Lindsey Buckingham's latest is a 'Gift' indeed

By Mark Brown

Rocky Mountain News
Monday, September 15, 2008

Gift of Screws has taken years and various U-turns to finally make it into stores today. The album became a bit of a legend among Lindsey Buckingham fans when bits of it were played live with Fleetwood Mac in 1997. Bits of it slipped out around 2000, five years after he'd started it.

But the album got derailed twice, first when songs were cannibalized for much of the Fleetwood Mac album Say You Will and again when a few more tracks turned up on Buckingham's solo album Under the Skin.

So, what fans hear now may be far from how this album was conceived all those years ago, but despite coming in dribs and drabs, the finished album is worth the wait.

Out of the Cradle, his third solo album, from 1992, hit the high mark for many Buckingham fans. It kept his quirky nature but mixed in more lush, traditional songwriting in gorgeous tracks like Don't Look Down and You Do or You Don't. His past couple of solo albums have been sparser and more experimental, with Buckingham at times exploring what his fingers could do on the fret board (and how fast they could do it) rather than putting melody first.

That can be fascinating on tracks like the opening Great Day, but the finger-picking style that Buckingham has become partial to over the years can be a bit excessive at times, impressive as it is.

But Gift of Screws comes closer to that Out of the Cradle sound than anything else he's done since. Love Runs Deeper could have found a spot on any Buckingham solo album (and would have sounded great on Say You Will), filled with classic acoustic guitar as well as warm harmonies and sweet, melodic electric leads. Underground could have fit on Rumours or Tusk, a sweet melody with simple voice and guitar.

Gift of Screws gives an explicit idea of where Buckingham's mind is these days. "In my younger days / I was mistaken for a whore / I guess you could say / I lived in chains," Buckingham sings in Bel Air Rain, a slap at the record industry that once championed him but of late has stymied his creativity.

He takes a look at the bigger picture in the title cut, classic off-kilter Buckingham, a rock song pierced with the occasional maniacal laugh and lyrics like "Authority makes us bleed, bleed, bleed ... Authority keeps us down, down, down," and in the equally political closing cut, Treason.

With 10 tight songs and a more focused viewpoint, Gift of Screws ends up being his second-best solo album - very good company to be in.

Lindsey Buckingham
Gift of Screws
Reprise Records
Grade: B

Lindsey Buckingham's 'Gift'

Washington Times

Lindsey Buckingham
Gift of Screws
Reprise/Warner

At every turn, "Gift of Screws" reminds the listener of Lindsey Buckingham's eclectic brand of pop songwriting.

Some of the 10 songs on this new album have been in progress for the better part of a decade. Some reprise themes of songs from the 2003 Fleetwood Mac reunion album, "Say You Will." Rather than sounding like retreads, however, the recordings feel vibrant and contemporary for the most part while retaining the familiar sounds of Mr. Buckingham's virtuosic guitar playing. It's all the more familiar because the Fleetwood Mac rhythm section (Mick Fleetwood on drums, John McVie on bass) joins in on a few tracks.

"Time Precious Time" is an acoustic ballad that opens with a frenzy of finger picking and a soaring vocal line. There is a muddled intensity to it, like a prelude struggling to transform into a theme. The rapid-fire arpeggios race harplike up and down the fret board as the singer repeatedly intones the title.

"Love Runs Deep" opens with an acoustic guitar and quick bass line - and until the electric guitar picks up, it could pass for a semisweet Coldplay song. Then the Fleetwood Mac vibe quickly intrudes in the form of harmonized vocals and a gritty guitar solo.

At 58, Mr. Buckingham seems eager to assert that he hasn't lost a step as a guitarist. He turns in another blisteringly fast acoustic picking effort with "Bel Air Rain," a speedy but downcast minor-key lament. More upbeat is "The Right Place to Fade," which opens with a cheerful cross of acoustic strumming and an electric solo.

The album's title track originally was scheduled for inclusion on "Say You Will." It's a weird, alluring mix of new-wave pop and garage rock with a peculiar squealing chorus that sounds as if it could be a B-52s outtake. It's also oddly out of step with the rest of the album, if only for its punkish bass line and shouted vocals.

"Did You Miss Me" is the most memorable track on "Gift of Screws."With its distinctively Coldplay-like intro, it's a sweet and rueful pop song with honeyed accents concealing a bitter core. (Indeed, the resemblance at times is so pronounced that it might be worth inspecting Chris Martin.) On the chorus, plucked guitar notes play over the rhythm guitar like a bell sounding over an orchestra. Mr. Buckingham sings, "Did you miss me/ In the evening/ When everyone is bound to dream?"

Fans probably didn't miss Mr. Buckingham all that much. He weighed in just two years ago with the impressive acoustic album "Under the Skin." If anything, "Gift of Screws" is a more impressive outing. It's typical of older rockers to return to the spirit of their glory days on late-career albums. It's impressive, then, that Mr. Buckingham has produced a recording that looks forward as much as it looks back.

Gift of Screws is a 'cobbled-together bunch of leftovers'

Lindsey re-gifts
Gift of Screws is a 'cobbled-together bunch of leftovers'
Winnipeg Sun

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM
Gift of Screws
Pop-Rock
Sun Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5

Sometimes, you have to look a gift horse in the mouth -- if you don't want to get screwed, that is.
Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham's fifth solo CD seems like one of those occasions. As he admits in a press release: "This album is a distillation of a number of periods of time, some false starts to make albums, certainly some songs that go back a number of years, that took a while to find a home here, combined with brand-new songs and a whole other outlook."

