Shoot Out the Lights | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 15 March 1982 | |||
Recorded | November 1981 | |||
Studio | Olympic Studios, London | |||
Genre | British folk rock | |||
Length | 38:15 | |||
Label | Hannibal | |||
Producer | Joe Boyd | |||
Richard and Linda Thompson chronology | ||||
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Richard Thompson chronology | ||||
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Linda Thompson chronology | ||||
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Singles from Shoot Out the Lights | ||||
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Shoot Out the Lights is the sixth and final album by British husband-and-wife rock duo Richard and Linda Thompson. It was produced by Joe Boyd and released in 1982 on his Hannibal label. A critically acclaimed work, [1] [2] AllMusic's Mark Deming noted that Shoot Out the Lights has "often been cited as Richard Thompson's greatest work." [1]
After their 1979 album Sunnyvista had sold poorly,Richard and Linda Thompson found themselves without a record deal. In the spring of 1980 they toured as the support act for Gerry Rafferty and in June of that year they recorded some demo tracks at Woodworm Studios in Oxfordshire. [3]
Later that same year and with the Thompsons still without a contract,Rafferty offered to finance and produce a new Richard and Linda Thompson album and then use his contacts in the industry to secure a contract for the album's release. The Rafferty-sponsored album was recorded during September and October 1980 at Chipping Norton Recording Studios in Oxfordshire. [4]
As the project proceeded,there was increasing tension between Richard Thompson and Rafferty. Thompson preferred a spontaneous approach to recording and found Rafferty's time-consuming and perfectionist approach hard to cope with. He also felt increasingly frozen out of the project:"When he got to the mixing,I just didn’t bother to turn up . . . because if I said something it was totally ignored and I thought 'hey,whose record is this anyway?'" [4] When the sessions were completed,Rafferty could not interest any record companies and lost in the region of £30,000 on the project. [4] Copies of the tapes of the Rafferty-sponsored album have subsequently become available as a bootleg under the titles Rafferty's Folly and Before Joe Could Pull the Trigger. [5] [6]
In the summer of 1981 Joe Boyd signed the Thompsons to his small Hannibal label and,in November of that year,the Thompsons went into Olympic Studios in London and recorded a new album. Boyd's proposal,which the Thompsons accepted,was that the album be recorded in a matter of days so that money could be put aside for a tour of the US. [4] The resulting Shoot Out the Lights included fresh recordings of six songs that had been recorded during the Rafferty-sponsored sessions and two newer songs. [3] Linda Thompson was several months pregnant when the album was recorded and so there was no prospect of an immediate release or supporting tour. By the time the album was released,Richard and Linda Thompson's marriage was over.
Shoot Out the Lights became their best-selling album and was acclaimed as one of their greatest artistic achievements. The album and the May 1982 tour were crucial in re-launching Richard Thompson's career and in restoring his reputation as a songwriter and guitar player. [4]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Robert Christgau | A [2] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [7] |
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide | [8] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 10/10 [9] |
For a release on an independent label,Shoot Out the Lights had a significant critical impact. Robert Christgau designated it as the "pick hit" of the month in his "Consumer Guide" column,saying "these are powerfully double-edged metaphors for the marriage struggle". [2] At the end of 1982,many critics placed the album on their year-end "best of" lists,for example,placing it at #2 on The Village Voice Pazz &Jop Critics Poll. [10] It has continued to be highly regarded. AllMusic praises it as "a meditation on love and loss in which beauty,passion,and heady joy can still be found in defeat". [1] (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide called the album "absolutely perfect" and cited it for its "vividly emotional writing and the stirringly impassioned playing". [8]
In 1987,Shoot Out the Lights was ranked #24 on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Best Albums of the Last 20 Years" [11] and in 1989 it was ranked #9 on the same magazine's list of The 100 Best Albums of the Eighties. [12] The album was ranked number 332 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. [13] [14] It was voted number 422 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). [15] In March 2005,Q placed the title song at number 99 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
In 1990 Hannibal released Shoot Out the Lights on CD with the B-side "Living in Luxury" as a bonus track on the first run. This song is not included on any subsequent editions of the album. In 1993 Rykodisc released it as part of their AU20 Mastering Gold CD series,with Dr. Toby Mountain of Northeastern Digital Recording,Inc.,in Southborough,Massachusetts using Sony's proprietary Super Bit Mapping (SBM) mastering process to reduce the digital master from 20-bit to 16-bit required for the Red Book compact disc standard. Mountain again remastered the album in 2004 for release on Super Audio CD (SACD) on Rykodisc. In 2005 the album was reissued on 180 gram vinyl by the 4 Men With Beards label. In October 2010 Rhino Handmade issued a deluxe 2CD edition of the album with 11 live bonus tracks and a 40-page booklet.[ citation needed ]
All songs written by Richard Thompson except as noted.
"Living in Luxury" (2:32) was a B-side included as a bonus track on early CDs of the album,though removed from later editions.
A two-disc "de luxe" edition of this album was issued by Rhino Handmade Records in October 2010. The first disc had the eight tracks of the original album. The second disc comprised live tracks recorded during the 1982 tour of the US.
The tracks on the second disc are:
(all tracks composed by Richard Thompson except where noted otherwise)
The same core band appeared on the original album and on the 2010 live disc,except for Dave Pegg who is on the album only.
Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love,released on November 1,1967,by Elektra Records. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk- and baroque pop-oriented sound based around acoustic guitars and orchestral arrangements,while primary songwriter Arthur Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his growing disillusionment with the era's counterculture. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup;after its completion,guitarist Bryan MacLean left the group acrimoniously,and Lee subsequently dismissed the other members.
