Gift of Screws Reviews

[michelej1]

From the Inland Empire Weekly, by George A. Paul

http://www.ieweekly.com/cms/story/de...kly_jive/1582/

Lindsey Buckingham--Gift of Screws (Reprise)

Every so often, music magazines publish lists of the best ________ (fill in the blank), ultimately leading to debates between critics and fans. After Rolling Stone published its 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time issue in 2003, I took issue with some glaring omissions. One was Lindsey Buckingham. Longtime Fleetwood Mac followers will back me up. Thanks to a unique finger-picking style, the man has a distinct, instantly recognizable electric guitar sound which really comes to the forefront during solo albums. There’s also a manic intensity few can match, and each is in evidence here. Major gaps tended to bookend past Buckingham discs because every time he’d start work, the Mac crept back into the picture and those songs morphed into band compositions. Now he’s making up for lost time. Under the Skin, a solid, mostly acoustic effort (plus the usual layering, overdubs and studio trickery) arrived in 2006 and a live CD+DVD came out earlier this year. The rocking Gift of Screws trumps all predecessors with strong pop melodies and memorable solos. Drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie guest on a handful of tracks. Folky freak out “Time Precious Time” recalls Buckingham’s live “Big Love” revamp. Wife Kristen contributes lyrics to “Love Runs Deeper” (not a cringeworthy Linda McCartney-type ordeal) capped by a sizzling solo. Standouts include the lush, reverb-drenched “Underground,” piercing guitar riff-driven “Wait for You,” a jubilant “Right Place to Fade” (think “Second Hand News”; it’s another of the studio wiz’s layered voice extravaganzas), chiming “Did You Miss Me” and the spare, almost gospel-tinged closer “Treason.” (George A. Paul)

[michelej1]

Metro News (Canada)

http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/en...article/113994

Lindsey Buckingham
Album: Gift of Screws
Label: Reprise/Warner
Rating: ***

This is probably Lindsey Buckingham’s finest effort since the heyday of Fleetwood Mac. There’s plenty of nifty hooks and blistering guitar solos here that will send people running for their old copies of Rumours (especially the three tracks on Gift of Screws which feature his old bandmates Mick Fleetwood and John McVie). At times, though, Buckingham’s guitar sounds as if it’s set on hyperdrive, like he’s trying a bit too hard, like he’s got something to prove. Well, after all those years in the wilderness, maybe he does?
– Graham Rockingham

[michelej1]

The Gazette (Canada)

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazett...d-56fc99972247

Lindsey Buckingham, Gift of Screws, Reprise
Don't let Buckingham's wasted, sleep-deprived look on the cover mislead you. On this rocking companion piece to his last studio album, the low-key Under the Skin, Fleetwood Mac's guitarist and visionary has never sounded more alive. That lightning-speed nylon-string picking he's been perfecting ever since he recast Big Love as an acoustic number is all over the place here. Sometimes it explodes into shards of sound, sometimes it holds back and maintains the suspense. Either way, the tension usually resolves into spectacular hooks, as on The Right Place to Fade, or serious electric wailing, as on Great Day. And Mac trivia buffs, take note: this album shares only its title track with the speculated contents of the legendary unreleased album from 1997.

[Brenmaren]

http://backtorockville.typepad.com/b...y-bucking.html

[MacMan]

The Hurst Review

Not many artists deserve comparison to Brian Wilson, but, if ever there was one, surely it’s Lindsey Buckingham. Both mean, after all, as undisputed pop geniuses, channeling their own eccentricities and tortured madness into wonderfully melodic, accessible, and creative music. And, of course, both men eventually succumbed to the pressures of their own demanding muses; Wilson notoriously broke down during the middle of his Smile album, crumbling under the weight of his own creative ambition, while Buckingham, after playing a central role in one of the most wildly popular blockbuster albums of all time, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors, turned to spearheading one of the most dumbfounding and bizarre albums of all time, the indulgent and drug-addled Tusk, eventually fading away into a solo career that’s been deafeningly quiet and frustratingly sporadic, especially after his proliferation and chart-topping success with the Mac.

But both men, of course, have more or less recovered. Wilson eventually finished the Smile album to rave reviews, and Buckingham’s recent output has been marked by a genuine sense of peace and serenity, as he’s seemingly abandoned the excesses of his rock and roll youth and settled into a life of quite pleasure and simplicity with his family and his art. For all these superficial similarities, however, the standing differences between the two could not be more pronounced than they were in 2008, when Wilson released That Lucky Old Sun, a deliberately nostalgic, backwards-glancing pop album, and Buckingham turned out Gift of Screws, an album that’s very much about the here and the now.

