Tusk was the big deal double Fleetwood Mac album that came after the mega-platinum hugeness of Rumours (you may have heard of it) and thus was bound to fail. Gloriously. We do love it when the Music Biz fails thus, throws huge piles of cash and cocaine and marketing buzz at something that dares to be art. Particularly when it contains genuine treasures like Walk A Thin Line, Lindsey Buckingham not just close to the edge, right on it, and walking it just fine.
In which The Kinks, a little past their 1960s glory days, stretch out a bit and release one of the saddest songs known to man. “I remember hearing it on the radio as a kid and almost crying. And that was many years before I’d seen any number of friends (and friends of friends) throw everything they had into some kind of showbiz career, and not just for the art of it, but also the glory, the big dream of being loved by everyone everywhere forever. And none of them ever achieved it. Nobody ever does really. Because those famous folks you see everywhere all the time – they’re not even real, just hallucinations created by the hunger at the heart of the Spectacle.” (Philip Random)
“NoMeansNo, maybe the greatest Canadian rock based combo ever in the history of anything, weighs in with an epic number that can easily be dedicated to every sorry asshole that ever got his ass handed to him (or her) – in a poker game, in a sporting event, in battle, in love. Because it’s true, failure and humiliation are magnitudes more achievable than success. So eat them, digest them, then move on. And leave the vengeance crap to the gods – that stuff just eats mortal souls.” (Philip Random)
Randophonic 