Gift of Screws Reviews

[3rd World Man]

Originally Posted by Nico

All I need to do is photoshop some green hair and I'll have an Oompa Loompa. One of the older ones.

Hey Nico, if you send me the picture in question, I'll Photoshop LB into Oompa Loompa for you! It'll be great

[MacMan]

By: Dan Cairns
Sunday Timesonline
4/5 Stars

Buckingham’s last solo album, 2006’s Under the Skin, was a thing of wonder and beauty, but Gift of Screws finds him on even finer form. Fated for ever to be thought of as the man who reshaped Fleetwood Mac into a world-conquering rock band, the guitarist issues albums that, if they bore the group’s name, would sell by the bucketload; and he’s fated, too, to have his unsung status as one of the great geniuses of American sonic architecture obscured by his talent for undislodgable melody lines and radio-friendly hooks (though the hits invariably contained some deeply eccentric music-making). Here, commercial Lindsey again does battle with his darker, more experimental side. Great Day is pure Tusk-era Mac, its refrain of “It was a great day” shadowed by the characteristically droll riposte “It wasn’t such a great day”. Time Precious Time finds him giddily looping and lapping his extraordinary guitar-playing; Did You Miss Me may be the most beautiful song he has ever written; Love Runs Deeper just needs Ms Nicks on harmonies to scoot up the charts; Underground bemoans an entertainment industry interested only in instant cash prizes (“They heard 15 seconds, and that was enough”); the title track’s yelps and howls are almost sectionable; Treason nails the neocon age of permissible torture and executive malfeasance, to the sweetest of tunes. Sensational.

[michelej1]

Does "undislodgable" mean you can't get it out of your head? That's a new one for me.

Michele

[MacMan]

Lindsey Buckingham, "Gift of Screws" (Reprise) 4 stars.
Masslive.com

In 2006, when the heart and soul of Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham, released his first solo album in 14 years, "Under The Skin," he promised that the follow-up would come relatively soon and would be more rockin'.
He was right on both accounts.

"Gift of Screws," still showcases plenty of Buckingham's mesmerizing acoustic finger-picking but there's also plenty of thump as well, no doubt in part to the guest contributions from his FM mates Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.

The opener, "Great Day," which features a co-writing credit from Buckingham's son Will, boasts a nearly "Tusk" like thump and a frenzied electric guitar solo at the end, "Wait For You," has a dark but unmistakable Fleetwood Mac feel, while the title track - which is based around an Emily Dickinson poem - is flat-out bizarre.

Keeping in line with Buckingham's status as one of the most underrated guitarists of his era, there is some exquisite guitar playing throughout this album, especially during the beautiful, rippling "Time Precious Time," the stellar rocker "Love Runs Deeper" and the acoustic-based beauty "Bel Air Rain."

Lindsey Buckingham plays the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Oct. 14.

[MacMan]

Lindsey re-gifts
Gift of Screws is a 'cobbled-together bunch of leftovers'
Winnipeg Sun

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM
Gift of Screws
Pop-Rock
Sun Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5

Sometimes, you have to look a gift horse in the mouth -- if you don't want to get screwed, that is.

Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham's fifth solo CD seems like one of those occasions. As he admits in a press release: "This album is a distillation of a number of periods of time, some false starts to make albums, certainly some songs that go back a number of years, that took a while to find a home here, combined with brand-new songs and a whole other outlook."

Translation: It's a cobbled-together bunch of leftovers, demos and fleshed-out ideas -- some cut at home and on the road in the wake of his 2006 CD Under the Skin, with others dating back perhaps as far as 2001, when the album title Gift of Screws became a rumour in the Lindseysphere.

But even if it's mostly secondhand news, it's not all bad news. Buckingham also claims this disc rocks more than his last one. And it does -- on the cuts that feature Mac bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. The rest of the time, it's all about Lindsey, his spiderwebby vocals and his precise, intricate guitar work.

Sure, it has its moments. But frankly, most of these tracks sound more like technical exercises and home-studio experiments than songs. So unless you want to pay to hear Buckingham dump out his hard drive, you might want to go your own way.

---

Great Day 3:12

Over a bare-bones beatbox that sets a brisk pace, Lindsey layers gently throbbing arpeggios and flamenco flourishes with his acoustic guitar, crowning the affair with echoing vocals.