My Generation is the debut studio album by English rock band the Who,released on 3 December 1965 by Brunswick Records in the United Kingdom,and Festival Records in Australia. In the United States,it was released on 25 April 1966 by Decca Records as The Who Sings My Generation,with a different cover and a slightly altered track listing. Besides the members of the Who,being Roger Daltrey (vocals),Pete Townshend (guitar),John Entwistle (bass) and Keith Moon (drums),the album features contributions by session musician Nicky Hopkins (piano).
The Who Sell Out is the third studio album by the English rock band the Who. It was released on 15 December 1967 by Track Records in the UK and Decca Records in the US. A concept album,The Who Sell Out is structured as a collection of unrelated songs interspersed with fake commercials and public service announcements,including the second track "Heinz Baked Beans". The album purports to be a broadcast by pirate radio station Radio London. The reference to "selling out" was an intended irony,as the Who had been making real commercials during that period of their career,some of which are included as bonus tracks on the remastered CD.
Richard Thompson is an English singer,songwriter,and guitarist.
The Harder They Come is the soundtrack album to the film of the same name,released in 1972 in the United Kingdom as Island Records ILPS 9202. It was issued in February 1973 in North America as Mango Records SMAS-7400. It peaked at No. 140 on the Billboard 200. In 2021,the album was deemed "culturally,historically,or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
The Band,also known as The Brown Album,is the second studio album by the Canadian-American rock band the Band,released on September 22,1969,by Capitol Records. According to Rob Bowman's liner notes for the 2000 reissue,The Band has been viewed as a concept album,with the songs focusing on people,places and traditions associated with an older version of Americana. Thus,the songs on this album draw on historic themes for "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down","King Harvest " and "Jawbone".
Burnin' is the sixth album by Jamaican reggae group the Wailers,released in October 1973. It was written by all three members and recorded and produced by the Wailers in Jamaica,contemporaneously with tracks from the Catch a Fire album with further recording,mixing and completion while on the Catch a Fire tour in London. It contains the song "I Shot the Sheriff". It was the last album before Marley,Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer decided to pursue solo careers,while continuing their local releases through their company Tuff Gong Records. A commercial and critical success in the United States,Burnin' was certified Gold and later added to the National Recording Registry,with the Library of Congress deeming it historically and culturally significant.
Live/Dead is the first official live album released by the rock band Grateful Dead. Recorded over a series of concerts in early 1969 and released later the same year,it was the first live rock album to use 16-track recording.
Murmur is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M.,released on April 12,1983,by I.R.S. Records. The album was recorded at Reflection Studios in Charlotte,North Carolina,with musicians Don Dixon and Mitch Easter serving as producers. Murmur drew critical acclaim upon its release for its unusual sound,defined by lead singer Michael Stipe's cryptic lyrics,guitarist Peter Buck's jangly guitar style,and bass guitarist Mike Mills's melodic basslines. In 2003,the album was ranked number 197 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". It retained the position in the 2012 list and was raised to number 165 in the 2020 revision.
1999 is the fifth studio album by the American singer-songwriter and musician Prince,released on October 27,1982,by Warner Bros. Records. It became his first album to be recorded with his band the Revolution. 1999's critical and commercial success propelled Prince to a place in the public psyche and marked the beginning of two years of heightened fame via his following releases.
Pretenders II is the second studio album by British-American rock band the Pretenders,issued on Sire Records in August 1981. It incorporates two songs that had been released as singles in the UK and placed on an EP in the US. It peaked at #7 on the UK Albums Chart and #10 on the Billboard 200,and has been certified a gold record for sales by the RIAA. It is the final album by the original line-up,as the following year bassist Pete Farndon was dismissed and guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died in the same week. Farndon died in 1983,and a new line-up would make the band's next album,Learning to Crawl.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the American group Sly and the Family Stone. It was first released on November 21,1970,by Epic Records. The album includes all of the singles from the albums Dance to the Music (1968),Life (1968),and Stand! (1969).
Good Old Boys is the fourth studio album by American musician Randy Newman,released on September 10,1974 on Reprise Records,catalogue number 2193. It was Newman's first album to obtain major commercial success,peaking at number 36 on the Billboard 200 and number 58 in Canada. The premiere live performance of the album took place on October 5,1974,at the Symphony Hall in Atlanta,Georgia,with guest Ry Cooder and Newman conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Roxy Music is the debut studio album by English rock band Roxy Music,released on 16 June 1972 by Island Records.
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight is the second album released by Richard Thompson,and his first to include his then wife,Linda Thompson,the pair being credited as Richard and Linda Thompson. It was issued by Island Records in the UK in 1974. Although the album did not sell and was critically ignored,it has been described as "a timeless masterpiece" and considered one of the finest releases by the two singers,whether working singly or together.
Sunnyvista is the fifth album by Richard and Linda Thompson,released in 1979,by Chrysalis Records.
Live! is an album released in 1976 under Richard Thompson's name,but mostly consisting of work actually recorded with his then wife as Richard and Linda Thompson.
Strict Tempo! is the second studio album by Richard Thompson,released in 1981. Apart from soundtracks,it is Thompson's only entirely instrumental studio album. The album consists of some of the artist's favourite tunes,all rendered as instrumentals and all arranged for guitar,mandolin,and other instruments played by Thompson. The only other musician is drummer Dave Mattacks.
Small Town Romance is the first live album by British singer/songwriter Richard Thompson.
One Clear Moment is the first studio album by British singer-songwriter Linda Thompson. It was released in 1985 through Warner Bros. Records and was Thompson's first release since Shoot Out the Lights (1982),her final album as part of a duo with former husband Richard Thompson.