Monday, July 16, 2007

Lindsey Buckingham - Under The Skin

Artist : Lindsey Buckingham
Title : Under The Skin (2006)
Genre : (Acoustic) Rock
Rating : *** (out of 10*)

It's been 14 years since Lindsey's last studio album - the wonderful (9*) "Out Of The Cradle". UTS is reportedly a project that started and stopped several times, with some of the scheduled tunes being diverted to Fleetwood Mac albums. If so, that's a waste, since I don't think anyone has bought a FM album that was put out in the 21st Century.

This is almost entirely Lindsey playing acoustic guitar. But it's hard to call it an acoustic album, since the vocals are overdubbed to death, and the guitar strumming is often subjected to echo effects.

What's To Like...
Pleasant tunes, and very nice acoustic guitar work. You could possibly find yourself singing along with the choruses on a couple tracks.

What's Not To Like...
Where are the guitar solos?! There are, lessee now... NONE !!

The songs all sound the same, and none of them stand out. The same overdubbed vocals get boring real quick. If this is the culmination of 14 years of creativity, perhaps it's time for Lindsey to hang up the six-string, and wait for some sort of overhyped "Fleetwood Mac Reunion Tour".

Would You Like Some Pretzels With That Coffee?...
All in all, you can probably go down to your local coffeehouse and hear someone just as inspiring. It is said that LB sounds a lot better singing these songs in concert, when the stale studio effects are missing.

Save your money, put on Out Of The Cradle, and hope that Lindsey finds some energy before his next offering, which at this rate, will be out in early 2021.

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