Record of the Day: Fleetwood Mac, “Tusk”

Fleetwood Mac
“Tusk” (Cd Warner Bros. 7599-27395-2)

After selling eighteen million copies of the album “Rumours”, Fleetwood Mac entered a crisis. How could they overcome or even repeat a success of that proportion? The pressure from the record company was very strong, they had to replicate the winning formula.
But “Rumours” wasn’t born from the use of a recipe; it was the result of the frightening personal tensions within the group.
due to a series of divorces, arguments, grudges, recriminations that had inspired some of the best songs on the album but also led to the collapse of interpersonal relationships in the band.

Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham took over the leadership.
of the group since all the other members were busy stuffing themselves with drugs and got to work, writing most of the songs; keyboardist Christine McVie and singer Stevie Nicks also had some great songs in the drawer and after a few months the accumulation of material was such that a double album was required.

The making of “Tusk” was hell; locked in the recording studio for over two years, the musicians continued to do and undo each song dozens of times. Buckingham seemed to have completely lost control of the situation (he even recorded some vocal parts in the shower cabin in his house) and the production costs had become astronomical; furthermore
the direction taken by the album was schizophrenic compared to the previous album. The sound of “Tusk” was dirty, chaotic and saturated with amphetamine energy in Buckingham’s songs while the other authors tried to bring the album back to more familiar tracks; in any case there was not even one song suitable for becoming a box office hit.

Furthermore, Buckingham decided to release the title song of the album as the first single, a march accompanied by
a ramshackle marching band sound that gave the record company a stroke and was a resounding flop.
Something recovered thanks to the single “Sara”, but the album started off lamely and didn’t even remotely reach the successes of the past.

None of this is to the detriment of the excellent musical quality of the work, full of very beautiful songs starting from the sweet
“Over and Over” and “Beautiful Child” to driving songs like “I Know I Am Not Wrong” and “What Makes You Think You’re the One”.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical subjects.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: Un disco per ogni giorno dell’anno” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.