Under the Skin is the fourth solo album by American musician and Fleetwood Mac vocalist/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, released on October 3, 2006. The album, long delayed by Fleetwood Mac's reunion tour in the 1990s and 2003 album Say You Will, was his first solo release in 14 years. Under the Skin peaked at number 80 on the Billboard 200 album chart in October 2006. "Show You How" was also released as a single but failed to chart.

Music

Predominantly an acoustic album, the album does not feature many instruments besides acoustic guitar and percussion. Buckingham sought to forgo the more ornate elements on his previous albums in favor of orienting compositions around vocals and a single guitar. "Down on Rodeo", which was written about Buckingham's brief relationship with Anne Heche, and "Someone's Gotta Change Your Mind" are the only two songs on the record with contributions from outside musicians. Those two songs were originally recorded ten years prior at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood and were considered for Fleetwood Mac's Say You Will album in 2003. The same two songs along with "To Try For the Sun" were also included on a Gift of Screws bootleg that was leaked online in 2001. Buckingham recalled that Under the Skin received a lukewarm response from Warner Brothers, who expressed a lack of interest in promoting the album. "When I turned in Under The Skin, their general response was 'Yeah we'll put it out, but don't expect us to do too much.'" Warner Brothers requested the addition of more conventional rock songs to make the album more marketable.

Critical reception

AllMusic writer Thom Jurek noted how several songs felt autobiographical and described the album as "the most nakedly visible and tender recording he's ever dropped." Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly complimented Buckingham's "frantic" guitar fingerpicking and said that his production work enhanced the sound of his nylon-string guitar. Willman added that despite the album's nominally stripped back nature, some of Buckingham's recording techniques, including the use of mulitracked vocals, prevented the album from being truly unplugged. Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone thought that Buckingham achieved "maximum effect from minimal arrangements" and said that "Down on Rodeo" resembled a "lost Fleetwood Mac hit." Mat Snow of The Guardian called the album "a small masterpiece of tightly balanced musical contrasts."

Track listing

All songs composed by Lindsey Buckingham except where noted.

Personnel

Main Performer Additional personnel

Production

Music promo videos

Three promotional music videos were shot for Under the Skin, these included "It Was You", "Show You How" and "Shut Us Down". Both "It Was You" and "Show You How" are available for digital download via iTunes, but the video for "Shut Us Down" remains unavailable.

Charts