Reissue Review of Fleetwood Mac "Tusk"

Originally released on October 12, 1979 as a $16.98 double vinyl LP, "Tusk" was released as a "2 record set on 1 specially-priced disc" on October 25, 1990. Recorded primarily by Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut at The Village Recorders in West LA, it was one of the earlier rock albums to be digitally mixed down. It is a very nice sounding LP mastered by Ken Perry. It sounded even better when released on CD with remastering for CD by Ken Caillat. Crisp, quiet and dynamic.

On March 23, 2004, Warner Bros. released "Tusk" remastered and with a second CD containing bonus material at $24.98. Being a fan of the album and loving to hear alternate takes, etc., I was, as before, the first on the block to buy the new version.

The sound is not as good and the extra material is just ok. This "Deluxe Edition" was remastered by Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch at Digiprep. The sound is noticeably louder (about 5dB) than the original CD. It is also not nearly as crisp in the highs, tight in the lows, or dynamic in range as the 1990 CD. It sounds compressed and re-eq'd. The loudest peak on the the 1990 CD is found in "The Ledge". The loudest peak on the 2004 disc is found in "Sisters of the Moon". The practice of increasing the loudness and reducing the dynamic range is a very common one these days I'm sorry to say. Especially silly to do when you are using a medium which offers more range than previously available for home use. But the public insists that louder sounds better! So much for preservation of artistic intent. When the recording industry crushes dynamics, it crushes emotion. The topic is worthy of a separate blog for A/V RoomService.

The second disc contains previously unreleased versions of nearly all 20 original tracks. These 21 tracks are laid down using the same running order as "Tusk", with the exceptions of shuffling in three different versions of "I Know I'm Not Wrong", and two new songs, "Kiss and Run" and the Beach Boys "Farmer's Daughter", and the single versions of "Think About Me" and "Sisters of the Moon". Except for the last two, all these songs are either "demos, roughs, or outakes". They are not that interesting, and not "must have" tracks. No great vocal renditions or guitar solos, no super different versions, etc.You can easily understand why each of them was not selected for release back in '79.


Cat: Warner Bros. 3350-2
Format: 2 channel, 16/44.1k
Remastered by: Ken Caillat
Sound Quality: 4 of 5  Very intimate, well recorded and mixed multi-track album. Great sound layering.
Content: 4 of 5  Most every track is strong.
Extras: 0 of 5  N/A.

Cat: Warner Bros. RS 73883
Format: 2 channel, 16/44.1k
Remastered by: Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch at Digiprep.
Sound Quality: 3 of 5  Definitely inferior to the original.
Content: 4 of 5  You know it.
Extras: 2.5 of 5  A lot, but not all that interesting.

ELP The Atlantic Years

Emerson, Lake and Palmer have too many compilations. However, by far the best one to own is "The Atlantic Years". This is because Joe Gastwirt did the remastering. You can bank that the sound is excellent if Joe did it. Joe uses customized (simplified) digital and analog electronics, and the sound is of the master tape: great  dynamics, space and tonality.

This 1992 two disc offering is now difficult to obtain, but well worth the effort since the sound quality blows all the other compilations out of the water. All the popular songs are included in their entirety, with the exception of an edited "Fanfare For The Common Man". The 19 song list is laid down in chronological order starting with 1971's "Knife-Edge" and concluding with "Canario" from 1978. There is no previously unreleased material included. The CD booklet is a multi-page foldout with a band bio and many photos.



Cat: Atlantic 82403
Format: 2 channel, 16/44.1k
Remastered by: Joe Gastwirt at Ocean View Digital in CA from the original master tapes in May 1992.
Sound Quality: 4 of 5  I don't think it can be made to sound better than this.
Content: 4 of 5  Well, they had to include some of the latter stuff.
Extras: 0 of 5  No new material.