Richard Thompson: Post-Linda Albums Poll

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This as much to get ideas for what to buy after Amnesia and Rumor and Sigh as it is to get yer thoughts on the man.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Rumor and Sigh (1991) 11
Hand of Kindness (1983) 7
Front Parlour Ballads (2005) 1
Mock Tudor (1999) 1
you? me? us? (1996) 1
Mirror Blue (1994) 1
Amnesia (1988) 1
Sweet Warrior (2007) 1
Daring Adventures (1986) 0
The Old Kit Bag (2003) 0
Across a Crowded Room (1985) 0


Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 15:06 (seventeen years ago)

MISSING: Grizzly Man OST which would be my vote.

(*゚ー゚)θ L(。・_・)   °~ヾ(・ε・ *) (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 15:17 (seventeen years ago)

I only have Hand Of Kindness of this lot, so I hardly feel qualified to comment, but really, that's a great, great record.

Enemy Insects (NickB), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 15:19 (seventeen years ago)

I have them all and Hand of Kindness is still my fav. Rumor and Sigh would be second.

Jazzbo, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 15:21 (seventeen years ago)

yeah, i don't think hand of kindness is a masterpiece but i prefer it to the rest of the list. the the last 2 i listened to were mirror blue and mock tudor and i think both are really dull. the ones that froom produced have some good songs on them but i hate his style of production. BRING BACK LINDA!

velko, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 15:32 (seventeen years ago)

So are Daring Adventures and Mirror Blue worth picking up? Amazon has cheap copies. I always liked "Valerie" and "Beeswing."

Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 15:34 (seventeen years ago)

I voted for Rumor and Sigh but I don't really love any of these as much as I want to; want to b/c of the records through Shoot Out The Lights and b/c of the way he plays the later songs live: I saw an acoustic show with him and Danny Thompson on double bass in the early 90s, and "I Feel So Good" rocked so hard I though Richard's fingers were going to fall off and his vocal cords were going to pop out. It was hair-raising-ly good but the studio albums don't reproduce it. The acoustic half of "you? me? us?" was ok enough, but I'd love a bootleg of one of those acoustic shows (Roger McGuinn opened, weird night).

dulce est desipere in loco (Euler), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 15:41 (seventeen years ago)

Hand Of Kindness, easy. I didn't mind Across the Crowded Room for a couple weeks when it came out I guess, and I was surprised by how listenable Sweet Warrior was a couple years ago, but my impression has pretty much been that he turned into a real drag and bore after the mid '80s, and the third and fourth discs of his chronological new box set Walking On A Wire demonstrate pretty conclusively that my assumption was right. (First two discs are really great, though.)

xhuxk, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 15:47 (seventeen years ago)

I would vote for 1000 Years of Popular Music (2003) if it were on the list.

M.V., Wednesday, 13 May 2009 16:02 (seventeen years ago)

Has Thompson ever recorded a back-to-his-roots Nebraska-stylee acoustic record post-82 (other than the live Small Town Romance)? I get the impression from the little I've heard from these records that most of these songs are sabotaged by poor production.

Alex in SF, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 16:10 (seventeen years ago)

Daring Adventures, for How Will I ever be Simple Again? and Al Bowlly's in Heaven.... but Beeswing is his best post- Linda song, and maybe one of his best ever.

sonofstan, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 16:20 (seventeen years ago)

The first half of The Old Kit Bag is pretty great, also no annoying production touches.

clotpoll, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 16:32 (seventeen years ago)

But the second half of "Old Kit Bag" has "Word Unspoken, Sight Unseen," which is a stunner (to my ears).

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 17:27 (seventeen years ago)

I'm a pretty big fan of Rumour and Sigh.

Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 18:03 (seventeen years ago)

I would vote for 1000 Years of Popular Music (2003) if it were on the list.

OTM. Saw him at Gateshead doing a 1000 years show and had some really great moments, not least a version of Shenandoah which had my bottom lip quivering.

Love something on most of his albums, usually one or two killer tracks on each album but usually some although not clunkers, fall a bit short. For the 1-2-3 of I Misunderstood, I Feel So Good and 52 Black Lightning will probably go for 'Rumor and Sigh'.

featuring Strawberry and the Shortcakes (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 18:54 (seventeen years ago)

HoK for me, hands down, though the four or five albums that came after it all feature some stellar songs. I kinda stopped paying attention after that, for some reason.

DLee, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 21:37 (seventeen years ago)

there's lots of wonderful stuff on Mirror Blue and You?Me?Us? - Mock Tudor is the one that I can't get behind at all.

I have at least one, maybe two bootlegs from '94-'99? send me an email, i can send it over!

derrrick, Saturday, 23 May 2009 09:12 (seventeen years ago)

that first French Frith Kaiser Thompson record has some of thompson's best port-linda stuff (the second one is kind of a bore tho).

velko, Saturday, 23 May 2009 10:07 (seventeen years ago)

Amnesia is SO much better than R&S: "Gypsy Love Songs," "Turning of the Tide," "Don't Tempt Me," "Waltzing's For Dreamers." Compared to its successors, the Mitchell Froomisms are non-existent.

Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 23 May 2009 13:01 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 23:01 (seventeen years ago)

I voted for Rumour & Sigh on the strength of Vincent Black Lightning. However, I've since checked out Mock Tudor, and it's pretty damned good. It rocks, in a edgy 50 something kind of way.

Stew, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 23:39 (seventeen years ago)

I guess I'm the lone vote for Mock Tudor. I guess I'm also the lone fan of "Sibella," which is my favorite late Thompson track.

deusner, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 03:17 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 23:01 (seventeen years ago)


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