Every Fleetwood Mac fan has an opinion on which album is their best. More often than not, the answer ends up being Rumours. That transcendent album set a standard for the band to measure itself against. Needless to say, the album that followed up that mammoth success needed to be superb. They landed on Tusk, an album that is set far apart from Rumors, but is nonetheless creatively intoxicating.
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Tusk is beloved among many Fleetwood Mac fans, but there is a crowd that didn’t understand the band’s evolution on this record. Despite the polarizing opinions, Stevie Nicks once said this Fleetwood Mac album was “ahead of its time.” Find out why Nicks stands behind Tusk below.
The Polarizing Fleetwood Mac Album Stevie Nicks Thought Was Ahead of Its Time
Tusk is nothing like the album that came before it. It was somewhat punky–maybe even a little prog. Art Nouveau? It’s challenging to pinpoint exactly how to brand this album. That muddiness is precisely why many fans disliked this record.
Unlike Rumours, which is pop-focused and largely radio-friendly, Tusk saw the band take significant creative risks. While they could’ve rested on their laurels, Fleetwood decided to turn heel and go in the complete opposite direction.
The Beauty of Tusk
Nicks once talked about how transcendent Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk felt. She recalled being scared of how experimental the project was.
“It became something so beautiful and so ahead of its time,” Nicks once said of Tusk. “I would have liked to be a fly on the wall, too, when they played it, because they had to be horrified. I was a little horrified myself over that 13-month period, but it was an experience.”
“We were going to the top of the mountain, and it was very spiritual,” she added. “And again, we were having serious relationship problems during Tusk, but when we went into that studio and saw those tusks, and all the amazing stuff we collected and brought in every day, we became part of a world that was fantastic.”
Not everyone will agree with Nicks’ opinion of Tusk, but those who do regard this album as a win will know precisely the feeling she’s talking about in the quote above.
(Photo by Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock)
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