Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Art means nothing if you cannot learn from the pain you have endured, if you can’t find a way to rise above the anguish caused and leave a trace, a substantial peace offering, or indeed a proverbial middle finger to those who set you on your own path of discovery; for in the end art is meant to be the great healer and the great provider of revenge, and payback is not about keeping a war going, but living the best life you are able to, because nothing annoys the haters more than being able to live up to your name and the prestige it carries.
The latest fallout between the members of Fleetwood Mac is well publicised, and in normal events such a moment would not normally raise an eyebrow if one of the classic 1970s and 80s line up were to release a solo album to diverge their attention from the ensuing melee and words exchanged, but these are hardly normal times, and it to the credit of Lindsey Buckingham, arguably the creative force behind several of the band’s recordings that he has taken that has come his way in the last couple of years and turned into an album of sheer magnetism and consideration.
The reluctance to keep away from the limelight during a time of self-reflection is palpable, as any artist worth their salt will testify, occasionally you have to lick your wounds in public, to work upon the dignified answer to the questions posed whilst all the time knowing that the spotlight is upon you, watching you, judging your every move.
The eponymously titled new release by Mr. Buckingham is one of style, grace, fortune, and dynamic beauty, tracks such as the opener Scream, don’t necessarily declare a feeling of all out war, but the image is there, the subtly of pain, of all the artist can lose, is framed and stamped forever, and across tracks such as On The Wrong Side, Blind Love, Power Down and the finale of Dancing, all that he has lived with, all he seen move away, is captured as one of the most personal and deeply intriguing albums of his life.
There is a joy to be found in the darkness, the understanding that the light will soon return if you can remember that your name is the place where illumination is revealed; and it is to this new album reveal that Lindsey Buckingham is quite rightly revered.
Ian D. Hall