Lindsey Buckingham – Lindsey Buckingham

 

Lindsey Buckingham – Lindsey Buckingham

By

Jesse E. Mullen

You’ve co-led a massively successful group on and off for 43 years. You’ve written numerous hit songs, spearheaded a change in sound for your group, and have helped influence modern production techniques, while also surviving personal turmoil within your band. But what happens when that turmoil finally catches up with you?

As was the story of Lindsey Buckingham leading into 2018. The guitarist and songwriter was as famous for his chops on his instrument and studio prowess as he was for his breakup with Fleetwood Mac bandmate Stevie Nicks. That breakup inspired the timeless 1977 album Rumours, but it also left a lot of lingering tension.

This tension eventually led to Buckingham leaving the group for 10 years in 1987 but appears to have boiled over in a more permanent fashion in 2018. According to Buckingham, Nicks informed him – via Fleetwood Mac’s manager – that she “never [wanted] to share the stage” with Buckingham again.

This (allegedly) led to an ultimatum – either Fleetwood Mac fire Buckingham or Nicks would depart. The group apparently chose the former. Whatever truth to this there is, the result was the same. Buckingham was out of Fleetwood Mac.

With time to spare – following a solo tour and an excellent greatest hits box set entitled Solo Anthology – Buckingham put the finishing touches on a solo record which he intended to release in either 2019 or 2020. But a pair of issues put the brakes on his plans.

Buckingham underwent emergency open heart surgery in February 2019, which put him out of commission for the better part of a year. Further complications arose when it was revealed that one of Buckingham’s vocal cords was damaged when he was intubated during the procedure, leading to questions about the future of his singing voice.

2020 led to another complication in the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, delaying the release of the album further. One must be asking: could anything else go wrong for Buckingham from 2018 onwards? On a more personal level, the answer was sadly “yes.”

Buckingham’s wife filed for divorce in June of 2021. However, it was later reported that the couple were working on their marriage. Personal anecdotes aside, it would be easy to assume that the next Lindsey Buckingham album would be a dour affair. But then again, this was also an artist famous for finding dry humor in his relationship woes – see: “Second Hand News” and “Big Love.”

Buckingham’s new album, the self-titled Lindsey Buckingham was finally released in September 2021. The album artwork certainly would support the theory of a dour affair, with a po-faced Buckingham mugging for the camera in a black and white image – in line with the sepia-toned Gift Of Screws cover from 2008.

The resulting music resembles that album, at least on a surface level. Screws featured Buckingham at his most pastoral to date on “Time Precious Time,” as well as his most chugging melody since “Trouble” from 1981’s Law and Order in “Did You Miss Me.”

Conversely, Lindsey Buckingham also features many of the production techniques which made Tango In The Night a classic. Varispeed (pitch shifted) backing vocals, sequenced keyboards, drum machines, and “uhh-ahh(s)” are all reprised to great success. But Buckingham proves he is willing to update his sound for modern times.

“Swan Song” features syncopated techno beats and staccato vocals looped into infinity, while Buckingham shreds away on one of his glorious, fingerpicked guitar solos. Interestingly, this track originated from a session Buckingham was producing for Medicine’s Brad Laner. Laner – who primarily works within the shoegazing genre – handed Buckingham a copy of demos he had recorded, with hopes that Buckingham would find them interesting – and possibly cover one.

One of those songs intrigued Buckingham enough that he did just that – partially. “Mind’s Eye” was a song from those sessions which formed the basis for the chorus of “Swan Song.” Consequently, Laner has a co-writing credit and a share of all royalties earned. (Life lesson – sometimes it really helps to put yourself out there.)

“Power Down” mixes baggy beats with the new wave pop Buckingham has pursued in his solo career to great success. Buckingham plays the part of a lover left behind, saying he “called your name but no one was listening.” It’s one of a few hints that not all was right in his life at the time.

The other, “Santa Rosa,” deals with distance between a couple, with Buckingham warning his lover “that world is gonna close you” if she leaves. That Buckingham marries his lyrics to a major-key acoustic country groove makes it one of the melodic highlights of the album, even if it is one of the more solemn moments here.

However, not all is doom and gloom. “I Don’t Mind” shares the wisdom of an older man in a relationship – it deals with an aging couple accepting each other’s flaws. It might be the most Fleetwood Mac-like song on the album – Buckingham’s varispeed harmonies even sound a bit like Christine McVie. Layers of acoustic guitars and Buckingham’s drum machine programming add further color to the sonic landscape of the track.

