Lindsey Buckingham’s earliest solo works are getting a box set from Rhino Records this summer.
True to its name, “20th Century Lindsey” will feature remastered versions of the three albums the Fleetwood Mac singer/guitarist issued during the 20th century – 1981’s “Law and Order”, 1984’s “Go Insane” and 1992’s “Out of the Cradle” – plus a newly compiled disc of eight rarities. The set showcases Buckingham’s restless creative spirit that fuelled a good portion of Fleetwood Mac’s discography, blossoming into wild and sometimes unexpected territory on his own.
“Law and Order” continued the New Wave tyro style Buckingham had meticulously cultivated on the Fleetwood Mac’s ambitious “Tusk” in 1979. Having been told in no uncertain terms by his bandmates that their next album would likely be more back to basics, Buckingham sought wide open sonic spaces, playing nearly everything and offering every voice on the album. (Fleetwood did contribute drums to “Trouble,” Buckingham’s sole Top 10 hit, and Christine McVie lent harmonies to the album cut “Shadow of the West.”) After Fleetwood Mac’s “Mirage” in 1983, Buckingham was back in the studio for “Go Insane”, another mostly self-contained affair (co-produced with Richard Fordyce and executive produced by Roy Thomas Baker, with Buckingham performing and programming nearly everything) that was inspired by everything from the dissolution of his relationship to singer Carol Ann Harris to the passing of Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys.
Buckingham didn’t return to solo recording until 1992’s “Out of the Cradle”, and things had changed for him considerably: after driving much of Fleetwood Mac’s “Tango in the Night” in 1987, Buckingham left the band for nearly a decade. “Out of the Cradle” was a reunion with co-producer Richard Dashut, who’d worked on nearly every one of Buckingham’s projects since 1975’s pre-Mac effort “Buckingham Nicks”. Together, they gravitated toward a less programmed, more acoustic sound on songs like “Countdown,” “Wrong” and “Soul Drifter” and even a few choice covers (The Kingston Trio’s “All My Sorrows,” Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific number “This Nearly Was Mine”).
The eight tracks on “20th Century Rarities” offer some crucial entries in Buckingham’s ’80s discography, including immortal soundtrack cuts for National Lampoon’s Vacation (the unforgettable theme “Holiday Road”) and Back to the Future (the nervy “Time Bomb Town”). There’s also a few rare remixes of “Go Insane” and “Slow Dancing” that were predominantly issued in Europe, and a rare reunion with former creative and romantic partner Stevie Nicks – “Twisted,” off the soundtrack to the 1996 action disaster flick Twister – that anticipated Buckingham’s second tenure in the band, from the 1997 live reunion “The Dance” until his second departure from the group in 2018. (Lindsey has been quite active since then, releasing another four solo albums in the 21st century – perhaps a hook for a second box set in the future?)
“20th Century Lindsey” is available on four CDs or LPs on August 16th.
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