Tusk (album)

Untitled

Tusk is the 12th album by the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac. Released in 1979, it is considered experimental, primarily due to Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and home recording techniques to acknowledge the influence of punk rock and New Wave on his work. Bassist John McVie has commented that the album sounds like "the work of three solo artists" (Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie), whilst Mick Fleetwood now proclaims that it is his favourite and the best Fleetwood Mac studio album created by the group. Costing over one million dollars to record (a fact widely noted in the 1979 press), it was the most expensive rock album made up to that point.

Tusk peaked at #4 in the US and was certified double platinum for shipping two million copies. It peaked at #1 in the UK and achieved a Platinum award, and gave the group two US top-ten hit singles, with the Buckingham penned title track (US #8/UK #6), and the Stevie Nicks composition "Sara" (US #7/UK #37). Further releases from the album, "Not That Funny" (UK only single release), "Think About Me" and "Sisters of the Moon" were less successful; however, the latter two appear in their 'single versions' on the 2002 compilation The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac. "Sara" was cut to 4½ minutes for both the single and the first CD release of the album, but the unedited version has since been restored on the 1988 Greatest Hits compilation and the 2004 reissue of Tusk as well as Fleetwood Mac's 2002 release of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac. Original guitarist Peter Green also took part in the sessions of Tusk, but his playing for the Christine McVie track "Brown Eyes" is not credited on the album.

Though the album sold four million copies worldwide, in comparison to the huge sales of Rumours and the unprecedented recording expense, the band's record label deemed the project a failure, laying the blame squarely with Buckingham himself. Fleetwood, however, blames the album's relative failure on the RKO radio chain playing the album in its entirety prior to release, thus allowing mass home taping. In addition, Tusk was a double album, with a high list price of $15.98.

The band embarked on a huge 18-month tour to promote Tusk. They travelled extensively across the world, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In Germany they shared the bill with reggae superstar Bob Marley. It was on this world tour that the band recorded music for the Fleetwood Mac Live album, which was released at the end of 1980.

Track listing

Side One

1. "Over & Over" (Christine McVie) – 4:36
2. "The Ledge" (Lindsey Buckingham) – 2:02
3. "Think About Me" (C. McVie) – 2:44
4. "Save Me a Place" (Buckingham) – 2:40
5. "Sara" (Stevie Nicks) – 6:27 (edited to 4:37 on original CD versions)

Side Two

1. "What Makes You Think You're the One" (Buckingham) – 3:32
2. "Storms" (Nicks) – 5:29
3. "That's All for Everyone" (Buckingham) – 3:04
4. "Not That Funny" (Buckingham) – 3:13
5. "Sisters of the Moon" (Nicks) – 4:40

Side Three

1. "Angel" (Nicks) – 4:53
2. "That's Enough for Me" (Buckingham) – 1:48
3. "Brown Eyes" (C. McVie) – 4:30
4. "Never Make Me Cry" (C. McVie) – 2:14
5. "I Know I'm Not Wrong" (Buckingham) – 3:02

Side Four

1. "Honey Hi" (C. McVie) – 2:43
2. "Beautiful Child" (Nicks) – 5:23
3. "Walk a Thin Line" (Buckingham) – 3:48
4. "Tusk" (Buckingham) – 3:36
5. "Never Forget" (C. McVie) – 3:44

Bonus CD

1. "One More Time (Over & Over)" (C. McVie)
2. "Can't Walk Out of Here (The Ledge)" (Buckingham)
3. "Think About Me" (C. McVie)
4. "Sara" (Nicks)
5. "Lindsey's Song #1 (I Know I'm Not Wrong)" (Buckingham)
6. "Storms" (Nicks)
7. "Lindsey's Song #2 (That's All for Everyone)" (Buckingham)
8. "Sisters of the Moon" (Nicks)
9. "Out on the Road (That's Enough for Me)" (Buckingham)
10. "Brown Eyes" (C. McVie)
11. "Never Make Me Cry" (C. McVie)
12. "Song #1 (I Know I'm Not Wrong)" (Buckingham)
13. "Honey Hi" (C. McVie)
14. "Beautiful Child" (Nicks)
15. "Song #3 (Walk a Thin Line)" (Buckingham)
16. "Come on Baby (Never Forget)" (C. McVie)
17. "Song #1 (I Know I'm Not Wrong)" [alternate] (Buckingham)
18. "Kiss and Run" (Jorge Calderón)
19. "Farmer's Daughter" (Brian Wilson, Mike Love)
20. "Think About Me"(C. McVie)
    • Single version
21. "Sisters of the Moon" (Nicks)
    • Single version

Credits

Fleetwood Mac

• Stevie Nicks – vocals, keyboards
• Lindsey Buckingham – guitar, piano, bass guitar, drums, harmonica, vocals
• Christine McVie – keyboards, vocals
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• USC Trojan Marching Band – appears on "Tusk"
• Peter Green – appears uncredited on "Brown Eyes"

Production

• Producers: Fleetwood Mac. Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut
• Engineers: Lindsey Buckingham, Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut, Hernan Rojas
• Assistant Engineer: Rich Feldman
• Mastering: Ken Perry
• Remastering: Ken Caillat
• Photography: Peter Beard, Jayne Odgers, Norman Seeff
• Art Direction: Vigon Nahas Vigon
• Design: Vigon Nahas Vigon

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1979	US	4
1979	UK	1

Singles

Year	Single	US	UK	AUS
1979	"Tusk"	8	6	3
1980	"Sara"	7	37	-
1980	"Think About Me"	20	-	-
1980	"Sisters of the Moon"	86	-	-

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)	Platinum	100,000^
Germany (BVMI)	Gold	250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)	Platinum	300,000^
United States (RIAA)	2× Platinum	2,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

• In 1991, R.E.M. covered Tusk introducing it by noting that, earlier in their career, they were able to take advantage of Fleetwood Mac's unused recording studio time.
• In 2002, Camper Van Beethoven released a full cover of the original Tusk. The cover art and track listings are almost identical.