Law & Order: An Analysis
 

I will admit it right now, Law & Order is my least favorite solo Lindsey album. I don't dislike it, but I rarely play it all the way through. Suddenly, I had the urge to take all my solo Lindsey albums and play them chronologically to "discover" them again- or maybe find new things about each one I hadn't heard before.

So perhaps it was willful of me to start with this one, since I know it's very likely not everyone's favorite. I wanted to go through each song and discuss, or at least read what other people thought of the album as a whole.

Firstly, let me address this album cover:

http://991.com/newGallery/Lindsey-Bu...der-302312.jpg

WTF is this? I know some people may find it sexy or hot, but I'm just trying to find where Lindsey's actual real face is. It looks like some Baywatch makeup artists came to the photo shoot and tried to make him look llike David Hasselhoff 8 years before the actual show started. So does that mean that LB should be getting some credit for inspiring the Hoff's look on that show? ;)

In any case, yes, Lindsey is gorgeous. But it's so...pristine and "touched-up" in a way that looks unnatural and overdone for Lindsey. So that's how I feel about that shiny/waxy looking Lindsey cover.

Aside from that, the actual music is a little polarizing. I don't mind that at all. I love different stuff. But it also contains my least favorite Lindsey song ever: "September Song," a tune so uninspiring to me that I try to pretend it doesn't even exist. :sorry:

But it also has some really, really cool stuff that I dig. So I'd love it if you all could join me in a little discussion- general or song-by-song. I'm going to start with the very first track of course...

Bwana
 

I really love this song! I adore the opening and how LB's vocals start out. He's incredibly creative in the way he uses his voice to compliment whatever the song is about. In this case, well, I forget what the song is actually about but I think it had something to do with Mick...someone help me out. Anyway, this song is a perfect opening track to me. It shows how crazy awesome Lindsey is, utilizing his backing vocals, sound effects, and perfect beat/music to present a landscape of wild energy and fun.

Here are the lyrics:

I'll count on someone to explain what this dang song is actually about. Or maybe we can try and interpret it...:laugh: In any case, the lyrics are pretty straight-forward, simple. Lindsey has a lot of lyrics like this- or had, as I personally feel his lyrical abilities have grown tremendously since this album. I just love the way the song feels and the energy that it gives off. It's fantastic to play while running in the park.

Thoughts?

Nico, I put on L & O just for this.

Ok..... Bwana. Made Me laugh so much when I first heard it. So much fun and so Lindsey. Could have gone right on Tusk......A large majority of these could have been on Tusk. I think the solo might be a kazoo. Cause I hear breaths in there.

Great song.

Mick

I quite agree, Mick. "Bwana" could certainly fit on Tusk in a way- but I do appreciate that he made it a solo effort. It has his blueprint on it. His style. I think Lindsey has a gift for creating music completely on his own and, for the most part, it can be a rewarding experience for the listener if you're willing to soak it in. This is an example of that. Off the bat, it's quite a strange trip. But it seems to pull you in on repeated listening.

I think it was a perfect choice for an opening track. It's like, "Hello, I'm Lindsey Buckingham. Welcome to my party."

I hate that cover so much. I don't see Lindsey there, either :distress: That alone would almost keep me from buying the album. It is in fact, the only album I don't have of Lindsey's.

I actually just listened to it start to finish for the first time a couple nights ago. It's on Youtube in it's entirety, so I gave it a go after Elle told me she was actually starting to dig the album. In the past, when I've tried to listen to any of the songs...I just couldn't get very far.

Bwana and Trouble are wonderful, and such a neat start to the album, but then after that...hmmm. I admit I liked it better when I just let it continue playing, rather than giving up and going to the next song, but there are still some clunkers on there. I haven't heard it enough to tell you which songs are which, so I'll check back after I give it yet another attempt.

But starting with the frist song - Bwana, I heard a live version first...from UTS tour in Cleveland, on Youtube. I loved it immediately. The cool thing for me was that after hearing it live first, the album version didn't disappoint at all. It was just as cool and fun, and a great way to open the album, I think!

I really want to like the rest of it...so I'm glad you brought this up, as it will encourage me that much more to give it another chance :nod:

Linds, I saw LB do it in Cleveland live and it was amazing. He had this piece of tape or whatever that was on his stand and he just started blowing into it at one point. Everyone was like, ok, this dude is a genius.

Anyway, I think it's a hard album to fall madly in love with at first listen. If anyone has actually done so, I want to read your account. Because, frankly, it's not the easiest of albums for me, and yet there are some pure gems on it.

Oh and post videos everyone! The more the merrier. I encourage visual and audio examples.

I agree with that. Nice that he kept this gem for his own catalog. It just screams Lindsey, doesn't it?

Here's Pattie's video from '06 Cincinnati...

A-maz-ing. I love it and it got such a GREAT response!!!