“Scream” features a rising and falling vocal melody and chord progression that manages to recall “Go Your Own Way,” while some of the vocal production resembles the simulated female backing vocals from “Caroline.” It’s chorus of “I love you when you scream” is open to interpretation, as it could either have a sexual connotation or a sexual one – or both.

Elsewhere, “On The Wrong Side” bolsters a tune that is catchy, singable, and melodic while also featuring a bit of a bard lyric. Buckingham sings that he’s “out of pity” and “out of time.” Could this be directed at his wife? Or at Nicks and his impending removal from Fleetwood Mac? Only Buckingham knows for sure.

Given Lindsey Buckingham’s troubles over the past few years, it’s hard not to read the lyrical tea leaves on these songs. However, their actual meaning doesn’t at all affect the quality of the material. With Lindsey Buckingham, Buckingham (the artist) has delivered some of the finest moments of his solo career.

Reprise/2021

 

 

Tom Verlaine – Words From The Front

 

Tom Verlaine – Words From The Front

By

Jesse E. Mullen

You were the leader of a seminal post-punk band. You played at CBGB’s in New York, sitting in with Patti Smith’s band. And then a familiar rock ‘n’ roll cliché takes over – the band breaks up and you are suddenly flying solo.

So was the story of Tom Verlaine in 1978. He had formed the band Television in 1973 along with second guitarist Richard Lloyd, quickly developing a telepathic guitar chemistry. Their dueling leads would inspire many guitarists in the future, including Dean Wareham and Sean Eden of Luna.

Television went onto record two records, 1977’s masterwork Marquee Moon, and the underrated Adventure in 1978. (A record deserving of its own article at a later date.) But by the end of the year, the band was no more. According to insiders, they had simply run out of steam and did not want to repeat themselves.

So, Verlaine and Lloyd launched solo careers. 1979 saw the solo debuts of both men, Lloyd with the album Alchemy and Verlaine with the eponymous Tom Verlaine. Lloyd’s album was more of a traditional rock affair with new wave touches, while Verlaine wrapped the spastic guitar textures of Television around poppier song structures.

The track “Kingdom Come” would attract attention the next year when David Bowie covered it on 1980’s Scary Monsters. Verlaine further embraced the art pop sound on 1981’s Dreamtime, particularly on “Penetration.” Skittering drums and a grooving bassline – played by Verlaine – fight against wiry guitars.

Verlaine seemed to be at an artistic peak. So, when he quickly followed up with another album – 1982’s Words From The Front – fans had to wonder whether he would continue to grow or if we had already seen the best of Tom Verlaine. So how does it stack up against his rich history?

Things get off to a shaky start with the robotic, monotonous new wave/glam hybrid “Present Arrived.” Verlaine repeats the title several times in his signature yelp-y voice. Only this time it comes across more tedious than energized. It’s saving grace is the way the musicians lock into the repetition.

Verlaine’s guitars are strong, and Joe Vasta’s bass forms a hypnotic groove with Thomas Price’s drums. Another positive factor is that it is the weakest track on the album. Verlaine continues to explore and experiment, but things only get better from here.

“Present Arrived” leads into the stark, gently reverberated wonder of “Postcard From Waterloo.” It is the first of two songs to use war and soldiers on the frontline as a metaphor for Verlaine’s experiences with romance. The lyrics describe a soldier departing for battle, leaving his girlfriend behind. She attempts to break the tension by saying he will “like the view.”

It is just as poignant musically as it is lyrically. From a production standpoint, the track uses a live-in-the-studio sound, with very minimal overdubs – a piano accenting the verses, backing vocals by Lene Lovich in the chorus. Verlaine favors a twin-guitar attack – one with an untreated, single-coil pickup sound and another with a thicker digital delayed sound.

Speaking of guitars, this was the first album where Verlaine collaborated with Jimmy Ripp. Ripp would go onto become in an important figure in Verlaine’s career – as well as the music scene in general – up to the present. He would play guitar on one of Mick Jagger’s solo albums (1993’s Wandering Spirit) and later join Television outright after the departure of Richard Lloyd in 2007.

The title track is the darker side of the “war songs” coin. “Words From The Front” is written in the style of a letter home from a shellshocked soldier. Verlaine’s lyrics read like the screenplay to a movie. A member of the narrator’s unit has recently died from his battle wounds – the surgeon operating on him was numbing his own psychic pain with alcohol.

Musically, the song is a slow dirge with Verlaine’s squealing solos filling in gaps left in the words. The entire production is so evocative of the horrors of war that it is hard to believe it wasn’t written to be on a film soundtrack.

