The Ever-so Tribal Tusk Album

    We've spoken a lot about Fleetwood Mac's successful Rumours Album.  But what happened after that?  Where did the successful five some go from there?   You would think selling over 8 million copies of your album would be a blessing for a band, but is it really?  Sometimes when a band makes a really great and memorable album, they then can't find a way to top that success and that is when they become "stuck" and simply drop off the face of the earth.  If anything, Fleetwood Mac wanted to make an album that wasn't a "Rumours 2" so to speak. 
    So after a short break, their following album entitled Tusk was made and let me tell you, the sound is far different from the Rumours album.  All members of the band were involved with their vocal arrangements and instrumental work on previous albums, but this time around was a bit different.  Lindsey Buckingham seemed to take control of the somewhat tribal sound of the Tusk album. The thing about Buckingham was that he had (and still does to this day have) a goal in mind when making an album.  He, just like any other serious recording artist, never wants to make two albums that sound the same.  Every band needs that type of band mate.  A band needs to have a creative leader.  Sure, Mick Fleetwood is considered the Big Daddy of Fleetwood Mac, but he only has an instrumental ear.  Buckingham however has an ear for both vocal harmonies as well as music combined for he sings and plays lead guitar.  He has personal experience. Take a look at this short clip that explains the making of the Tusk album...


    If I could describe the Tusk album in three words it would be...hmmm...tribal,experimental,abstract.  Before the recording of the album, Buckingham informed Fleetwood of an idea that he had for the album.  He proposed recording a few tracks by himself before re-joining the band in studio.  There were definitely mixed emotions among band members to this proposition.  Mick Fleetwood's concern was the fact that his drums may not match the recording of Buckingham's vocals or guitar.  Fleetwood thought it would be better suited for the band if they were all in one room recording the album.  The recording was quite difficult in the studio for in the 1970's, studios were poorly built.  A lot of artists had trouble getting an ambiance or echo on their tracks.  The walls and floor were carpeted resulting in poor, flat sound.  These rooms were like a recording artists' nightmare.  Buckingham would actually record much of the album's material in a bathroom in order to gain a fuller sound.  Here is a current video from 2007 describing Buckingham's slightly absurd/OCD-ish ways to record the Tusk album.  Needless to say...fellow band members sometimes thought he was losing his mind..Stevie Nicks humorously interprets what Lindsey was like mixing the Tusk album..



  I have mixed feelings towards this.  I mean I definitely see where Fleetwood is coming from.  If I were a drummer ( the essential "heartbeat" of the band's music) I would feel more comfortable having every single one of my band mates in the same studio and recording together.  However, I can also see where Buckingham is coming from. He wanted to take a completely different approach to the album.  He wanted to explore and go back to his creative roots that he had before he joined Fleetwood Mac. Everyone was looking at the making of this new album in a different way and all of those ideas are reflected in the sound of the album. 

  A lot of people hate the sound of Tusk.  What's JDSkills opinion of this you might ask?
Well here it is...


 I LOVE THE TUSK ALBUM!  Yeah, its a little quirky and weird but that's why I love it!  I loved the Rumours album (who doesn't?) but Tusk is so unique and different.  This is when Stevie Nicks got to write songs that were more loose and less commercial.  Lindsey Buckingham cut the Afro off his head and to top it off, he cut his pop-rock sound and geared towards the punk sound.  Christine McVie is probably the only vocalist who seemed to sound the same.  That's one thing that is different about Christine compared to Nicks.  When McVie knows that an album needs to be recorded then she starts writing songs.  Nicks on the other hand is constantly writing songs, giving a variety of different arrangements to choose from.  Regardless, both musicians are excellent in their own right.  It seemed as though each member from the band came back from the Rumours tour with a different way at looking at music.  There was obviously still that raw tension and chemistry within the band.  Actually, little tid bit- Midway through the Rumours Tour Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks had a fling. *Gasp* Yeah, I know right?  I wonder what Buckingham had to say about that?  Anyways, we will talk a bit more about that later...

   Here are a few clips of the band actually mixing and recording the Tusk album...Enjoy!


Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham recording one of my personal favorites from the album-Nicks' song, Angel. Also, a little bit of footage at the end to show Buckingham's mixing techniques.



Poor Stevie living in a mans world!  She totally is making sense and they just make fun of her.  Don't worry Stevie!  I understand what you were trying to say...


A little background on Christine McVie as well as her recording "Make me Cry". Such a calm cool chick...reflects in her music!

More posts on Tusk to come later!

Till then...
JDSkills