I've already looked at Richard Thompson's earlier albums with ex-wife Linda, but in doing a recent audit of the CDs, I noticed lots of his solo albums, that I've yet to visit, so (on a Eurostar to Brussels) I'll start to attack that back catalogue now.
Amnesia was probably the first of his albums I bought, on vinyl, in the early 1990s, from a long departed record shop in Margate, with the hole punched through the corner of the sleeve to indicate it was record company remaindered stock. Seems it didn't sell as well as they'd hoped, but clearly I felt it was worth replacing on CD.
Opening track, Turning Of The Tide is a rocking tale of a faded beauty, possibly sounding a little misogynistic to sensitive 21st century ears, but it's a strong start, followed by Gypsy Love Songs, a more electric-folk song, decent enough, if a bit of a plodder, which goes on a bit longer (six minutes) than it merits. Reckless Kind is similarly slow, and somewhat monotone, which gives it a darker quality, a little more interesting. Jerusalem On The Jukebox is more upbeat and rocking, angry with a fine middle guitar break. A brass band intro takes things down a touch on I Still Dream, a lovely sad song, ending the first half.
Don't Tempt Me is right in your face, a song of threatened violence, which feels at odds with Thompson's gentle persona, and it's tempting to think it wonderfully ironic. Again, there's a strong guitar middle, and is that a hurdy gurdy in there? Yankee Go Home is jolly, bouncy, yet lyrically dark and angry, almost a Thompson trademark, and a great song, followed by another slow, sad song, Can't Win, with Waltzing's For Dreamers being just too maudlin for my tastes. The album concludes with Pharaoh, a political commentary on our essential enslavement, and a fine ending.
I think this is one of my favourite Thompson albums, largely because of the more rock based sound, especially in the first half. I'd certainly recommend it as a starting point for his solo work.
4* - a fine mix of light and shade in this songwriter's album
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