But album closer “Days On The Mountain” is something else entirely. A nine-minute epic, it starts out with spooky Moog synthesizers and a steady rhythm track behind it before Verlaine’s voice enters. Verlaine’s single-coiled guitar starts playing elaborate figures before it swells into a chorus of harmonics. The expressive playing is accompanied by Verlaine repeating the phrase “dancing again.”

About halfway through, a bass figure enters and the track changes, becoming much more synthesizer based. Verlaine’s lyrics are ever cryptic, calling back to the “days on the mountain [he] remember(s) so well.” The sound is almost evocative of krautrock bands such as Can and Tangerine Dream. A strange classic.

When Words From The Front was first released, reviews were mixed. UK imprint Melody Maker painted Verlaine as an artist past his prime. But history has been much kinder to the album. It may take a track or two to get going, but once it does, the album equals anything Verlaine has done before or since.

Warner Bros/1982

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chameleons – Script of the Bridge

 

The Chameleons – Script of the Bridge

By

Jesse E. Mullen

 

Artists are often a product of their environment. Be it painters, directors, or musicians, they work with what they know. Some musicians are capable of capturing this mood across a career. Take The Chameleons for example.

The Manchester quartet used their gothic rock to evoke the feelings of rainy northern England. Guitarists Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding used shimmering textures rather than traditional lead work. This left bassist/singer Mark Burgess and drummer John Lever to propel the songs forward.

Burgess in particular had a gift for melody. His delivery of the song lyrics was always pleasing to the ear. Yet he also gave off a desperate impression to his singing. It was almost like he was fighting for his life when he was at the microphone. And in a way, he was.

The 80s in Britain were a time of hardship. A failed conservative government lead to hard times, particularly among the working classes. A miners’ strike and disdain for Thatcherite policies meant moral was at an all-time low.

All of which informed the sound of Script of the Bridge. While Burgess never gets explicitly political, his tone and ambiguous lyrics evoke the desperate feeling of the times.

"Don't Fall" opens the album with a sample of a man, saying “In his autumn before the winter, comes man’s last mad surge of youth.” A woman responds, “what on earth are you talking about?” and the main guitar riff enters. Burgess’ voice enters repeating the title, and John Lever’s drums crash in.

Burgess’ lyrics are surreal, and the narrator seems to be in distress. When the chorus hits, the listener is confronted with the urgency of the narrator’s unfamiliar surroundings – even if we don’t know precisely what he’s afraid of. The brilliance of the track is that we don’t need to know.

The composition gives the listener plenty to grab onto, both rhythmically and melodically. Burgess’ voice is in top form and Smithies and Fielding have enough dreamy fretboard action to make The Psychedelic Furs blush.

An ominous bassline and analog synth introduce “Monkeyland,” gradually getting louder and louder. Burgess’ voice enters and describes another abstract scenario. He’s being experimented on by strange people. The bass, guitars, and drums gradually build until a crescendo in the chorus when Burgess seems to break free.

Burgess has established himself as a master of the surreal. Although the listener may not relate to the exact scenario, we know it is coming from a place of emotional depth – in both his wording and his delivery. His voice again alternates between soothing tones and those of a blunt instrument.

“Paper Tigers” and “View From A Hill” both showcase the dreamy guitarwork of Fielding and Smithies. “Paper Tigers” is an up-tempo post-punk tune with heavily delayed riffs. It’s a sound Ride would ape years later on “Jump Jet.” In fact, several shoegazing bands owe their start to the sounds being explored here.

“View From A Hill” is an entirely different animal. An almost funeral march of a tune, it manages to be both melancholy and uplifting. The guitars are atmospheric washes and resemble icy synthesizers. It is entirely evocative of an overcast day in a cemetery.

Burgess uses the upper register of his voice on the track, and it is an incredibly moving performance. He is the one reminder that the song is in fact made by humans and not by spirits. The urgency heard previously gives way to sweetness and warmth. A true masterpiece.

But perhaps “Second Skin” is the greatest track of them all. A quiet keyboard plays the main theme twice. And then, at seventeen seconds into the track, “Crash!” John Lever smacks the snare with a great force, and the guitars enter. Burgess spins a tale of a “cold damp evening” where “the world stood still.”

The track feels tailor-made for a suspenseful thriller movie. It’s another prime example of Burgess firing on all cylinders. His voice again balancing its melodic qualities with the urgency and desperation of a young man trying to make it in life. When Burgess sings “is this the stuff dreams are made of,” we believe it is.

Some albums are designed for specific moods or settings. In more extreme cases, bands devote an entire career to their surroundings. The Chameleons are one of those bands. On Script of the Bridge, The Chameleons evoke the sound of rainy Manchester streets, with the hope of sunny days.

Statik/1983