AZ Central review: "back with a whisper"

[face of glass]

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...uckingham.html

MacMan must be slacking, so it's my turn to do this. One thread for all the reviews and mentions would've been nicer though:

It has been almost 15 years since Lindsey Buckingham's last album, the magnificent Out of the Cradle. Instead of returning with a bang, however, the Fleetwood Mac guitarist is back with a whisper: Under the Skin is all muted vocals, acoustic guitars and lush production. And that's the problem. The vocals are nearly indecipherable within the layers of reverb - and the echo-ey production also dulls Buckingham's usually sharp melodies - this is the guy who wrote Tusk after all. Which is a pity, because the songwriting on tracks like the opening Not too Late and the title track is uniformly clever and Buckingham's classical guitar work is stunning, proving again what an underrated asset he was to Fleetwood Mac. Under the Skin ends up sounding like the acoustic interludes that led into the real songs on Out of the Cradle. Unfortunately, Under the Skin just goes from one interlude to the next without ever opening into a full-blown rock song. But Buckingham has never followed conventional wisdom in his music. The disc isn't an instant masterpiece, but it is an interesting album that rewards a patient listener.

- Michael Senft