Time Precious Time 4:25

Buckingham fingerpicks at breakneck speed, stitching together a needlepoint backdrop for another echoing vocal line. This one sounds like Peter Gabriel and Robert Fripp.

Did You Miss Me 3:55

Finally, an actual song -- a slice of breezy, bittersweet California folk-pop complete with a suitably laid-back beat, a chiming guitar line and an actual chorus.

Wait for You 4:58

Fleetwood and McVie boogie on the bottom while Lindsey slings some bluesy juke-joint slide licks and brays like Stevie Nicks. A nice hypnotic groove in search of a bigger hook.

Love Runs Deeper 3:56

It starts out an understated, strummy little pop ditty -- then busts open on the chorus into a big Mac-style acoustic rocker. Not brilliant, but not half bad either.

Bel Air Rain 3:49

The cascading waterfall of glistening tones that flows from Buckingham's flying fingers is superb. The rainstick and soaring vocals, not so much. Enough with the echo, already.

The Right Place to Fade 4:02

Another decent acoustic rocker, with a lilting melody, memorable hooks and (we presume) another visit from McVie and Fleetwood. This one could end up on a Mac album.

Gift of Screws 2:52

A scrappy number that walks the line between British Invasion pop and garage-rock. It's not bad -- until Buckingham begins laughing like a hyena in the chorus.

Underground 2:58

Dreamy and wistful without being too ethereal, this folk-pop number features a throbbing guitar and some quietly popping percussion.

Treason 4:26

After all that frantic fingerpicking, Buckingham finally runs out of steam, lazily strumming his way through this downbeat, Dylanesque folk-rock ballad.

[mylittledemon]

Originally Posted by michelej1

London Free Press, 9-14-2008
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/Su...59556-sun.html

Lindsey Re-Gifts

By DARRYL STERDAN, SUN MEDIA


LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM
Gift of Screws
Pop-Rock

Sun Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5

Sometimes, you have to look a gift horse in the mouth -- if you don't want to get screwed, that is. Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham's fifth solo CD seems like one of those occasions. As he admits in a press release: "This album is a distillation of a number of periods of time, some false starts to make albums, certainly some songs that go back a number of years, that took a while to find a home here, combined with brand-new songs and a whole other outlook."

Translation: It's a cobbled-together bunch of leftovers, demos and fleshed-out ideas -- some cut at home and on the road in the wake of his 2006 CD Under the Skin, with others dating back perhaps as far as 2001, when the album title Gift of Screws became a rumour in the Lindseysphere.

But even if it's mostly secondhand news, it's not all bad news. Buckingham also claims this disc rocks more than his last one. And it does -- on the cuts that feature Mac bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. The rest of the time, it's all about Lindsey, his spiderwebby vocals and his precise, intricate guitar work.

Sure, it has its moments. But frankly, most of these tracks sound more like technical exercises and home-studio experiments than songs. So unless you want to pay to hear Buckingham dump out his hard drive, you might want to go your own way.

Yeah it IS a cobbled together mess. That's what I thought after hearing the songs. This album isn't working for me. Yes, I'm just as shocked about that as you guys probably are.

[shackin'up]

That's just plain nonsense. 7 tracks are brand new and 5 of them are clear and totally normal finished songs. DYMM, LRD, Underground, Treason and Bel Air Rain have a head and tail, all radiofriendly and singable and with a modernfolky production. The only thing is: the album opens with two idiosyncratic songs that represent experiment, the rest is not. What a dumb reasons to bash the whole album. Give it a chance to grow Demon. You do not know what you're saying. On the other hand, you've never even liked the GOS-tracks I've sent you years ago. Three of them are on this album, so maybe it wasn't made for you after all.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

Yeah it IS a cobbled together mess. That's what I thought after hearing the songs. This album isn't working for me. Yes, I'm just as shocked about that as you guys probably are.

I see what you are saying. However, I have never really found LB to be consistent, save perhaps for UTS. So, I do not expect that from him

How do you feel about each song on its own. I think on their own, each one I have heard are solid despite the somewhat scattered nature on the ensemble.

