The first is Lindsey Buckingham's One Man Show, a near-exact replica, right down to the between-song banter, of the program that the Fleetwood Mac frontman gave at the Lexington Opera House in November. Regardless of such a steadfast repertoire, this is a blistering set mostly because Buckingham obliterates the concept of what a solo acoustic concert can be.
One Man Show is not some folkie reinvention of Buckingham's music in and out of Fleetwood Mac. It is, rather, what its title implies: an unaccompanied rock parade that just happens to acoustic. From Buckingham's ageless vocal howl to guitar work that exerts itself with dizzying exactness, the record is steeped in frenzy.
It doesn't matter whether the music stews in the brooding intensity of Go Insane, Never Going Back Again and So Afraid or boils over with the hopped-up drive of Big Love, where the guitar runs sound positively caffeinated. Either way, Buckingham presents One Man Show as a restless joyride.
Big Mac faves make up roughly half the album, and Buckingham fleshes out the remainder with some genuine surprises. From the early '70s comes the pre-Fleetwood Mac instrumental Stephanie, One Man Show's lone statement of solace. But the real treats come by way of three tunes from Buckingham's underrated 2007 solo album, Under the Skin, highlighted by the bittersweet departure meditation Cast Away Dreams.
As of now, One Man Show is available only through iTunes.
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