What's a good album to start with?
 

I think I want to try and get a few of his solo cd's which is the best one to start with?

The demos, but since you can get it I would have to say Out of The Cradle. Only because that is where I started. And that worked out pretty well, I'd say

Out of the Cradle or Gift of Screws.

I agree with OOTC or GOS. OOTC is pretty poppy and his experimentation is kept pulled back. It's a fantastic pop album and flows brilliantly. GOS has a little bit more experimentation but nothing more difficult than Tusk. It also has some great pop songs and a few real good rockers.

Out of the Cradle was my first as well.

I would also recommend Gift of Screws or even Under the Skin, especially if you have been to any of his solo shows from either album... you may be slightly familiar with some of those songs... I think I actually prefer Under the Skin to Gift of Screws, but I think GOS might be considered "easier listening"

Call me old fashioned, but I would say, start at the beginning: Law & Order. Still, for me, his best solo album as well -- but I always say start at the beginning.

I'd do Out of the Cradle first and then move onto Gift of Screws. Then, after you've been snared in the web:nod:, you can move onto the others.

Michele

You could just go out and buy them all. There are only 5 of them

Out of the Cradle was my first and I'm glad that it was. Even though it's no longer my favorite Lindsey album, I still find it to me his most accessible. Go Insane was a little too weird for me for awhile, though it's now my favorite, and though Law & Order has grown on me over the years, it took a LONG time and there's still a few songs on it I simply cannot get into.

After OOTC, I'd say Gift of Screws, just like everyone else. It's almost as accessible as OOTC, to me and if you're used to and a fan of current Lindsey just as much as Tusk/Mirage era Lindsey, I'd even say get GOS first. It really represents who he's become and I love that about it, but had I only loved Lindsey from FM and not as a solo artist, I'm not sure I'd have appreciated that as much as I do.

I'd say Out of the Cradle, it's my favourite of his solo albums. You get the experimentation on songs like Street of Dreams, but it's based in a more pop setting. It's more like Lindsey's experimenting to better his work, not just to show off his skills as a producer. Also, his lyrics are beautiful. Once again, they carry the songs more than the song carrying them.

Out of the Cradle, Gift of Screws, Under the Skin. You can't go wrong.

Depends. I'd say that Out of the Cradle is probably the most accessible, but I think that Gift of Screws is just as friendly. Depending on how daring you are/ how much time you want to give it, I might say that Under the Skin is good too. It's just a lot different, but if you give it the time it requires, it is an irreplaceable classic.

Bottom line: I'll be daring and say Gift of Screws.

As everyone is saying, go with OOTC and Gift of Screws. I prefer GOS over OOTC, so maybe get both and listen to that one first.

And when you make your decision, remember that L & O and Go Insane might not be a good "first listener" choice, for very different reasons than Under the Skin might not be. They're on different sides of the Lindsey spectrum. So, if you do decide to try one of those 3 least recommended albums, remember the later one (UTS) is quite different from the first 2. So, if you don't like either it doesn't mean you won't like the other.

Michele

I agree. It is often better to see an artist develop and progress in their career than go backwards. It is a pity that he hasn't done a greatest hits album because that would be the best place to start.

I still think that those first three albums (Law and Order, Go Insane and Out of the Cradle) are his best work. There are lots of people that love GOS but you know what, give me the early stuff any day.

I've never really warmed to Law and Order. I'm glad it's not the first solo thing I bought. I don't think I would have bought any more of his albums if I had started with the first. I actually intended to buy all three at the time (this was before UTS and GOS), and Borders only had Go Insane and OOTC. I loved them both immediately. I bought Law and Order sometime later and I don't think I've listened to it more than twice all the way through. I do love Trouble, however.

Street of Dreams is experimental? :confused: I guess that maybe adding rain instead of percussion is a bit different but I'd hardly say it's experimental.

I love all of Lindsey's solos, but they are all different from each other. Law and Order and Go Insane are wonderful, but would probably have a new fan questioning Lindsey's choice of solo material! They're pretty different than most of his music with Fleetwood Mac.You'd probably do well to listen to Lindsey's songs from Fleetwood Mac:Tusk before any of Lindsey's solo albums because that's really where his "solo" work began.

But you can, Brandon. It depends on who you are & what you prefer. If you don't like his current vocal mannerisms & the heavy effects with which he records his singing voice, that dislike could ruin entire albums like Gift of Screws & Under the Skin for you.

If you prefer the higher-pitched cowboy yelping & youthfulness in his vocals, generally recorded straight on Rumours & Tusk, the dizzying & jagged guitar punctuating like a rhythm instrument, & dorky playfulness that casts everything in an ironic light, you're likely to prefer Law & Order.

If you prefer the microscopically delineated clarity of the sound field found on Fleetwood Mac albums like Mirage & Tango in the Night, you're likely to prefer Go Insane & Out of the Cradle.

