Great Albums # Shoot Out The Lights : Richard & Linda Thompson

Richard & Linda Thompson's marriage was crumbling as they were recording Shoot Out the Lights in 1982, and many critics have read the album as a chronicle of the couple's divorce. In truth, most of the album's songs had been written two years earlier (when the Thompsons were getting along fine) for an abandoned project produced by Gerry Rafferty, and tales of busted relationships and domestic discord were always prominent in their songbook.

But there is a palpable tension to Shoot Out The Lights which gives songs like "Don't Renege On Our Love" and "Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed" an edgy bite different from the Thompsons' other albums together; there's a subtle, unmistakable undertow of anger and dread in this music that cuts straight down to the bone.

Joe Boyd's clean, uncluttered production was the ideal match for these songs and their Spartan arrangements, and Richard Thompson's wiry guitar work was remarkable, displaying a blazing technical skill that never interfered with his melodic sensibilities. Individually, all eight of the album's songs are striking (especially the sonic fireworks of the title cut, the beautiful drift of "Just The Motion," and the bitter reminiscence of "Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed"), and as a whole they were far more than the sum of their parts, a meditation on love and loss in which beauty, passion, and heady joy can still be found in defeat.

It's ironic that Richard & Linda Thompson enjoyed their breakthrough in the United States with the album that ended their career together, but Shoot Out The Lights found them rallying their strengths to the bitter end; it's often been cited as Richard Thompson's greatest work, and it's difficult for anyone to argue the point.

The Title Track :"Shoot Out the Lights"
Written as a reaction to the Russians' 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, "Shoot Out the Lights" was the title track of Richard and Linda Thompson's brilliant 1982 swan song. From the opening two chords, you can feel the disquieting tension that will haunt the next five-plus minutes. Though the song was originally inspired by the conflict in Afghanistan, it transformed into a menacing, cinematic character study of a murderer who stalks the nighttime city streets. Over his brooding, tremolo-affected guitar and Dave Mattacks' deliberate, martial drumming, Richard fires out image after ominous image, and like the protagonist in the song, never reveals too much. As dark and unsettling as the lyrical content, it's Richard's riveting guitar that pushes the song to the edge. His pair of solos are as gripping and fierce as one could expect, bending and shredding notes into shards of metal and threatening to lose control at any moment. It's hard to imagine anyone covering "Shoot Out the Lights" with the same impact as Richard ( Linda does not appear on this track). The song, as well as the performance and album, remains one of the crowning achievements in Richard Thompson's career.

Review by Brett Hartenbach Taken from All Music Group

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