I forgot about it live.....God this man.......sigh:blob2:

Mick

I know. I KNOW. He is just...ugh, why you gotta be so fantastic Mr. B?

i don't like the album cover either. just doesn't look like him. and he naturally looked very cute at the time, pity that's lost on that stupid cover...

re September song, that's a cover right? to me it's a bit endearing, b/c it sounds so much like something Elvis would sing and how he would sing it - so i assume it's inclusion stemmed from lindsey's love of elvis-like stuff.

Oh. Well, I guess the intentions were well-meant. But it still sucks to me. :wavey:

didn't like it the first few times i heard it, but love it now. as far as i remember the song is supposed to be making fun of Mick and his going to Africa to record the Visitor.

i know we are not there yet, but you know which song reminds me of Tusk (the song) the most? Johnny Stew... all that groaning and sneering and elephant noises towards the end... he does that now when he does Tusk live.

Johnny Stew freakin' rules but i'll save it for later. lol

Mick

Elle, I'm very thrilled to read about your newly acquired love for L&O. You know, it's a Lindsey album- the only one really-that I'm not particularly in love with, but I DO love songs from. Perhaps I would benefit from listening strictly to this album for the rest of this week and see where it takes me.

In any case, y'all know I adore "Bwana." I'm leaving it on that song for a day or so and then we can move on.

My goal is for us to discuss each song, share our thoughts on the album, and then perhaps share our favorite songs. This way I can select two for a "Solo Lindsey Favorite song" poll- you know, we're limited to only 10 songs so I have to break it down carefully.

yeah exactly the same with me ... heard several live versions first, didn't get what the big deal is, didn't like it much, then heard it few more times and started loving it... and when i finally heard the album version liked it just as much.

Trouble... uhm. still not liking it. although i like the stupid noises at its start.

that sounds good. do we want to do the by-the-album poll first? we would still have to select 10 songs to put in the poll... so maybe in discussion we can get rid of any extra songs and start the poll with 10 per album. and then select in the poll 2 from each album maybe? or more maybe and do another round to narrow down, b/c 2 from each album would end up with 12 which again we can't put in one poll. or maybe we can select in discussions and just do a poll of all of them at the end as you suggest?

Trouble?
 

so we all seem to like Bwana a lot. i know some huge lindsey fans who don't but they are not posting much these days.

Nico, what i did is i finally bought the CD and put it in my car to listen on the way to work. and yeah it may not be the greatest album and definitely not among best of LB's but when you don't expect much of it it's actually fun and easy to listen to. he once characterized it as a "variety show" and i think that fits nicely. there's all kinds of stuff on it, and many of the typical lindsey attributes that he developed later are already present on this one (both good and bad ones - think reverb/sped up voice - on L&O already!:lol: all the screaming and weird noises - just listen to Johnny Stew, or That's How We Do It in LA :laugh:).


do we wanna move to Trouble?

that's the one song on L&O that i skip. never liked Trouble much.

Law & Order
 

"September Song" is a cover from the early 1940s. I always imagined that it was a song he grew up listening to, or was one of his parent's favorites. It has been covered by numerous artists and groups over the years, including Frank Sinatra (3 times), Nat King Cole, Jimmy Durante, Maurice Chevalier, Pat Boone, Andy Williams, Mel Torme, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Willie Nelson, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Patti Page, Lena Horne, Rosemary Clooney (George's mother), Dion & the Belmonts, The Platters, and Peter, Paul & Mary. The most interesting might be from Lou Reed, who recorded two decidedly different versions and James Brown, for a Jazz album. I realize that isn't going to make you like it, but obviously it has a rich recording history.

Johnny Cash's cover of "A Satisfied Mind" written in 1955 is many people's favorite song.

Not to be anal, but "Bwana" was performed in Cincinnati, not Cleveland. He utilized a comb with tissue paper over it for the kazoo sound. It was also performed live on Saturday Night Live as the first song he performed that night in 1982. "Trouble" was the second song that night.

LB has stated that L&O was a "musical side show" fit in between FM albums and other demand of the band (as was "Go Insane"). Definitely recorded to exercises the left side of his palette. I listen to it in its entirety once or twice per year. Only "Trouble" is in a regular rotation on my iPod. To each his or her own.

Law and Order
 

Even though i haven't heard much from the law and order album two songs that i have listened to trouble and it was i. I love lindseys soundstage version of trouble the video wasn't relli appealing for me and from the first day i listened to it was i had to get it on my psp and its on full blast all the time

I was thinking more the latter. I figured whichever songs received the best responses could be pulled out and placed in the poll. However, we'd have to do an analysis for each LB album. So...it really does depend how desperately you want that poll. ;)

Please, you can be as anal as you want. I meant to say Cinci, since I was at both the Cleveland and Cinci shows and have video of this (which I never uploaded). I just mixed myself up. However, I remember seeing it live so that's the best I got. :)

And as far as all the people who covered it, that's nice. I don't really care, because the version I'm referring to- LB's- sucks to my ears. It's like the Beatles "Yesterday" being 'the most covered song in history.' Still not going to make me think it's the best Beatles song, or even in my top 20. It's a nice song- that's it.