If you respond best to lyrics that seem to carry the deepest denotative & connotative meaning (rather than lyrics used merely as sound painting), you're likely to dig the lyrical truthfulness & genuineness of Gift of Screws & Under the Skin.

And If you like all of that, start with how he started. L&O, GI, OOTC,UTS,GOS.

^ No matter what, I wouldn't recommend Under the Skin to anyone. :distress: Except to listen to the standout, Someone's Gotta Change Your Mind.

Yep, if you have all the Fleetwood Mac albums he's been on, getting the solo albums in chronological order to "fill the gaps" is the only way to go.

Law & Order the logical missing step between Tusk & Mirage

Go Insane the logical missing step between Mirage & Tango In The Night

Out Of The Cradle the album Lindsey WANTED to release when Fleetwood Mac came calling to do Tango In The Night.

Too bad it took him 5 years to release it...for as incredible as it was, it had an "out dated" sound by the time it was released. (sort of the common story about most of Lindsey's solo albums...had he released them within a year or so of when he started them, they'd sound "current", but it takes him so long to finish an album, it's already "old" by the time it's released).

Between Say You Will, Under The Skin and Gift Of Screws he's finally released ALMOST all of the tunes that were being worked on for the leaked & aborted Gift Of Screws album (which DID sound pretty much current when it was leaked; just that by the time those songs were OFFICIALLY released, time had passed those songs by)...and since he has proven he CAN record & release an album in less than 2 years, he can now attempt to release something that sounds current upon the album's release.

:eek::eek::eek::shocked::shocked::shocked:


I got my sister to like Under The Skin and all she listens to is the Backstreet Boys and bunch of other crap that I can't stand!

I dunno, I think its a great album. I much prefer it to Law and Order

I couldn't get into it! It's sad, because I *wanted* to. It had potential, but there was too much of that layered-voice crap going on that it turned me off. But I do LOVE SGCYM.

Heh, I am still in shock by the time between UTS and GOS!! It CAN be done after all!

Did you get to any UTS or GOS live shows?? I think that hearing some of the songs live and in person kind of drive them home... for me at least. Kind of how a lot of Bruce Springsteen songs work... I can never truly appreciate some until I "see" them.

I agree with ERIN... even after all these years I've yet to "come around" to LAW & ORDER or GO INSANE.

Hey, I really like Go Insane!:laugh:

Of that album, it's more experimental than the other songs. Put it into context. :rolleyes:

I don't know. I'd call it a pretty bread-and-butter folk song. Why would you say it's experimental? I'm not getting at you, I just don't hear it :shrug:

'This Is the Time' is probably one of the more experimental songs on that album simply for the fact that the vocals don't stay panned in the centre (not that that's a big experiment) and the effects over them. To be honest, nothing on OoTC really seems experimental to me. It's just a fantastic pop album.

To me, it's like miminist experimentalism. The echoing, "barely there" instruments and rain effects just seem quite quirky. Of course, in comparison to other Lindsey albums that would be the most accessible song on there. I agree about This is the Time, particularly the vocals in the chorus, but it's the most rock song there also. Whereas, the rest of the songs are pretty pop-py.

Out of the Cradle is essentially the most pop album he's ever made, but I think there are still signs of experiments on there, just not as blatant as say Go Insane.

Woah- SGCYM a standout? That's the second blandest song on the album [after Flying Down Juniper]. I think Show You How or (possibly) Under the Skin could be classified as "standout tracks."

LB has a great package of solo albums.. whether I like them all or not..

I always go chronological..... because you want the story in the order it happened...

Law and Order to me was LB taking his childhood influences and musing them into some pristine arrangements adding his quirks. The music threw me back into my mom's era. I love the guitar stylings on a lot of the tracks and I thought it was cool that Mick and Christine popped in to see him and perform, and get their photos in the album lol. (so english)

He wasn't going for a smash record, he didn't play it safe, and with songs like Mary Lee Jones, he definitely pumped up the energy. It's not 11 tracks of GYOW or Monday Morning, and thank God for that... This came out after Tusk, so I think it's important to listen to this one.

Just go from there... enjoy the journey...

Whoops! ;)

It Was You in my opinion is the best song on that album.

Me TOO!!! ;)

SGCYM is actually my favorite song on the album... to each their own.

SGTCYM is a really beautiful song. I adore it, on the album, on his Soundstage, it's one of my favorite songs of his.

Not Too Late, however, is a horrid song I could very well do without. It's much better live but I recall not feeling too much pain when I came a little late to one of his shows and missed it.:shrug:

As an album track, it's also my favorite. That's one where the vocal distortion combines with an orchestral approach to develop something rather movingly Beatles-esque! :thumbsup: And Mick's presence is felt.

Out of the Cradle, definitely.
Actually I'm not a big fan of Lindsey albums, and the only one that I really was hooked on was OOTC. IMHO is his masterpiece, talking about solo works.