Translation: It's a cobbled-together bunch of leftovers, demos and fleshed-out ideas -- some cut at home and on the road in the wake of his 2006 CD Under the Skin, with others dating back perhaps as far as 2001, when the album title Gift of Screws became a rumour in the Lindseysphere.

But even if it's mostly secondhand news, it's not all bad news. Buckingham also claims this disc rocks more than his last one. And it does -- on the cuts that feature Mac bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. The rest of the time, it's all about Lindsey, his spiderwebby vocals and his precise, intricate guitar work.

Sure, it has its moments. But frankly, most of these tracks sound more like technical exercises and home-studio experiments than songs. So unless you want to pay to hear Buckingham dump out his hard drive, you might want to go your own way.

Great Day 3:12
Over a bare-bones beatbox that sets a brisk pace, Lindsey layers gently throbbing arpeggios and flamenco flourishes with his acoustic guitar, crowning the affair with echoing vocals.

Time Precious Time 4:25
Buckingham fingerpicks at breakneck speed, stitching together a needlepoint backdrop for another echoing vocal line. This one sounds like Peter Gabriel and Robert Fripp.

Did You Miss Me 3:55
Finally, an actual song -- a slice of breezy, bittersweet California folk-pop complete with a suitably laid-back beat, a chiming guitar line and an actual chorus.

Wait for You 4:58
Fleetwood and McVie boogie on the bottom while Lindsey slings some bluesy juke-joint slide licks and brays like Stevie Nicks. A nice hypnotic groove in search of a bigger hook.

Love Runs Deeper 3:56
It starts out an understated, strummy little pop ditty -- then busts open on the chorus into a big Mac-style acoustic rocker. Not brilliant, but not half bad either.

Bel Air Rain 3:49
The cascading waterfall of glistening tones that flows from Buckingham's flying fingers is superb. The rainstick and soaring vocals, not so much. Enough with the echo, already.

The Right Place to Fade 4:02
Another decent acoustic rocker, with a lilting melody, memorable hooks and (we presume) another visit from McVie and Fleetwood. This one could end up on a Mac album.

Gift of Screws 2:52
A scrappy number that walks the line between British Invasion pop and garage-rock. It's not bad -- until Buckingham begins laughing like a hyena in the chorus.

Underground 2:58
Dreamy and wistful without being too ethereal, this folk-pop number features a throbbing guitar and some quietly popping percussion.

Treason 4:26
After all that frantic fingerpicking, Buckingham finally runs out of steam, lazily strumming his way through this downbeat, Dylanesque folk-rock ballad.

Gift of Screws Tour - Tour Stop #3 (Portland)

Third stop on the Gift of Screws Tour.... Newmark Theatre in Portland, OR on
September 10, 2008 (pictured right - Photo by Debra - Celtic Gypsy). No change to the setlist.

20 song set:

Great Day
Love Runs Deep
Trouble
Go Insane
Tusk
I Know I'm Not Wrong
Gift of Screws
Never Going Back Again
Big Love
Shut Us Down
Under The Skin
Did You Miss Me
Come
World Turning
So Afraid
Go Your Own Way

Encore:

Second Hand News
Don't Look Down
Treason
Time Precious Time

The Big CD: Lindsey Buckingham - Gift of Screws

By John Mulvey
The Times
4/5 Stars

It is rarely edifying to hear a multimillion-selling rock star whinge about lack of credibility. But on his previous solo album, Under the Skin, Buckingham just about got away with it. Buckingham, remember, was the man who had propelled Fleetwood Mac to their commercial zenith in the mid-1970s. And consequently, he was also one of the prime musical enemies of anyone who had invigorated their record collections with punk rock.

In the past few years, however, Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac have undergone something of a critical rehabilitation. Buckingham's obsessive perfectionism in the studio, his occasionally deranged sonic experiments, and the excruciating emotional honesty that he shares with all his old bandmates are seen as fine things. On Under the Skin, a little bit of praise seemed to have pushed Buckingham into a doggedly solipsistic display of his leftfield chops. The album began with him noting: “Reading the paper, saw a review/ Said I was a visionary, but nobody knew,” and mainly consisted of him constructing nervy guitar loops in what may well have been his bedroom. A lovely album, but one of strategically limited appeal.

Gift of Screws is a more varied affair. There are fantastic solo workouts, such as Time Precious Time, on which Buckingham yelps harmoniously over some frantically intricate acoustic guitar. But then there are also pop songs - Love Runs Deeper and Did You Miss Me - that are blessed with the same combination of stadium thump and spiritual fragility that proved so lucrative for Fleetwood Mac.

Since that band's venerable rhythm section - Mick Fleetwood and John McVie - contribute to Gift of Screws it is tempting to wonder why Buckingham did not save these songs for the next Fleetwood Mac album. But then an earlier solo album, also entitled Gift of Screws, was aborted, and a good few songs from that turned up on the Mac's Say You Will in 2003. Maybe this time, Buckingham anxiously wants to prove that he can do it all himself, from avant-garde guitar noodles to fabulously airbrushed pop. The critical acclaim is in the bag these days. Now, if only he could sell millions without the Fleetwood Mac brand name.

Gift of Screws Tour - Tour Stop #2 (Seattle)

Second stop on the Gift of Screws Tour....
Moore Theatre in Seattle, WA on September 9, 2008 (pictured right - Photos by Mooner). No change to the setlist.

20 song set:

Great Day
Love Runs Deep
Trouble
Go Insane
Tusk
I Know I'm Not Wrong
Gift of Screws
Never Going Back Again
Big Love
Shut Us Down
Under The Skin
Did You Miss Me
Come
World Turning
So Afraid
Go Your Own Way

Encore:

Second Hand News
Don't Look Down
Treason
Time Precious Time