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Miami Herald Review Under the Skin
Penguin
Miami Herald (FL)
October 6, 2006 ** ROCK
LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM
Under the Skin
Reprise
½
Ever since the unprecedented commercial success of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, its chief sonic architect Lindsey Buckingham has done his darndest to avoid crafting an accessible sequel.
We get that he's a genius, we get that he's his generation's Brian Wilson in the studio. But damned if we initially "got" Under the Skin, his fourth official solo album. (Devotees are aware that his superior unreleased solo set, Gift of Screws, was strip-mined to form the basis of Fleetwood Mac's 2003 CD, Say You Will. A handful of Screws' tracks, including the highlight Down on Rodeo, reputedly a kiss-off to actress Anne Heche, with whom he had a brief affair, turn up here.)
Under the Skin truly finds the man who wrote Go Your Own Way on his own path. Buckingham plays all the instruments on this acoustic CD -- primarily guitars and rudimentary percussion. He uses the studio the way Da Vinci wielded a paint brush, painstakingly multitracking his voice and finger-picked guitar to turn little sounds into grand, layered symphonies.
This adventurously edgy CD will, given patience, get under your skin (sorry). The craft is undeniable. Hooks are lurking, especially on Shut Down Rodeo and the billowy and beautiful Cast Away Dreams. But his breathy, echoed vocals and eccentric style can grate, too.
Pod Picks: Shut Down Rodeo, Cast Away Dreams.
Date:
2006-10-06 Number of views:
658
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