Under the Skin

Lindsey Buckingham

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 3, 2006)
• Original Release Date: October 3, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000HCO84K
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,972 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Since his solo flight from Fleetwood Mac, Lindsay Buckingham has earned the kind of artistic acclaim for his sparse solo work that many peers have tried to achieve over the course of a lifetime. Under the Skin, stripped down to a mostly acoustic base with ethereal vocals and subtle affects, surfaces as if from a deeper soulful realm that is both magically fleeting and somehow permanent. It's a deceptively simple album with its acoustic guitars zinging South American flourishes here, semi-classical guitar figures there, and country-like riffs. Both "Show You How " and "Down on Rodeo"  beg to be adapted to the full rock-pop sound he and his former bandmates created. Buckingham's tempered vocals sound mysterious throughout, given the ambient production scrim he drops over the record's 11 tracks, including a remake of the Stones' "I'm Waiting" and "It Was You," with its suggestive Caribbean flavor and soft, industrial-percussive edge. Strange, alluring, and disarming, it's as if Buckingham can offer only passing personal glimpses into his own life and psyche as a father, husband, lover, iconic pop star, and California songwriter dabbling in but never anchoring himself in one place for too long. This pleasing shadowplay at times borders slightly on the self-conscious, but generally, with the quality of such lovely self-confessional songs like "Cast Away Dreams," Buckingham leaves us willing to follow him any place, wanting more. --Martin Keller

Product Description
Buckingham's first album in 14 years, Under The Skin, is a pop masterpiece worth the wait! All tracks were performed and produced by Buckingham, and all but two were written by him.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magic, October 3, 2006

By	Brandon J. Smith - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This album is different from much of Lindsey Buckingham's work, though the important elements remain: the virtuoso guitar work, the studio experimentation, the raw emotion. What's different is the dreamlike atmosphere that Lindsey creates, focussing primarily on accoutic guitar (there are no "rockers" here), reverb-heavy vocals, and minimal percussion.

Some of these songs ("Down on Rodeo" and "Some's Gotta Change Your Mind") date back to the sessions that Buckingham had with Mick Fleetwood and John McVie around the time of "The Dance" that eventually became the sessions for Fleetwood Mac's "Say You Will" album. Some were written during the tour for that album, and some even more recently ("Shut Us Down" was on the Elizabethtown soundtrack). Yet they all hold together as a cohesive whole because of Buckingham's excellent songwriting, unique guitar and singing styles, and exceptional ability as a producer.

Of particular note are the opening song, "Not Too Late," with its fantastic guitar work and almost-shockingly personal lyrics, the title track, "Under the Skin," and "Down on Rodeo," which I think is arguably the best song on the album. As I write this, though, I feel I could mention any or all of the songs as particularly notable!

As with his previous solo album, "Out of the Cradle," and his songwriting contributions to "Say You Will," Buckingham is approaching the current phase of his career with incredible focus and long-honed skill. This album really is magic, and it's truly a worthy addition to the Buckingham catalog.

35 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful, intimate pop record, October 3, 2006

By	DanD - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Lindsey Buckingham has long been one of my favorite artists, going back twelve years to when my parents would play Fleetwood Mac in the car on vacations. His voice is honest, sometimes even angelic--but never fake. His songwriting and producing talents are among the best in the business, and his guitar picking...hell, don't even get me started on that.

So it's not much of a surprise, then, that UNDER THE SKIN is such a great pop record. It has a classic feel to it, as though these were standard pop tunes being revisited; in fact, all but two were written by Buckingham himself. He plays all instrumentation on all the tracks except two (old partner Mick Fleetwood joins him on two songs, and John McVie on one). The acoustic vibe running beneath these songs is sometimes gentle, sometimes furious. Songs of abandonment fit snugly beside tunes of contentment. There are elements of rock, blues, jazz, even country (I dare anyone to say that "Down on Rodeo" is not a country song).

And still none of this is surprising, is it? Because Buckingham has been doing this for decades. He hasn't perfected his art yet--but that's the beauty of it. As good as he is, he is only getting better. UNDER THE SKIN is a beautiful, intimate pop record that will genuinely move you. Give it a listen, and tell me Lindsey Buckingham isn't one of the best pop musicians around.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment compared to "Cradle", October 11, 2006

By	J. Higgins (Jessup MD) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're hoping for something along the lines of "Out of the Cradle", forget it with "Under the Skin". Buckingham's latest effort is a real disappointment. Every track is delivered in a hushed, breathy manner that tries SO hard to be Terribly Earnest and Steeped in Emotion, but after a while becomes treacly and overwrought. The only real musical accompaniment Buckingham offers is the guitar; however accomplished his playing may be, the formula of spare, stripped-down musical approach + self-absorbed vocals just sinks the entire album.

After the first 2-3 tracks you start wishing Christine McVie had teleported into his home studio to deliver badly-needed catchy beats and harmony, and save Buckingham from his relentless, pouty angst, but it never happens. This is a shame because many of the tracks contain the gist of great pop songs if given the right uptempo accompaniment, but Buckingham is simply too preoccupied with making his Art as enervating as possible. Listen to some samples of the tracks at his website before you make up your mind that "Under the Skin" is something that will appeal to you !