Thank you SO much for your clarification and your input. Believe me, this is exactly what I love reading in these threads. Appreciated. And L&O will probably always be my least fave Lindsey album (hopefully), but that doesn't mean I won't have affection for parts of it. I definitely do.

guess it depends what we'd want to do with the poll... we used a discussion thread before to try to narrow down lindsey solo songs to 10 favorite ones...

Trouble
 

Ok, so we're moving on to "Trouble," possibly Lindsey's most famous solo song (outside of "Holiday Road"). I love "Trouble." It's a pop gem and a classic 80's tune that never grows old for me. I prefer live versions to the original, and probably my favorite is the Sound Stage version.

The original is beautiful, though. The chords, melody, his voice, and the lyrics just work perfectly together. I think it's really a perfect pop song. The noises in the beginning are simply Lindsey.

Honestly, not enough films or TV shows can use this on their soundtrack for me to ever get tired of it.

Anyone care to analyze the lyrics? Who do you think they're about?

You know, we could make a poll for each album and just shave off the songs that really have the least amount of interest. So after this analysis, we could make a poll and figure out everyone's favorite song from L&O- then take all the favorites from each album we do and make one poll and see what everyone's favorite of the favorites is.

Or not. I'm not sure. I work with what you good people want. I am never adverse to spamming LB's board with inordinate amounts of threads. Why the heck not?

thumbs down for the bolded part:sorry:. not just that i don't care for trouble but it seems so over-listened to. he has sooooo many much better songs than trouble but it seems to be the only solo song (other than Holiday road) that everybody knows.

i completely agree with your statement about the noises at the beginning - yes, simply LB.:cool:

I understand you. But in the long run, as LB die-hards, we know and love those other, BETTER songs. But I like the idea of his music being exposed to others who wouldn't typically seek it out. Even what e consider over-exposed or over-played may not be the same to other audiences. So I can take it I suppose.

I know what you're saying, elle. Believe me. Look, I know what it feels like when a genius artist has a song that everyone feels "identifies" him/her and people always refer to that one song instead of, say, the numerous other, far more beautiful and brilliant compositions (*cough*wouldn't be referring to John Lennon's "Imagine" or anything *cough*)...but, you know, WE do know better. We just have to be a little selfless in this aspect I suppose...

I think we should wait a bit. Give time for the latenight, and early morning crowd to chime in :shrug:

:) Soundstage Trouble is the best. Everything about it <333

It Was I, I think is the kind of song that initially threw me off when I'd try to listen. It was so 50's/early 60's kind of bubble gum bobby-socks, that I couldn't equate it with Lindsey. I like the style on it's own, but it wasn't making sense to me coming from him. But, I'm listening to it RIGHT NOW, and I can definitely sense that it's the kind of thing that could get under my skin. It's catchy, and really, he does seem to have a fondness for this sort of music. It's just weird being on the same album as Bwana. The more I think about it though, the more I know this was my reaction to Tusk ( the album, not the song )...too weird, and all over the place. But, as I gave it more listens it was like clouds breaking :blob1: and the light appearing. It Was I may and up being a favorite of mine if I'm not careful :cool:

Oh, and welcome to The Ledge :wavey:

i think we can try that... (or not!). i guess depends on the interest.

here are all L&O tracks:

"Bwana"
"Trouble"
"Mary Lee Jones"
"I'll Tell You Now"
"It Was I" (Gary Paxton)
"September Song" (Maxwell Anderson, Kurt Weill)
"Shadow of the West"
"That's How We Do It in L.A."
"Johnny Stew"
"Love from Here, Love from There"
"Satisfied Mind" (Red Hayes, Jack Rhodes)

i'll interrupt your nice stream of this thread Nico, and say outright that of these 11 songs, i'd probably shave off September Song to have 10 songs left for the poll.

This. I just can't stand that song. But let's see what other think I suppose. :)

Ok, dang! We already moved on to "Trouble" so I'm going to leave it at these two for any who may want to catch up. So sorry about that...we got excited.:]

Hi and welcome to LB's forum! :wavey: Sorry I missed your post. I completely agree with you re: the Sound Stage version as well. My personal favorite.

I think this is our BTFLCHLD who uploaded this one!

Thanks very much for the nice welcome i wish i could find more stuff from law and order on YouTube but as of yet i haven't found much does anyone have any idea on YouTube where i could maybe listen to bwana as in the album version many thanks

welcome!

for you and anybody else who hasn't heard the whole album, seems to be on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaowN1NtIjI

Thanks i shall enjoy listening to that tommorow

:woohoo: Seriously, how fun is the kazoo at the end of Bwana. How can you not just start dancing around?? I'm gonna play it again :D

look, i will always defer to you when it comes to Lennon... BUT come on girl, and you know how much i love LB, but how can you compare
"imagine all the people living life in peace"
to
"come and keep your daddy warm":laugh::laugh:[yeah i know those are not the original lyrics but still]?

Well, he didn't say "daddy" on the original record, if that makes things any better.

Michele

Trouble. It's sounds better to my ears as an acoustic balled. it's not that that i disliked the original version, it's just that.......it was always just.......there. did not move me either way. Just....meh.

Mick