Following the relative commercial failure of Fleetwood Mac's Tusk album, where many of the tracks were recorded in Buckingham's home studio, Mick Fleetwood informed Buckingham that the band was not interested in recording subsequent releases in the same manner. This was the impetus for Buckingham to create Law and Order. "In that moment, I realized, 'If I wanna continue to take risks [and] try to define myself as an artist in the long term, I'm gonna have to start making solo albums.'"[3]
Buckingham began Law and Order in February 1981 with a setup that included a multi-track tape machine, a couple of microphones, and a small console. The solo album was temporarily put on hold when Buckingham worked with Fleetwood Mac to record part of their Mirage album. Buckingham resumed work again in June and spent the next few months making final adjustments to Law and Order until its eventual release in October.[4] "I'll Tell You Now" was the oldest song on the album; Buckingham posited that it would have been included on Fleetwood Mac's Tusk album had the song been written a few months earlier.[5]
When asked about the title of the album by Jim Ladd, Buckingham explained that it did not pertain to the contemporary context of the term, but was instead about establishing personal laws to abide by. "I think that in order to keep that sense of innocence, you really have to instill a sense of discipline in yourself and a sense of commitment, really. Commitment is a key word too. A sense of order about your life, if you will. And that's how the title came about."[6]
In a 2018 interview with Stereogum, Buckingham described the album as a sarcastic body of work that was "almost verging on a comedy album". He further explained that "Law And Order doesn't speak in a sincere way. It speaks more in an ironic way, a tongue in cheek way."[7]
Music promo videos
Two promotional music videos were shot for Law and Order, "Trouble" and "It Was I", both directed by Jerry Watson and produced by Paul Flattery. "Trouble" featured friends of Buckingham playing either guitar or drums. They included Mick Fleetwood, Bob Welch, and Bob Weston from Fleetwood Mac and singer-songwriter Walter Egan.[8]
Jon Pareles of Rolling Stone, in a 4/5 star review, wrote that "based on the evidence of Law and Order... Lindsey Buckingham's biggest contribution to Fleetwood Mac has been his unabashed fondness for pop music at its most hokey and hooky."[12] On the other hand, Robin Smith of Record Mirror panned the "miserable" album in a 1/5 star review, saying that it "sounds like the out takes of Mac's worst studio sessions delivered around [Buckingham's] reedy little voice."[10]
In a retrospective review, William Ruhlmann of AllMusic gave the album 3.5/5 stars, saying that it "comes off as a high-quality demo of largely unfinished material".[9]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Lindsey Buckingham, except where indicated