On edit - I think this review does not appreciate the quirkier nature of LB

[shackin'up]

I think very few people will say that Law And Order, Go Insane, OOTC and UTS are just an inconsistant pile of different ideas, in retrospect. At the time of release I've ALWAYS read that. (UTS as an exception, but that was a ONE-idea-album, very obvious at first listen) This album has a thread too, perfectly pronounced in that british review:An album "Like Keane never happened". If one can't hear it now, I can't explain it now either. Time will tell.

[ajmccarrell]

Originally Posted by shackin'up

That's just plain nonsense. 7 tracks are brand new and 5 of them are clear and totally normal finished songs. DYMM, LRD, Underground, Treason and Bel Air Rain have a head and tail, all radiofriendly and singable and with a modernfolky production. The only thing is: the album opens with two idiosyncratic songs that represent experiment, the rest is not. What a dumb reasons to bash the whole album. Give it a chance to grow Demon. You do not know what you're saying. On the other hand, you've never even liked the GOS-tracks I've sent you years ago. Three of them are on this album, so maybe it wasn't made for you after all.

I do agree that only a few of them sound finished, but those are the original GOS demos. None of the brand new tracks sound finished, not even DYMM. He's still using very obvious home-studio type effects and they sound like good demos, but not finished tracks. But that's okay.

[shackin'up]

Originally Posted by ajmccarrell

I do agree that only a few of them sound finished, but those are the original GOS demos. None of the brand new tracks sound finished, not even DYMM. He's still using very obvious home-studio type effects and they sound like good demos, but not finished tracks. But that's okay.

What a total bull****. Nobody seems to understand that his sonic approach is something else than the usual drizzle on the radio. Even Warner Brothers' brings the album out on Vinyl because the masters of this album sounded so spectacular, that they chose to invest even more than neccesary. This album will not sell much. What do you guys think they are trying to achieve with this move? Critical acclaim in the audiofilemarket. So they believe in a crappy hometape?

My goodness. The dorkiness on this board seems to go on and on and on.

[ajmccarrell]

Originally Posted by shackin'up

What a total bull****. Nobody seems to understand that his sonic approach is something else than the usual drizzle on the radio. Even Warner Brothers' brings the album out on Vinyl because the masters of this album sounded so spectacular, that they chose to invest even more than neccesary. This album will not sell much. What do you guys think they are trying to achieve with this move? Critical acclaim in the audiofilemarket. So they believe in a crappy hometape?

My goodness. The dorkiness on this board seems to go on and on and on.

Naw, it couldn't be that I'm a musician myself and his stuff is still using the metronome effects and the dorky percussion effects off of his portable DAW, could it?! I don't even listen to music radio anymore, so your comment isn't quite on point. There are just certain conventions that dictate a final track and he didn't complete all the normal steps. For one, drum machine and placeholder effects are usually stripped out. Not all of the tracks sound amateurish, but some on both GOS and UTS certainly do. The best examples are "UTS", "Show You How", "IWY", "Great Day" parts of "DYMM" and a few others. They are using digitized metronome effects and weird snaky reverbs that sound like a first-timer at home on his computer trying to record something.

I use those same phony percussion effects when laying a new track down, I just strip them and dub in drums instead, as does 99% of other people. The instrumentation should have been overdubbed over the goofy "tapping on the mic" drum effects, especially because the guy has four drummers that I can think of a phone call away. Tapping on the mic and using bad Commodore 64 effects and fairlights from the mid-80's isn't avante-gard, it sounds just plain amateurish at times, like on "Show You How" and on "Great Day". I know he's doing it on purpose, but I can't for the life of me figure out why he wants something to sound bad on purpose. I just see it as a missed opportunity. I just think of how much more kickass the song would have sounded with a real kit.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by shackin'up

. . . My goodness. The dorkiness on this board seems to go on and on and on.

Just like LB on an insane and inoherent tangent which he then labels as "music"

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by shackin'up

What a total bull****. Nobody seems to understand that his sonic approach is something else than the usual drizzle on the radio. Even Warner Brothers' brings the album out on Vinyl because the masters of this album sounded so spectacular, that they chose to invest even more than neccesary. This album will not sell much. What do you guys think they are trying to achieve with this move? Critical acclaim in the audiofilemarket. So they believe in a crappy hometape?

Do you honestly believe that to be the primary reason why WBR is releasing GOS on vinyl? Seriously?

[MacMan]

According to Amazon, the Vinyl has been discontinued.