Which doesn’t mean, of course, that it finds the artist charting new territory, but it does find him taking stock of his gifts in a way that makes this easily his most essential and consistent record as a solo artist. Indeed, for the first time, all of Buckingham’s gifts are on display on a single album– the guitar pyrotechnics, the sun-kissed California pop melodies, the strange flourishes of studio wankery, the deeply sentimental lyrics. Even more impressive: He accomplishes all of that in an endearingly short, concise set, as the album clocks in at just ten songs and less than 40 minutes of music.

Of course, most of that can also be said of his 2006 album, Under the Skin, a quietly introspective, inwardly focused disc of acoustic singer/songwriter fare. Gift of Screws has been heralded as his turn away from introspection and back toward all-out rock, which is partially true but also a bit misleading. For one thing, Buckingham proves here that pop and rock can be just as introspective as acoustic folk, as these songs form a very personal and intimately-detailed reflection on the cost of celebrity and the rewards of love and family. And while it’s true that the album occasionally erupts into the kind of white-hot electric guitar solos he generally reserves for his live shows, to call this his rock album is simply an oversimplification, as it’s really a pop album that happens to rock from time to time, but also covers a lot of other ground. Indeed, it encompasses everything he’s ever done, and seems to point toward the future even as it takes stock of the past.

It’s a bravura performance, one in which Buckingham revels in all of his many skills. Those who love him for his studio wizardry will get a kick out of the wicked-cool opening track, “Great Day,” a seamless blending of muffled percussion, kitschy keyboards, spry acoustic fingerpicking, distorted vocals, and a pair of raging electric guitar solos; he’s practically a one-man symphony. Those who are still under the spell of Under the Skin will appreciate the nimble acoustic guitar work of “Time Precious Time,” while those still holding out for a Fleetwood Mac reunion won’t want to miss “Did You Miss Me,” a ridiculously catchy pop track that would have been a standout even on Rumors. But of course, there practically are a couple of Fleetwood Mac reunions here, as Mick Fleetwood and John McVie stop by to provide the rhythm tracks to a few songs, even bringing a blues touch to the winding “Wait for You”– a road down which Buckingham proves more than happy to go with his swaggering electric guitar licks. The rest of the album offers variations on this sound, from the artsy studio craft on “Love Runs Deeper” to the slamming rock of the title cut. It all culminates in a wonderfully gospel-drenched closing number, “Treason,” a song that’s about as hooky and addictive as anything he’s ever written.

Buckingham sounds like he’s having a blast here, which is half the fun; it’s a joy to hear an artist of his stature so contented, so pleased just to be making music. He sings about his love for his family and the quiet life here– sometimes with joy for the present, elsewhere with regret over past mistakes– and it’s hard not to think of this as the sound of lessons learned, wisdom gained. And indeed, Buckingham sounds like he’s in a good place right now; while many of his peers, like Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins, either grow increasingly insular and indulgent or keep hashing out the same old tripe, Buckingham is a rare artist who continues to push himself without ever turning his music into pure vanity. Gift of Screws may be a very personal project, but it’s almost as fun to listen to as it must have been to make, and that, as much as anything, is what makes it a standout in a career that’s been full of them.

[MacMan]

Lindsey Buckingham Goes In For A Mug Shot, Gets Screwed

I think it's fair to say that Lindsey Buckingham* probably got screwed a lot during his Fleetwood Mac heyday. Hell, he probably got screwed a lot after that, too. And there was assuredly some screwing before, from Stevie Nicks and possibly others. The point is the man did some screwing. Whilst listening to "Secondhand News," I've had innumerable women make some offhanded remark to me about laying down in the tall grass and letting Lindsey do his stuff to them. Maybe it was the hair. Also, I hang out with a lot of women who like Fleetwood Mac.

Apparently, the gift of so many screws is ending up blurry, haggard, and gaunt. This cover is an almost complete repudiation of the "sex" portion of the rock and roll lifestyle. It's like Lindsey is saying, "This is where all the screws got me! Now I look no different than the mug shot of the local wino who wears a bathrobe outside and smells like liquid smoke and vinegar!** This was the Gift of Screws!"***

* It must be noted that I think Lindsey Buckingham is a genius, and that I would probably lay down in the tall grass and let him do his stuff to me.

