"Countdown"
Single by Lindsey Buckingham
from the album Out of the Cradle
B-side"This Nearly Was Mine"
Released1992
GenreRock
Length3:21
LabelReprise (North America), Mercury (Europe)
Songwriter(s)Lindsey Buckingham
Producer(s)Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut
Lindsey Buckingham US singles chronology
"Wrong"
(1992)		 "Countdown"
(1992)		 "Soul Drifter"
(1992)
Lindsey Buckingham UK singles chronology
"Slow Dancing"
(1984)		 "Countdown"
(1992)		 "Soul Drifter"
(1992)

"Countdown" is a song by Lindsey Buckingham, released in 1992 from his third solo album Out of the Cradle. In the UK, "Countdown" was released in July as the album's first single,[1] although in North America, "Wrong" was released as the first single instead.[2] While the song did not chart on the UK Singles Chart or the US Billboard Hot 100,[3] it appeared on Billboard's Mainstream Rock and Adult Contemporary charts. Elsewhere, "Countdown" charted in Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Buckingham recorded his guitar parts on a Fender Telecaster with fuzz and a variable speed oscillator (VSO). He used the VSO to slow down the speed of the tape recorder, which in Buckingham's estimation provided a "crystalline" quality to the guitar. During the mixing process, producer Tom Lord-Alge attempted to thicken the sound of the guitar, although Buckingham convinced him to abandon the idea, insisting that the instrument should "sting like a bee."[4]

Critical reception

Mike DeGagne of AllMusic commented that "Countdown" possesses the "pop-catchy appeal of past hits like "Trouble" and "Go Insane" at one level, yet it maintains an enriched, dynamic feel, as if Buckingham has progressed and bettered himself as a solo artist. "Countdown" is an excellent delegate to the kind of music Buckingham is capable of, and it contains a lot of the same constituents that made him such an integral part of the second wave of Fleetwood Mac."[5] Jean Rosenbluth of the Los Angeles Times wrote that it was "hard not to be swayed by the singer’s practically palpable optimism" on "Countdown".[6]

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (1992) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[7] 29
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[8] 20
Germany (Official German Charts)[9] 66
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] 64
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[11] 32
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[12] 38

References

  1. ↑ "Lindsey Buckingham Interview on BBC Radio One with Johnny Walker". Fleetwood Mac UK. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  2. ↑ White, Timothy (May 23, 1992). "Out of the Cradle (Billboard) Lindsey Rocks the Cradle". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  3. ↑ Morris, Chris (March 13, 1993). "Buckingham's Out of the Cradle Again Lines Up Dates With 10-Piece Tour Band" (PDF). Billboard. p. 16.
  4. ↑ di Perna, Alan (August 1992). "Musician Magazine (08/1992), The Speed of Sound: Lindsey Buckingham Gets Tight with Tone". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  5. ↑ DeGagne, Mikef. "Countdown by Lindsey Buckingham". AllMusic. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  6. ↑ "Album Review: Lindsey Buckingham "Out of the Cradle" Reprise". Los Angeles Times. June 14, 1992.
  7. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1890." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 1916." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Lindsey Buckingham – Countdown" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Lindsey Buckingham – Countdown" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Lindsey Buckingham Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Lindsey Buckingham Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
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