Richard & Linda Thompson - I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (2004)
Artist: Richard & Linda Thompson
Title: I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
Year Of Release: 1974 / 2004
Label: Universal Island Records - IMCD 304 / 981 790-7
Genre: Folk Rock
Quality: FLAC (tracks + .cue, log, scans)
Total Time: 53:24
Total Size: 341 MB
WebSite: Album Preview
Tracklist:Title: I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
Year Of Release: 1974 / 2004
Label: Universal Island Records - IMCD 304 / 981 790-7
Genre: Folk Rock
Quality: FLAC (tracks + .cue, log, scans)
Total Time: 53:24
Total Size: 341 MB
WebSite: Album Preview
01. When I Get to the Border 03:27
02. The Calvary Cross 03:53
03. Withered and Died 03:27
04. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight 03:10
05. Down Where the Drunkards Roll 04:07
06. We Sing Hallelujah 02:52
07. Has He Got a Friend for Me 03:34
08. The Little Beggar Girl 03:26
09. The End of the Rainbow 03:57
10. The Great Valerio 05:27
Bonus Tracks
11. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (Live) 03:16
12. Together Again (Live) 02:51
13. The Calvary Cross (Live) 09:56
In 1974, Richard Thompson and the former Linda Peters released their first album together, and I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight was nothing short of a masterpiece, the starkly beautiful refinement of the promise of Thompson's solo debut, Henry the Human Fly. In Linda Thompson, Richard found a superb collaborator and a world-class vocalist; Linda possessed a voice as clear and rich as Sandy Denny's, but with a strength that could easily support Richard's often weighty material, and she proved capable of tackling anything presented to her, from the delicately mournful "Has He Got a Friend for Me" to the gleeful cynicism of "The Little Beggar Girl." And while Richard had already made clear that he was a songwriter to be reckoned with, on I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight he went from strength to strength. While the album's mood is decidedly darker than anything he'd recorded before, the sorrow of "Withered and Died," "The End of the Rainbow," and "The Great Valerio" spoke not of self-pity but of the contemplation of life's cruelties by a man who, at 25, had already been witness to more than his share. And though Thompson didn't give himself a guitar showcase quite like "Roll Over Vaughn Williams" on Henry the Human Fly, the brilliant solos that punctuated many of the songs were manna from heaven for any guitar enthusiast. While I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight may be the darkest music of Richard & Linda Thompson's career, in this chronicle of pain and longing they were able to forge music of striking and unmistakable beauty; if the lyrics often ponder the high stakes of our fate in this life, the music offered a glimpse of the joys that make the struggle worthwhile. ~ Mark Deming