** This is a reference to an actual person. I used to work at a liquor store.

*** Speaking of gifts from screws, this post gives me an excuse to post this kinda rad version of "Here Comes The Sun", which is the perfect answer to the question "What would it sound like if Lindsey Buckingham covered 'Here Comes The Sun'?"

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by MacMan

[B][SIZE="5"] It's like Lindsey is saying, "This is where all the screws got me! Now I look no different than the mug shot of the local wino who wears a bathrobe outside and smells like liquid smoke and vinegar!** This was the Gift of Screws!"***

Oh, that's hilarious. And all you Beatles fans are just jealous 'cause you wish George did it that way.

Michele

[michelej1]

Tampa Bay Tribune, September 18, 2008

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/sep...entertainment/

Were Lindsey Buckingham not a member of one of rock's most successful groups, he would likely be adored by a small but intense cult following, the kind of fan boys who wouldn't deign to listen to anything loved by the rabble, such as Fleetwood Mac.

But when Buckingham explicitly invokes Fleetwood Mac's "Second Hand News" on this album's "The Right Place to Fade," it's not just a reminder about his more lucrative day job. It shows that those irresistible pop confections he whipped up for Mac often had something strange, even disturbing, at their cores.

Like much of Buckingham's solo work, "Gift of Screws" plays like a Fleetwood Mac disc with everything askew and the intensity level peaking well into the red. Minus Mick Fleetwood and John McVie's grounding R&B-schooled grooves and Stevie Nicks' more mainstream influence, Buckingham gives free rein to his studio innovations and the more shadowy side of his psyche.

Listen to "Time Precious Time," the second cut here. It's almost unbearably beautiful and also scary as hell. Buckingham plays gorgeous ascending and descending finger-picked guitar lines throughout, then multi-tracks them into a gale-force cascade of notes, both heavenly and oppressive.

"Gift of Screws" is the first studio album on which Buckingham has truly unbridled his guitar the way he does live. He closes "Great Day" with a screaming solo that will have jaws dropping and builds "Wait for You" on a howling guitar line that's like barbed wire slicing through oleander. For all his studio wizardry, "Gift of Screws" also conjures the raw splendor of Buckingham live.

"Gift of Screws" gives free rein to Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham's studio innovations and the more shadowy side of his psyche.

[vivfox]

By ALAN SCULLEY Post-Tribune correspondent
September 19, 2008

There's one place Lindsey Buckingham wishes he could have snuck into after finishing the controversial 1979 Fleetwood Mac album "Tusk."
"I make the joke that I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in the board meeting when they first put 'Tusk' on and started listening to that thing over at Warner Bros.," Buckingham said in a recent phone interview.

The reasons for Buckingham's curiosity are obvious enough. "Tusk" was the follow-up album to Fleetwood Mac's blockbuster 1977 album "Rumours." And rather than filling "Tusk" with the kind of finely crafted and accessible pop of "Rumours," Buckingham had steered Fleetwood Mac in a quirkier, more adventurous direction.

What's more, "Tusk" was a double album that would have to carry a higher-than-usual retail price. Buckingham can only imagine the uneasy atmosphere that must have filled the room as the Warner Bros. executives realized their expectations for eight-digit sales of the next Fleetwood Mac album had gone up in smoke.

The topic of "Tusk" is appropriate now because Buckingham recently has once again shown his willingness not to play things safe with his music.

In 2006, he released a stripped back, primarily acoustic CD, "Under The Skin," that prompted words of caution from the Warner Bros. camp.

"It's almost kind of a 'Tusk' in miniature," the guitarist and singer said.

At the time, Buckingham had also begun work on a plugged in, more commercially viable studio album, which came to be the newly released fifth solo CD "Gift Of Screws." Buckingham said the label asked him to consider putting a few of the full-band songs planned for "Gift Of Screws" on "Under The Skin" to make the album more palatable to radio, retailers and fans. Buckingham, though, stuck to his vision of keeping "Under The Skin" in its acoustic-centric form, and Warner Bros. didn't push the issue, although that meant the label wouldn't put a big push behind "Under The Skin."

"You know, I think I've earned the right to make whatever album I wanted," Buckingham said, referencing the enduring popularity of Fleetwood Mac. "I think Warner Bros. was quite happy to put out 'Under The Skin.' But there was a qualification from (label president) Tom Whalley at the time saying we'll be happy to put this out, but don't expect us to do a lot -- and they didn't. So that's OK, though. That was a boutique album."

