Shoot Out The Lights
by Richard & Linda Thompson

From Jboy56 03/07/2024 08:52 | #302381

Fine

Surely one of the top singer-songwriter albums of the '80s. A beautifully put-together record between two humans at their wit's end with each other; Richard and Linda were going through a divorce at the time of recording. The mix between Linda's tender, thoughtful ballads and Richard's upbeat rockers, all tied together with the same wistful themes of their deteriorating relationship is excellent. Perhaps Richard doesn't get enough credit for being a top-tier songwriter, and a guitar player at that. Many highlights to pick from here, most notably Wall of Death, Man in Need, Walking on a Wire, and the masterful title track. Definitely a record worth a listen every now and then.

From UofTBlues 01/13/2020 16:07 | #246820

Perhaps the best folk rock album of the 80's. Even better; getting through the album while their marriage was breaking down. The songs reflect have they were feeling during that time.

From VictorVale 01/13/2020 11:15 | #246811

Clássico instantâneo!

From Sandinistar 12/23/2018 16:01 | #227748

Supremely well-written and terrific guitar playing from Richard, amazing melodies delivered so well by Linda. A generally joyous album, but their relationship problems manage to appear underneath the whole thing. Terrific.

From planetneutral 01/07/2018 18:57 | #204856

Maybe it just stands out in contrast to the never-ending slog of The Fall that I had been listening to before this, but I ended up liking this quite a bit.

Good songs as always with Thompson, but I find the production way too slick. If it was recorded more like their seventies albums it would have been so much better. Still, a very good break up record with, walking on a wire, don't renege on our love, and, just the motion, the highlights. Great songs, but just a bit too polished for me.

Way back in the 90s, there was an Internet service called Firefly which asked you to rate a bunch of albums. In return, it would give you a recommendation.

Firefly gave me this, and I was none too happy. It didn't seem like something I would like, but boy did I!

I believe Amazon bought Firefly and used it as the basis for its recommendation engine. I would never have picked up this album. I l still listen to it and still love it.

From Graeme2 03/30/2016 13:33 | #162985

Not really feeling this. Think I'll come back to it some time.

From babyBlueSedan 06/07/2015 02:39 | #143211

Very good album - Richard Thompson is a very underrated guitarist and everything on this album sounds fresh and new, which is not always the case with folk. But for me it is lacking the emotional impact that I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight has.