Shoot Out the Lights (2-Disc Deluxe Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)They should have called their concert appearances to support this album "The Divorce Tour" or "Break Up Tour. "Shoot Out the Lights" remains a seminal 80's album and one of Richard and Linda Thompson's finest achievements. Although it wasn't written about their martial discord, "Shoot Out the Lights" certainly reflected the aftermath of failing marriage. A spare, brilliantly written/performed/produced album and one of the Thompson's towering achievements.
When this review was written it was still cheaper to order this through Rhinohandmade.com
As many fans know this was the second attempt to make the album the first was with Hugh Murphy (and Gerry Rafferty)and Richard wasn't happy with the result. He, Linda and producer Joe Boyd started all over again. The first disc is the original album (unfortunately none of the earlier tracks are here and "Living in Luxury" hasn't been added back to the CD. It was never on the album but was a b-side to the single).
The second disc consists of the surviving live recordings taken from the multitracks for the San Francisco, Santa Cruz appearances and from soundboard cassetttes. The multitracks were damaged for most of these performances (some of them irrepairably)but Ed Haber working with the Rhino team managed to restore some of these for this set. Sound quality is surprisingly good given the various sources and damaged state of some of these tapes and Haber along with input from Richard and Linda Thompson has assembled the best surviving performances for an 11 track CD:
1. Dargai
2. Backstreet Slide
3. Pavane
4. I'll Keep It with Mine
5. Borrowed time
6. Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?
7. I'm A Dreamer
8. Honky Tonk Blues
9. Shoot Out the Lights
10. For Shame of Doing Wrong
11. Dimming of the Day (and a "hidden" track at the end of the CD--"Price of Love"--from a cassette recording so the quality does fall a bit).
All of these have never been released before and since the only other full length concert recording is from a 1975 show, it's nice to have these tracks as well. Sadly, Joe Boyd DIDN'T record the L.A. shows which were by all accounts outstanding so this is all we have with good sound (at least "offically").
The CDs are housed in an oversized hardcover book with a deluxe booklet including comments/interviews from the Thompsons' band, Haber as well as Joe Boyd. The original lyrics are also included presented in the same typeface and design as on the inner sleeve for the original vinyl album (and on the booklet for the earlier CDs as well). It's kind of big to store with your regular CDs but you could do what I did and just rip the songs from the CDs for listening in the car. I'm sure some folks might not like the design but I did--it isn't as big as most "boxed sets" and it adds quality to it in my opinion.

While I think this is a terrific two disc set, it's a pity that Rhino couldn't (or wouldn't due to cost concerns)license the material from the aborted first attempt to make the album. The few tracks that have turned up were on the "Watching the Dark" third disc anthology that Ed Haber put together and "Dreams Fly Away". I would have loved to see those tracks here as part of a third disc. It's also possible that Richard or Linda nixed the idea of including these tracks but I suspect it was more a licensing/cost issue since some have appeared before.
Early editions of this album on CD also include the bonus track so you can find "Living in Luxury" there.
The inclusion of this material would have made this the ultimate edition of this great album. These minor quibbles shouldn't prevent you from buying this though as it is worth it for fans if only for the second live disc AND the exceptional packaging of the set.
Highly recommended.

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Lock and load with a high-powered chronicle of one couple's failed marriage. Shoot Out The Lights is Richard and Linda Thompson's final album together and, ironically, the folk-rock couple's most artistically acclaimed and commercially successful. The album was recorded, scrapped, and rerecorded before finally emerging in 1982, arriving just around the time that the couple split up. Despite the separation, they embarked upon a U.S. tour to promote the album, delivering emotionally charged performances at every turn.
Rhino Handmade reissues the couple's legendary swan song as a two-disc deluxe edition that includes the original album along with a bonus disc of 11 unreleased live performances from the tour.
Track listing:
Disc 1
1. Don't Renege On Our Love
2. Walking On A Wire
3. A Man In Need
4. Just The Motion
5. Shoot Out The Lights
6. Back Street Slide
7. Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed?
8. Wall Of Death
Disc 2
1. Dargai (live)
2. Back Street Slide (live)
3. Pavanne (live)
4. I'll Keep It With Mine (live)
5. Borrowed Time (live)
6. Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed? (live)
7. I'm A Dreamer (live)
8. Honky Tonk Blues (live)
9. Shoot Out The Lights (live)
10. For Shame Of Doing Wrong (live)
11. Dimming Of The Day (live)

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Dream Attic Review

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(More customer reviews)Do yourself a favor and order the two disc deluxe edition from Amazon UK- only a few dollars more and worth every cent.Disc two contains accoustic demos of the songs on the main disc.

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Richard Thompson, one of the most distinguished guitarists and songwriters of our time, returns with Dream Attic, a collection of 13 brand-new songs recorded in front of a live audiences during a February 2010 West Coast tour. By recording Dream Attic on stage, Thompson was able to capture the interaction between himself and his band members, who between them add acoustic guitar, mandolin, violin, sax, bass and drums into the mix. Throughout, listeners are treated not only to phenomenal musicianship, but also a typically diverse and strong set of new songs.