The reaction to "Gift Of Screws" at Warner Bros. Records has been markedly different. And Buckingham said the CD he gave the label might be more musically accessible than even he expected.

"I was actually surprised because on the one hand I didn't really expect to make this as rock 'n' roll as it turned out," Buckingham said. "But once I got my road band down and we started cutting some tracks in my studio downstairs, it just wanted to go that way. Then there were a few songs that had (Fleetwood Mac bassist) John McVie and (Fleetwood Mac drum) Mick Fleetwood on them that had been waiting around to find a home. And those seemed to want to go in this grouping.

"So when I finally sent it ("Gift Of Screws") over there, I mean, I was actually very surprised at how strongly they reacted in the positive," he said.

"I'm fairly used to a conservative response, shall we say, from the record company as regards to my work. But they're pretty excited about this record."

Warner Bros. has good reason for its enthusiasm. "Gift Of Screws" sounds like a CD that could have considerable popularity.

The album is not without its edgy moments. It opens with a pair of quirky (but also attention-grabbing) songs, "Great Day" and "Time Precious Time." The former song is built around bursts of acoustic guitar notes, a programmed beat and a pair of stellar electric guitar solos. The latter tune is a showcase for Buckingham's lightning fast finger-picked guitar playing with a vocal that repeats the "time, precious time" phrase as if was a mantra.

From there, though, "Gift Of Screws" shifts more toward the kind of finely crafted, melodic pop that made Fleetwood Mac multi-platinum superstars. In fact, songs such as "Did You Miss Me" and "The Right Place To Fade" would not sound out of place on a Fleetwood Mac album such as "Rumours" or "Tango In The Night" (1987).

Meanwhile, songs like "Wait For You" and "Gift Of Screws" -- both of which feature the rhythm section of McVie and Fleetwood -- find Buckingham striking a middle ground between hit-worthy accessibility and musical adventurism.

Buckingham will feature several songs from "Gift Of Screws" on his tour this fall. The shows find him joined by the same musicians that played on his tour to support "Under The Skin" -- Neale Heywood (guitar), Taku Hirano (drums) and Brett Tuggle (bass, keyboards). The character of the evening, though, will be different.

"Last time I was doing a lot of, spending a lot of time out there by myself doing single guitar pieces," Buckingham said. "I'm still doing some of that, obviously, but we're going to hit the ground running this time and rock a bit more.

"That seems to be what the ("Gift Of Screws") album is doing."

Buckingham's tour will run well into the fall. After that, he plans to turn his attention to Fleetwood Mac, the group he joined in 1975 along with his then-girlfriend, singer Stevie Nicks. The band recently announced that it will tour the United States next year. But this outing will feature the four core band members -- Buckingham, Fleetwood, McVie and Nicks, a change from earlier this year when Sheryl Crow announced that she was likely to join Fleetwood Mac for the tour and possibly an album.

Buckingham said Crow's statements caught the band members off guard, and the idea of inviting Crow into the band never went beyond the discussion stage.

The whole issue, Buckingham noted, grew out of the fact that Nicks, who is good friends with Crow, was interested in adding a woman to Fleetwood Mac to replace retired singer/keyboardist Christine McVie.

On the tour supporting the group's 2003 CD, "Say You Will," Nicks had missed the male-female balance that Christine McVie brought to Fleetwood Mac, and floated the idea of adding Crow.

"It (Christine McVie's absence) gave me a lot of room to be a guy, to sort of do the kind of thing I do on stage and exert the kind of energy I exert, and to push that envelope a little bit," Buckingham said. "Consequently I had a great time doing it. I think Stevie was a little less comfortable with the divide that it created between herself and me. I think she missed Christine's presence.

"She missed that kind of mitigating force that sort of glued (things) together. And consequently when it came down to us contemplating touring next year, I think Stevie was possibly looking for some sort of a comrade on stage."

"The whole thing was a complete hypothetical," Buckingham said. "There had been no real, anything set in stone at all. It was just something we were considering, period."


If you go

What: Lindsey Buckingham

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2

Where: House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., Chicago

Price: Tickets: $54.50

Info: (312) 923-2000 or http://www.hob.com/venues/clubvenues/chicago/

http://www.post-trib.com/entertainme...ingham.article

[vivfox]

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM "Gift of Screws"
9-19-08


On his 2006 album, "Under the Skin," Lindsey Buckingham confessed he cares what people think of his efforts to never repeat the wildly successful formula of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 landmark, "Rumours."

"Reading the paper saw a review/Said I was a visionary, but nobody knew/Now that's been a problem."

