Rocktrospectiva: The Daring "Go Insane" Turns 40

 

Released on 30 July 1984, "Go Insane" was the second studio album by American musician Lindsey Buckingham, who was back then, the lead guitarist and male lead vocalist of Fleetwood Mac. The album reached the No. 45 on the Billboard 200, two singles were released from the album "Go Insane" and "Slow Dancing".

According to history, Buckingham began Go Insane on a 24 track machine in his garage, where he assembled a series of rough demos. Then moved temporarily these recordings and waited for Richard Dashut, who had co-produced Buckingham's 1981 debut album, "Law and Order". However, the sessions for the "I'm Not Me" album for Fleetwood Mac lasted longer than anticipated, and producer Dashut declined Buckingham's offer, citing burnout. 

So, Buckingham turned to Roy Thomas Baker, who at the time was the senior VP of worldwide production at Elektra Records. Baker was occupied with production work in England, so Buckingham flew overseas to send Baker the tapes himself. Of the dozen songs Buckingam showed to Baker, eight were entirely scrapped. The only four songs that eventually appeared on the final album were the title track, "Play in the Rain", "I Want You", and "I Must Go". Baker then paired Buckingham with Gordon Fordyce to finish the album^.

"Go Insane" did not include any acoustic drumming. Instead, he programmed the drums on a LinnDrum drum machine and Fairlight CMI sampling synthesizer. Buckingham started most of the songs with a programmed drum track and built upon them once he developed a more defined idea of what the finished product would be. Buckingham transferred production work from his home to Cherokee Studios, where most of the lead vocals were recorded. During this time, Buckingham was running low on tracks, so he transferred his material to a Stephens 40-track machine that Roy Thomas Baker leased.

The album opened with "I Want You"with the sound of alarm bells from a Fairlight CMI, then come "Slow Dancing" were lifted from the album as one of the two singles and eventually this became Buckingham's second top 40 in the United States, next was the title-single "Go Insane" and intense a song that was about to be on the verge of insanity in the years to come, he explained that the song was about his post-break up realtionship with former lover Stevie Nicks, the single reached No. 23 on Billboard top 100, Buckingham noted that "I Must Go" was about ending a relationship, stating that "commitment can become no less than a form of self-destruction. At some point, you’ve gotta let go". "Play In The Rain" is a seven minute musique concrète composition split into two parts: one on the end of side one and another on the beginning of side two, the Part 1 was engineered entirely by Buckingham, and on the original vinyl LP release the track ended side one and was recorded up to and onto the runoff groove creating what is known as a "continuous locked groove" where the last couple of seconds of the track play continuously until the phonograph arm is lifted.

On "Bang The Drum" Lindsay Buckingham sought to make his voice resemble an instrument, this was inspired by the work of Laurie Anderson,  the track "D.W. Suite" was dedicated to Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, who had died the December before the album was released, even thought, Buckingham received seven nominations for the MTV VMA's in 1985 four for "Go Insane" and three for "Slow Dancing", a pop culture fact, "Go Insane" appeared on Miami Vice's "The Great McCarthy" episode on season first back in 1984. 

 

Go Insane Track List:  

1. I Want You

2. Go Insane 

3. Slow Dancing 

4. I Must Go

5. Play In The Rain 

6. Play In The Rain (Continued)

7. Loving Cup

8. Bang The Drum 

9. D.W. Suite