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Richard Thompson - 1000 Years of Popular Music (2 CD & 1 DVD Set) Review

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(More customer reviews)What began as Richard Thompson's cheekily literal response to Playboy when asked to name the "Ten Greatest Songs of the Millennium" has blossomed into something of a cottage industry for the cult folk/rock hero, spawning a concert tour, a limited edition CD, and now even a DVD.
And this is cause for celebration, because even though Mr. Thompson humbly asserts that "I am unqualified to sing 98% of the material here," you'd be hard-pressed to find another performer with the talent, intellect, and wit required to present this diverse and eclectic collection of songs in such an enjoyable and entertaining way.
A project like this could have easily descended into a tedious, winking, postmodern concert-length joke, and certainly Thompson and his troupe have a little fun with Gilbert & Sullivan and Britney Spears -- who wouldn't? But what ultimately makes 1,000 Years work so well is the sincerity and respect with which all of this material is treated, from Elizabethan ballads to coal miner songs to Shenandoah to Nat King Cole to Squeeze. The trio even manage to convincingly perform an a capella madrigal!
While about half of this "popular music" is understandably rooted in the 20th century, Thompson also adapts an impressive collection of tunes from the other 900 years of the past millennium (the ones that Playboy apparently wasn't very interested in), aided only by the back-up vocals, percussion, and occasional (and usually unnecessary) keyboards of Debra Dobkin and/or Judith Owen.
This backing duo (not exactly a "band") provides tasteful and unobtrusive accompaniment when needed. The only misfire occurs when Ms. Owen sings self-consciously "jazzy" and affected lead vocals on Night and Day and Cry Me A River, made even worse on the DVD format by her distracting and annoying hand gestures. I sure would have rather heard these classic songs sung by Richard Thompson (or just about anyone else, for that matter.)
There aren't any DVD "bonus features" per se, but a few interesting and amusing interview clips and rehearsal footage moments are interspersed here and there, and both stereo and 5.1 surround sound options are available. There are also two "bonus CDs" provided with the same audio as the DVD (presumably so you can also listen to this concert in your car, buggy, or covered wagon.)
Overall, Richard Thompson's 1,000 Years of Popular Music is one of the most enjoyable concert DVDs I have seen, from the rousing "Sumer Is Icumen In" opener to the boisterous final encore of "Sam Hall."
And without a dobut -- this is the greatest set list of the millennium.

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Richard Thompson - guitar & vocalsMichael Jerome - percussionJudith Owen - vocalsThe idea for this project came from Playboy Magazine - I was asked to submit a list, in late 1999, of the ten greatest songs of the Millenium. Hah! I thought, hypocrites - they don't mean millennium, they mean twenty years - I'll call their bluff and do a real thousand-year selection. My list was similar to the choices here on this CD, starting in about 1068, and winding slowly up to 2001. That they failed to print my list among others submitted by rock's luminaries, is but a slight wound - it gave me the idea for this show, which has been performed occasionally, and will hopefully receive a few more airings. The idea is that Popular Music comes in many forms, through many ages, and as older forms get superceded, sometimes the baby is thrown out with the bathwater - great ideas, tunes, rhythms, styles, get left in the dust of history, so let's have a look at what's back there, and see if still does the trick. I am unqualified to sing 98% of the material here, but me having a go could be considered part of the fun. Also, trying to render an Arthur Sullivan orchestration with acoustic guitar and snare drum is pretty desperate stuff, but may, at a stretch, be thought charming. What appears on this CD is a performance, rather than a chronological, distillation of several different shows - hence some gaps in the 17th and 18th centuries, and too much weight on Music Hall and Rock & Roll - we just felt that some performances weren't quite captured - perhaps on Part Two?

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Encore Encore: Farewell Tour Spring 1979 Fairport Convention Review

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(More customer reviews)Originally released on vinyl in 1979 as "Farewell Farewell" (with a much-superior cover), this is a documentation of Fairport's "Farewell Tour" before they broke up (and re-formed in '87 and continue to this day).
It was re-released on CD once before, then went out-of-print, and is now available once again; the previous re-release added one bonus track, this one adds three more (the original LP ended with "Meet on the Ledge" as most live Fairport shows still do).
Fairport are definitely best seen live, and this album comes veryvery close to matching that experience.
To the best of my knowledge, this is the only legitimate Fairport recording on which one can hear Swarbrick tearing up "Orange Blossom Special" -- it's almost worth it just for that. In one of her novels, SF author Emma Bull says of a band that the bass player "grabbed a handful of strings and began to climb the alphabet"; in answer to "How does he *do* that?", the reply is "Too much Fairport Convention as a child." Peggie's bass on this performance of "Orange Blossom Special" might have been the inspiration for that crack, and Bruce Rowland (who only just recently replaced Dave Mattacks on drums in Fairport again) is right there too, driving the rhythm and complementing Swarb's fiddle perfectly.
"Bridge on the River Ash", as usual is a hoot -- all of the non-fiddler members of Fairport playing fiddles, with running commentary.
Given that we thought at the time that it was the end for Fairport, the performance of "Meet on the Ledge", which is about endings and beginnings again and friendship and loss and all the things Really Good Music is about, was a particularly poignant ending to the original album, here somewhat undercut by the inclusion of four bonus tracks after it, though the bonus tracks included are all excellent and well-worth having, particularly "Rubber Band" and "Flatback Caper".
Summing up -- an album worth having in and of itself, an important document of an important moment in Fairport's career, and a unique opportunity to hear any further proof you need that Dave Swarbrick is a Great Fiddler...

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