Why Lindsey Buckingham Argued That This Divisive Fleetwood Mac Album Was a “Good Career Move”

Following the overwhelming success of their 1977 album, Rumours, the musical world was Fleetwood Mac’s oyster. The British-American rock ‘n’ rollers had all the fame and resources at their disposal to create what Warner Brothers anticipated to be their next big album.

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Lindsey Buckingham had other plans.

Fleetwood Mac’s Follow-Up to ‘Rumours’ Was Incredibly Divisive

In the two years that followed the release of Rumours, Fleetwood Mac holed up in The Village Recorder in Los Angeles, California, their studio full of African decor. “It was kind of like living on an African burial ground,” frontwoman Stevie Nicks later told Mojo. And indeed, a burial ground was an appropriate setting for the album that came to be known as Tusk. As far as Warner Brothers was concerned, Fleetwood Mac had killed their career.

“My big rap on stage was how I would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall when Warner Brothers first put that album on in the boardroom,” Lindsey Buckingham later recalled to Billboard. “They really didn’t hear it until it was done, and we gave it to them. From a marketing point of view, it was not what they wanted or what they expected. It was a ballsy thing to do.”

“For me, being sort of the culprit behind that particular album, it was done in a way to undermine just sort of following the formula of doing Rumours 2 and Rumours 3. We were really poised to make Rumours 2. That could’ve been the beginning of kind of painting yourself into a corner in terms of living up to the labels that were being placed on you as a band.”

Lindsey Buckingham Called It the Right Career Move in the End

In a joint interview with bandmate Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham defended the band’s decision to release an album like Tusk, which was so wildly different from their previous smash hit. “I remember someone saying that some people over at the record company saw their Christmas bonuses flying out the window when they heard it,” Buckingham said with a smile. “That was kind of the equation there.”

“But you know,” he continued, “that was a very good career move, I think. You show that there’s a good deal more than meets the eye. A good deal more than just, you know, a phenomenon.”

Compared to Rumours, Fleetwood Mac’s follow-up, Tusk, was considered a commercial flop. (For some context, it still sold roughly four million copies. That’s just how gargantuan Rumours really was in comparison.)

Nevertheless, it remains a cult favorite among loyal Fleetwood Mac fans. And as Mick Fleetwood would later tell Mojo, “Tusk stands as a great body of work. A creative milestone. And a lesson learned is that if you want to keep creatively stimulated, you have to take risks. It truly is my favorite album.”

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