This cover image released by Buckingham Records/Rhino Records shows the digital reissue of 鈥淏uckingham Nicks,鈥 the 1973 pre-Fleetwood Mac album by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. (Buckingham Records/Rhino Records via AP)
This cover image released by Buckingham Records/Rhino Records shows the digital reissue of 鈥淏uckingham Nicks,鈥 the 1973 pre-Fleetwood Mac album by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. (Buckingham Records/Rhino Records via AP)
Music Review: ‘Buckingham Nicks’ is an engaging blueprint for the classics to come
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 There are two ways to review 鈥淏uckingham Nicks,鈥 the long-awaited digital reissue of the 1973, pre-Fleetwood Mac album by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, their only recording project as a duo.
This cover image released by Buckingham Records/Rhino Records shows the digital reissue of 鈥淏uckingham Nicks,鈥 the 1973 pre-Fleetwood Mac album by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. (Buckingham Records/Rhino Records via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 There are two ways to review 鈥淏uckingham Nicks,鈥 the long-awaited digital reissue of the 1973, pre-Fleetwood Mac album by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, their only recording project as a duo.
Imagine you had never heard of them, that they were an obscure 1970s act who made one album, broke up and left the business. You might think of 鈥淏uckingham Nicks鈥 as a kind of period curiosity, a taste of vintage Los Angeles singer-songwriter pop, with its folkish stylings, well-crafted melodies and earnest sensibilities (鈥淒o you always trust your first, initial feeling?/Special knowledge holds true, bears believing,鈥 Nicks sings on 鈥淐rystal鈥). The scale is modest and nothing is likely to strike you as a lost classic, but you鈥檒l probably take to at least a handful of the 10 songs 鈥 the strumming riffs on 鈥淐rying in the Night鈥 and 鈥淪tephanie,鈥 the catchy chorus of 鈥淩aces Are Run,鈥 the way Buckingham鈥檚 sensitive tenor is filled out by Nicks鈥 husky vibrato. You might end up wondering what happened to the two hippie-artists, who look out from the album cover naked, long-haired and unsmiling, as if the photographer had barged in without warning.
But if you鈥檙e in the great universe of encyclopedic on their breakups and reunions and musical sparring matches, you鈥檒l find (or rediscover) a trove of clues and portents in Friday’s release. The skillful acoustic picking that opens the instrumental 鈥淪tephanie鈥 will remind you of Buckingham鈥檚 work on Fleetwood Mac鈥檚 鈥淣ever Going Back Again.鈥 The opening gallop and heavy bass of 鈥淒on鈥檛 Let Me Down Again鈥 looks ahead to 鈥淪econd Hand News鈥 and the slow buildup of 鈥淟ola My Lola鈥 feels like a test run for 鈥淭he Chain.鈥
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Buckingham and Nicks were in their mid-20s during the album鈥檚 production and if they ever enjoyed a phase of easy, blissful love, they already seem past it. 鈥淐rystal,鈥 the only song also to appear on the breakthrough 鈥淔leetwood Mac鈥 album of 1975, is a rare expression of devotion, or gratitude. Other tracks seem closer to the hard lessons of Nicks鈥 future chart-topper, 鈥淒reams.鈥 There鈥檚 the wary refrain of 鈥淟ong Distance Winner鈥 鈥 鈥淵eah, you鈥檙e the winner/Long distance winner,鈥 echoed on 鈥淩aces Are Run鈥 and its reminder: 鈥淩aces are run, some people win/Some people always have to lose.鈥 Buckingham鈥檚 鈥淒on鈥檛 Let Me Down Again,鈥 in which the singer fears his lover鈥檚 departure, feels like a prequel to the breakup narrative of 鈥淕o Your Own Way.鈥
The reissue adds clarity to the sound of 鈥淏uckingham Nicks鈥 that you don鈥檛 get from the muddled, unauthorized downloads which turn up online. And the album has a solid cast of session musicians, including Elvis Presley veterans Ronnie Tutt on drums and Jerry Scheff on bass and LA fixture Waddy Wachtel on guitar. But the arrangements never quite anchor or amplify the songs the way drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie would after Fleetwood鈥檚 fateful invitation to Buckingham to join his band, and Buckingham鈥檚 fateful insistence that his girlfriend come along.
Give 鈥淔leetwood Mac鈥 a listen if you haven鈥檛 lately and the difference will grab you from the opening track, Buckingham鈥檚 鈥淢onday Morning鈥 鈥 an instant leap into a future that Buckingham and Nicks had only begun to imagine.
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鈥淏uckingham Nicks鈥 by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks
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