I fished this out of the cutout rack because of the radio song ('Trouble'). I had to listen to it a few times before it made sense. But every year I like it better. Alternatively weepy and acerbic, just about every track packs some kind of punch. Wouldn't Paul McCartney have loved to have written 'Shadow of the West'? Buckingham played most of the parts and made ample but effective use of studio gimmickry. And he's a genuine wizard of six string instruments. Songs like 'Mary Lee Jones' and 'That's How We Do it in LA' are goofy and edgy at the same time. I listened to his later records but didn't encounter quite the same creativity that led to this gem.

Law and Order is a very inappropriate title for this album. It is a mixed bag of experimental sounds that broke just about every musical "law" in its day and probably is still too "out there" for even today's average listener. Every song has some surprise or hook that grabs attention. Voices (Lindsey has many to choose from) range from soft and sweet to wacky and cartoonish. I first bought this album in 1987 (six years after release, but my first year as a Fleetwood Mac fan) and after 15 years of listening to it, I'm still not used to it.

That covers the oddness of this album. Now for the good part: the songs are great. Lindsey's guitar work is awesome, as always. There is an energetic, impish quality to the entire album, even the slow soft songs. "Trouble" is truly a classic track that could easily have been a huge hit if it were on a Fleetwood Mac album. The guitar solo at the end is a blistering, finger picking prelude to what he would eventually focus much of his work towards.

The one issue here for a music fan who is trying to decide whether or not they would like this album is this: How experimental can music go before it puts you off? How playful can a musician get before you are disturbed by his music? If you can put up with it just a little, there will be at least a few songs here that you will enjoy. If you don't think it would bother you at all, this album will spend a whole lot of time in your cd player.

Okay, so I admit the reason I rate this a four star album is for one cut...Trouble. For me that one song is worth the price of the CD. I could play it over and over and never tire of it. Granted it has special memories for me (it came out when I was in college), but there is something about the song...Lindsey's voice, the beat, the instrumentation, all of it combines to create one of those songs that I haven't forgotten in all of these years. Everyone has a few of "those kind of songs" hanging around; if it grabs you, that's it; you're hooked, and I'm hooked on Trouble. The rest of the album has a few cool songs and some not so cool. But it was a brave effort on Lindsey's part and I salute him for it. And like I say, Trouble is worth the price.

Lindsey,

Thanks for a lifetime of wonderful music. When I heard ''Trouble'' again I had the opportunity to dance with my beautiful three year old daughter and share a very magical moment with her. God bless you and your family and thanks for sharing your gift with us.

Ted

Three of the five members of Fleetwood Mac from their chart-topping period--Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Christine McVie--have had successful careers on their own, most of all Nicks, unjustly. But I suspect Buckingham has the most talent. Case in point, "Law and Order," his debut, which dives off from the aggressive pseudomacho new wave experimentation of Buckingham's "Tusk" compositions, one track after another rife with colour, quirk, and energy, drowning in studio wizardry. If nowhere else, Buckingham is a genius in the studio: these eleven tracks are impeccably produced, so much so that it would cheapen the record if the songs weren't so good. Not that there's anything brilliant about the songs, really, not even the smooth-on-the-ears, heavy-on-the-heart "Trouble," which pierced the Top Ten (#9) in '81 (how about that?). They're just good songs with great production. In this case, that's plenty.