UTS Show Review (Relix Magazine)

[michelej1]

[This is old, but I just saw it]

Relix Magazine
http://www.relix.com/Features/Show_R...701012043.html

Thursday, November 16, 2006, by K. Patrick Welch
Newmark Theater, Portland, Oregon

Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are geniuses and I don’t know if it was evil or unbelievably fortuitous that they stopped Lindsey Buckingham from becoming a solo artist, which he surely would have had Fleetwood and McVie not enlisted him and Stevie Nicks to join Fleetwood Mac back in 1975. As it turned out, it was a brilliant move for all parties involved. Buckingham was going to be a star regardless, but just imagine an artist who would have built a solo career out of songs like “Trouble,” “Never Going Back Again” and “Second Hand News,” to name a few. Oh, by the way, those are the songs he performed at the start of his concert Thursday night.

At once, the evening’s concert was presented as a hit parade. How do you follow three hits such as those? More importantly, how do you follow those with new songs that may have the effect of losing the crowd? Buckingham’s new CD, Under the Skin, is a lesson in fantastic production guilty of too much time spent in the studio with a mastermind at the helm. Buckingham has a habit of “tinkering” with the sounds too much, giving the end result a layering rather than a polish, forcing the attention of the listener to scatter rather than become focused on a melody or hook. Those same songs are stripped to their essentials when presented in the live forum and they thrive in an environment of instant feedback and open auditoriums as opposed to attention-deficit production in the confines and sterility of a studio. Following his hit songs, Buckingham launched into a three-song onslaught of new material which was every bit as good as the songs we know. Never straying too far from that which will keep the crowd from losing interest (Buckingham has enough experience to not lose a crowd): more Fleetwood Mac music in the form of “Big Love” followed. “Go Insane” was given the treatment of an eerie ballad which had the effect of a death march. Surprisingly, it was magical in its effectiveness.

I once read that “Lindsey Buckingham writes songs which are musically interesting without losing their commercial viability.” Never is that more evident than when watching him live. So much has been written about his guitar mastery. His songs and style dictate his consistent explosions of finger-fury up and down the neck of his guitar. Because of the pop-sense of his songwriting it’s easy to miss the intricacies of his work, except in the live setting. You also can’t say he was in rare form—he has done this for too long with too much consistency for any of his efforts to be rare. What you can say is, Why doesn’t anyone talk about his voice? So much time is spent on his guitar work and his production skills that we miss the fact that Buckingham is a fantastic singer with amazing range and ability.

With a three-piece backing him, Buckingham spent the evening wowing the crowd with fantastic interpretations of some of his well-known songs, solid performances of his new music, unbelievable guitar work, hilarious conversation with the crowd—which included asking if the band had “...lost [their] dignity on that one,” referring to the over-the-top barking into their microphones at the end of “Holiday Road”—and stunning moments of music we have heard over the past three decades performed with brilliant reverence to their recorded arrangements. He closed his set the same way it started, giving the audience a taste of his Fleetwood Mac days with “Tusk” and “Go Your Own Way.” The encore was three more Mac tunes and his first single from Under the Skin. The entire show was as exciting as watching Fleetwood Mac, as intimate as watching an up-and-coming act and as satisfying as watching a legend with massive expectations being met at every turn.

Buckingham had a lot of fun with the audience, especially between songs, when he got the chance to use his expert stage timing and soothing confidence to regale the audience with his wit, humor and unique perspective of life and music. At one point he told the crowd, “It’s sometimes very difficult to walk the line between a big machine and something more intimate and personal.” Apparently, that’s not true.

[Lori40]

Thanks for posting. It's always nice to read a review by a critic who appreciates Lindsey's talent.

[michelej1]

[Another one I just saw, that wasn't posted in 2006]
October 3, 2006 Pop Matters, By Christian John Wikane

The Lindsey Buckingham Parlor Game

“Reading the paper, saw a review
Said I was a visionary, but nobody knew
Now that’s been a problem
Feeling unseen
Just like I’m living somebody’s dream”
-- “Not Too Late”, Lindsey Buckingham, 2006


This confessional couplet opens Lindsey Buckingham’s new album, Under the Skin. Even though Buckingham helped reinvent Fleetwood Mac with radio-friendly SoCal rock 30 years ago, he remains one of rock music’s most underappreciated auteurs. Tusk(1979), Fleetwood Mac’s unqualified masterpiece, was largely informed by Buckingham’s very un-crystal like visions. In retrospect, it plays like a beta test for a solo album yet his subsequent solo career is seldom acknowledged or discussed. Under the Skin marks Buckingham’s fourth solo album since his debut in 1981 and he now appears to be on a mission to raise his profile. As an opening statement, “Not Too Late” paints the picture of a musician who has yet to realize his finest hour insofar as establishing a solo career independent of Fleetwood Mac. Under the Skin marks the first step along Buckingham’s artistic regeneration since the most recent Fleetwood Mac reunion in 2003 and, while not completely accessible, the album is nevertheless intriguing.

Even before the first strum of guitar, it’s apparent that Lindsey Buckingham is a happily married husband and father. The album is adorned with sun-drenched photos of the singer with his wife, Kristen, and three young children, William, Leelee, and Stella. Five songs into the album, “It Was You” summarizes the chronology: “Back in ‘99/ Our love just in time/ If we had to wait/ We would be too late/ Caught in history/ Future I couldn’t see.” One also senses that family life is a catharsis of past demons for Buckingham by his guttural intonation of “I waited for a woman/ Who was true/ I waited for a woman/ It was you.”

The songs translate best to the listener when Buckingham bares his soul, clearly and concisely, as he does on “It Was You”. Much of Under the Skin, however, is awash with lazily recycled musical and lyrical motifs. The instrumentation is sparse—often just Buckingham, his guitar, and percussion. A one-man band is no easy task, and Buckingham, who produced the album, adds an echo to his voice to quell the minimalism. On “Cast Away Dreams” and “Down on Rodeo”, for example, the effect tends to obscure the lyrics and distract from focused listening. His melodies are repetitive and the echo only intensifies the sense of repetition. “Show You How”, which was delivered to radio, is a good tune, but after a verse or two, doesn’t progress beyond the initial hook.

There’s no denying Buckingham’s guitar virtuosity, though. “Not Too Late” and “Shut Us Down”, in particular, exemplify how much the guitar possesses Buckingham. Just as riveting on the latter tune is its subject matter, a parlor game of inferences. Co-written with Cory Sipper, it’s tempting to interpret the lyrics to “Shut Us Down” as a letter to ex-flame Stevie Nicks: “I know that I treat you unkind/ And long ago I lost my mind/ And even after all these years/ I can’t even see you clear.” Buckingham embalms his songs on Under the Skin with such naked emotional intimacy that it is completely plausible “Shut Us Down” is a window to how Buckingham feels about the woman he was nearly married to thirty years ago.

I don’t fault Buckingham for using music as a vehicle to heal and sort out his feelings. The issue is how well he connects with listeners. Clearly, Buckingham longs to share these songs and wants them heard, otherwise he could have waited for another Fleetwood Mac project to present itself. There’s no denying that he has his own style, but a little more variety in execution might make Under the Skin a more enthralling and thus, listenable experience. ("Someone’s Gotta Change Your Mind” does have a rather elaborate orchestration but, once again, suffers from an uninspired melody.)

I’m sure Under the Skin excites someone out there besides Buckingham and his family, to whom the album is dedicated, but the album convinces me that Buckingham’s work is best heard in the context of Fleetwood Mac. Strangely, I don’t look forward any less to hearing his next solo album, slated for a 2007 release. Stay tuned.