Under the Skin (Lindsey Buckingham album)

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.^[9] "Down on Rodeo", which was written about Buckingham's brief relationship with Anne Heche,^[10] and "Someone's Gotta Change Your Mind" are the only two songs on the record with contributions from outside musicians. "Down on Rodeo" and "Someone's Gotta Change Your Mind" 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.^[11] These two songs, along with "To Try For the Sun", were also included on a Gift of Screws bootleg that was leaked online in 2001.^[12]

Buckingham said that many songs on Under the Skin presented him with an opportunity for self-discovery.^[13] He also recalled that the album received a lukewarm response from Warner Brothers, who expressed a lack of interest in promoting it. "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.'"^[9] Warner Brothers requested the addition of more conventional rock songs to make the album more marketable.^[14]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Under the Skin received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 80 out of 100 from 15 critic scores.^[1] 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."^[2]

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.^[15] 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."^[6] Mat Snow of The Guardian called the album "a small masterpiece of tightly balanced musical contrasts."^[4]

All songs composed by Lindsey Buckingham except where noted.

Main Performer

• Lindsey Buckingham – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion

Additional personnel

• John McVie – bass (9)
• Mick Fleetwood – drums (9, 10), percussion (9, 10)
• David Campbell – orchestration (10)

• Lindsey Buckingham – producer, recording (1–8, 11), mixing (1–8, 11), additional photography
• Rob Cavallo – producer (9, 10)
• Ken Allardyce – recording (9, 10)
• Mark Needham – mixing (9, 10)
• Brian Gardner – mastering
• Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California) – mastering location
• Frank Ockenfels III – photography
• Stephen Walker – art direction
• Tony Dimitriades – management
• Robert Richards – management

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.