Music Review: Lindsay Buckingham – One Man Show

Lindsay Buckingham is, of course, best known for his work with Fleetwood Mac. But on One Man Show he shows what this reviewer feels is superior emotional intensity and provides a more authentic musical experience for the listener, including his radically different takes on Fleetwood Mac tunes.

This literally is a one man show—just Buckingham and his guitar, done in front of an audience on September 1, 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa. There are no guest artists or extra musicians. None were needed.

Take “Never Going Back Again,” which here conveys less anger and more guilt and despair over backsliding and failing to move forward than the famous hit version. This is also true of “So Afraid,” and “Go Your Own Way,” which reflect more anguish and less anger as well.

This live acoustic recording, released exclusively on November 13 on iTunes, deals a great deal with familiar emotional terrain: loss, dysfunctional relationships, and the mistakes we all make in life.

Lesser known tracks like “Stephanie,” “Go Insane,” “Come,” and “Big Love” all sound here as though Buckingham is literally offering up a piece of his soul to the listener. Perhaps the standout song on the recording is “Seeds We Sow,” one of the most honest and heartrending songs of the past decade.

In the press release, Buckingham says, “As an artist, you need to seek out what is essential and discard what is inessential, to always keep an eye on what lives at the center.”

This recording does just that.

This is without doubt Buckingham’s best solo work so far. To offer radically different versions of songs that fans of his former group know and love, as well as numbers from his solo recordings and to do it live and acoustic without a lot of overdubbing or post-production, takes a lot of courage. Buckingham has taken that chance and he has delivered.