'Tusk' is a double album released in 1979 by Fleetwood Mac. Considered somewhat experimental due to Lindsey Buckingham's apparent attempts to allow punk rock and New Wave influence into his work, Tusk did not achieve the level of success of its mega-hit predecessor, Rumours. However, it still went double-platinum in the U.S. (sales in excess of two million copies) and gave the group two top ten hit singles.
The unusual title track, "Tusk", featuring the University of Southern California's Spirit of Troy marching band, proved to be a hit, reaching both the US and UK Top 10.
The project had apparently made some record executives nervous, not only for its million-dollar production budget, but the label had expected a similar formula to that which had made Rumours so successful. The luxurious packaging and product that resulted did top the UK album charts on November 10th, 1979 and reached #4 in the US, and although a commercial success, the album failed to reach the heights of Rumours.
Warner Bros attributed this to the record being "over produced" by Buckingham, making it less commercially viable. However, Fleetwood himself stated that matters were not helped by a major US radio station playing all 20 of the tracks in their entirety just prior to the album's release, thus allowing for home taping. A remastered and expanded version of the album (featuring 41 tracks) was released on a double CD in 2004. The first disc is the complete 20-track album (with the full length version of "Sara", which had been edited for the original CD release of the album due to running time constraints on earlier compact discs). The second disc features a collection of demo tracks, alternative cuts and other rarities from the time of the album. In 1986, the group Camper Van Beethoven re-recorded Tusk in its entirety, publically releasing the project in 2002.
'Tusk' was the first album to employ digital mixing.
Suggested listening:
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