Review 1 of 1

JMitchellfan writes:

5of 5 Stars

It was clearly the addition of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham for 1975's Fleetwood Mac that had elivated the band from a decent, sunny California folk-rock group, led by Christine McVie, to the late 70's superstars of Pop-Rock. The previous two Mac albums were largely dominated by the two female songwriters: Nicks and McVie turned in some excellent work on Fleetwood Mac and Rumours, and while Buckingham's production certianly did more than simply assist those releases, it is here that Buckingham is thrown to the forefront of Fleetwood Mac. First, he has 9 songs to Nicks' and McVie's combined 11. Also, the jittery cocaine fantasies that Buckingham has written he has produced with the same off-kilter instrumentations and sounds. McVie and Nicks, while turning is material up to par with Rumours, are produced by Buckingham as dreamlike trances, offsetting his feverish romps. The result- a brilliant, but difficult, late 70s masterpiece. Tusk is Buckingham's chance to shine, both as songwriter and producer, but it doesn't sound as is he took unworthy control- it's almost as if Nicks and McVie, both musically and historically, wanted the band to move into experimental territory as much as Buckingham did, and they knew that he was just the person to send them there. Even the finest songs on the album, such as Buckingham's "The Ledge," "What Makes You Think You're The One," and "I Know I'm Not Wrong" are produced in loud, jumpy, unbalanced arrangements, and Nicks' "Sara" and "Angel," and McVie's "Over and Over" and "Honey Hi" feel like they're slipping into oblivion. Still, Buckingham turns in phenomenol Folk-Pop, Nicks turns in her traditional Hippie ballads, and McVie turns in her excellent Soul-Pop. The record is punctuated, of course, by it's bizarre title track, featuring marching band and druggish lyrics. Tusk is a bizarre piece of artwork, a classic piece of avant-garde pop.

Sep 29, 2006 08:41:00