OK, Lindsey, you're a genius. Now, must you be so self-indulgent in trying to prove it?

"Gift of Screws" has some of his best-written, catchiest songs. That's why the album's failings are so frustrating.

The hook-filled "Love Runs Deeper" and "The Right Place to Fade" could be Fleetwood Mac hits from the "Go Your Own Way" period. But Buckingham overproduces everything. Where his earliest music had room to breathe, now he stifles it with avalanches of vocal, guitar and percussion overdubs. He sings in an exaggerated manner. As a result, simple rock songs turn arty and insufferable.

Worse, for an artist for whom repetition is anathema, he seems locked into that finger-picking flamenco style on guitar he employed to such effect on 1997's live renditions of "Big Love" and "Go Insane." Now, on tracks like "Time Precious Time," the sound has degenerated into pinpricks on the brain.

Pod Picks: "Love Runs Deeper," "The Right Place to Fade."

http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/new....php?id=742505

[vivfox]

CD Spotlight
By JON M. GILBERTSON

Posted: Sept. 19,2008
Lindsey Buckingham

Gift of Screws

Reprise

In 2006, "Under the Skin" -Lindsey Buckingham's first solo album in 14 years - introspectively indicated that the guitarist, singer and songwriter could still bring the gorgeousness he used to help propel Fleetwood Mac toward its most commercially and artistically prosperous time.

Now, "Gift of Screws" proves he can still bring some noise, too.

That's some noise, not all. Buckingham continues brooding darkly and beautifully, his voice and intricate guitar work as delicate as butterfly wings on luminously precise tracks such as "Time Precious Time" and "Bel Air Rain."

Yet when he gets louder and brasher with the rolling rocker "The Right Place to Fade" and the crisply unhinged title track (both featuring Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood and the latter adding Mac bassist John McVie), Buckingham taps into a bubbling wellspring of teenage ardor and energy.

The depth of the spring, though, is his maturity, and so "Gift of Screws" overflows with goodness.

Lindsey Buckingham will perform Oct. 4 at the Pabst Theater, 144 E. Wells St. Look for a list of the week's new CDs on Tuesday.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=796163

[vivfox]

by Kevin O'Hare
Thursday September 19, 2008

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

"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."

http://www.mlive.com/saginawnews/ent...iews_lind.html

[michelej1]

Wow, they're coming fast and furious Mark. Thanks for putting them up.

I'm glad that Lindsey still has teenaged energy and ardor.

Michele

[michelej1]

Kinston.com, September 19, 2008

http://www.kinston.com/entertainment...lbum_face.html

Lindsey Buckingham


Gift of Screws
Reprise Records
4 stars out of 5

Lindsey Buckingham is best known for being at the helm of Fleetwood Mac for the last 30 years. During that time Buckingham has issued the occasional solo outing, usually taking six or seven years to complete an album.

As of late, Buckingham has been on a tear. If you count his live album, this makes his third release in three years. Maybe his impending senior citizen status has made him kick it up a gear.

The good news is that Buckingham has decided to rock a bit this time out, and his decision make the record in a much quicker manner has removed the mechanical feel of his previous albums.

Buckingham's standard singer/songwriter fare is well represented here, but it's the all-out rock songs that provide the most entertainment. The title track sounds like what would happen if the Ramones covered a B-52's song. The shaman-like chanting vocals and the sloppy drums evoke the vibe of a party and an exorcism.

For you fans of Fleetwood Mac, there is plenty of Buckingham's streamlined pop here to keep you satisfied, and the frenetic acoustic picking of "Bel Air Rain" brings to mind the stunning version of Mac's "Big Love" from "The Dance".

This is the most interesting work Buckingham has released since "Tusk". Anybody who likes eclectic rock with a bit of a bite will love this album.

[michelej1]

Star Gazette, September 19, 2008

http://www.stargazette.com/apps/pbcs...809180314/1006

Lindsey Buckingham 'Gift of Screws' ****
Comment: brilliant construction

Few rock musicians can make a guitar sing as sweetly as Buckingham. On this album, his finest since 1992's "Out of the Cradle," he veers from gorgeously lyrical soundscapes such as "Time Precious Time" and "Bel Air Rain" to songs that evoke the pulsing, melodic savvy of his best solo and Fleetwood Mac work. From the crackling-good opener "Great Day" to the poignant closing tune, "Treason," this "Gift" keeps on giving.

Download: previously mentioned tracks, "Did You Miss Me," "Love Runs Deeper"

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