. Not that funny was a single in the U.K., although it wasn't a hit. Lindsey manages to make some dark lyrics into a jolly sounding folk rock song, which is insanely catchy and really should've been a hit. Sisters of the moon was the fourth single in America and peaked at #86. The song takes a bit of time to grow, but there are some fantastic haunting instrumentals on here and the vocals show off Stevie's classic mystical side.

Stevie Nicks kicks off the second half with Angel (not the same song as was featured on Heroes are hard to find), which is another brilliant grower and the most upbeat Stevie song on the album, although again quite haunting. That's enough for me is the shortest track on the album at less than two minutes, and like most of Lindsey's songs on here it is short, sharp and effective, instantly hooking and reeling you in. Brown eyes follows, and it seems ages since we last heard from Christine. This is probably as seductive as she ever gets on record, and the lyrics suggest that she is asking for sex. The song is quite dreamy and charming with few lyrics, but definitely one to chill out to. Never make me cry is also Christine's and is short, heart-rending, effective, lovely and has a dreamy chorus that is like a lullaby - probably her best track on here. Lindsey Buckingham gets the synthesizers in on I know I'm not wrong (they've probably been on other tracks but I haven't noticed them) and the harmonies sound brilliant on this catchy piece of energetic pop.

They've saved a lot of the best 'til last on this album as side four is my favourite and it starts with Honey hi, another of Christine McVie's dreamy, catchy tracks, although this is more of a simple love song and just being in love than some of the breaking up songs they have been better known for lately.

Beautiful child would easily be in my top ten of all-time Fleetwood Mac songs, it is simply gorgeous. Stevie Nicks makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end on this beautiful ballad, which has some lovely haunting melodies. I could listen to this over and over again for hours and it sometimes brings tears to my eyes listening to it. It's a toss up between this and Sara as to what is my favourite Stevie Nicks song on the album, but at the moment I'll plump for this.

Filling the slot between the emotional Beautiful child and the fast title track nicely is Walk a thin line, a Lindsey Buckingham piece of brilliance that is reminiscent of Tusk, the song, in the instrumental sections, especially the drumming, then you've got a gorgeous harmonious vocal that instantly grabs you and makes for one of the more immediate brilliant tracks on the album.

Tusk, the title track, is written by Lindsey and is definitely a one-off - nothing like this had ever been done by them before, and nothing has since. But then there is nothing like it, it's one of the most unique songs I've ever heard in my life and that isn't easy to do. From the time the drumming starts you know this is going to be special, and it never fails to disappoint, slowly building up into something magical. No wonder it was a top ten hit - it should have been a #1. A rock masterpiece!

Finishing off the album perfectly, and the only song that could follow Tusk, is Never forget, a nice, upbeat Christine McVie track which has a positive feel to it. After so much darkness it's nice to bow out with this.

To sum up, this is a very long album but also a consistently good one. Some of the tracks won't be instantly memorable on first listen, and it may feel like a bit of a slog sitting through twenty tracks when you only know a couple, but stick with it and you will be rewarded greatly. It is an experimental album for the band, especially on Lindsey's tracks, but the tracks flow together at just the right pace and everything is in just the right place. Maybe not as commercially good as Rumours, but it's definitely worth investing in as much as Bad was after Thriller.