Tusk (album)

Lore & Background

Going into Tusk, Lindsey Buckingham was adamant about creating an album that sounded nothing like Rumours. Buckingham commented that he intended for Tusk to subvert the expectations of creating a 'Rumours 2 and Rumours 3, which is kind of the business model Warner Bros. would have liked us to follow.' Mick Fleetwood decided early on that Tusk was to be a double album. Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, who was dating Christine McVie at the time, offered to host the band at the Beach Boys' studio, but after an attorney for the Beach Boys told Fleetwood Mac they would still have to pay for the facility even if they decided not to use it, the band backed out. They approached Geordie Hormel, who offered to construct a custom studio at The Village Recorder; Fleetwood's attorney opted to rent the custom studio, named Studio D.

Buckingham – infatuated with bands such as Talking Heads – was 'desperate to make Mac relevant to a post-punk world,' according to music journalist Bob Stanley. Journalist Adam Webb described the Tusk recording sessions as a 'cocaine blizzard' from which Christine McVie's then-boyfriend Dennis Wilson 'never really came out.' Music historian Domenic Priore claimed that, for research purposes during the album's recording, Buckingham accessed the master tapes for the Beach Boys' unreleased album Smile, and that the tracks 'That's All for Everyone' and 'Beautiful Child' most strongly exemplify its influence.

Recording took place at Buckingham's home studio for several songs, where he played all instruments, including 'The Ledge', 'Save Me a Place', and 'That's Enough for Me'. Engineers aimed for a darker sound by recording at a magnetic tape speed of 30 inch per second with Dolby noise reduction. The album's cover art features a photo of producer Ken Caillat's dog Scooter biting his leg, taken by photographer Peter Beard. The liner notes included a composite photograph by Jayme Odgers showing Fleetwood clinging to a chair on the ceiling, Buckingham and Nicks suspended in the air, and both McVies on the ground, created because the band refused to be in the same room together.

Reader's Guide

Tusk stands as a pivotal and polarizing entry in Fleetwood Mac's catalog, deliberately breaking from the massive commercial template of Rumours. Its experimental nature, driven by Lindsey Buckingham's post-punk influences and sparse arrangements, resulted in an album that was regarded as a commercial failure by the label, selling four million copies compared to Rumours' ten million by February 1978. However, its reputation has grown over time. In 2013, NME ranked Tusk at number 445 in their list of '500 Greatest Albums of All Time'. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and in 2000 it was voted number 853 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. The album's production costs, initially estimated at $1 million and later revealed to be about $1.4 million, made it the most expensive rock album recorded to that date. The band embarked on a nine-month world tour to promote Tusk, traveling across the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK; in Germany they shared the bill with Bob Marley. The tour also produced material for the Fleetwood Mac Live album, released in 1980. Tusk's legacy is that of a bold, risky artistic statement that challenged both the band and its audience, and its influence continues to be reassessed.