Customer Reviews

Amnesia

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If Richard Thompson releases a mediocre album, I want someone to tell me immediately because I believe that he's incapable of anything except artistic excellence. Amnesia includes some of Thompson's most moving and breathtaking compositions to date. `Gypsy Love Songs' is a rocker to end any argument that Thompson is among the finest composers and guitarist ever. It's angry, brooding, haunting and thunderous. Mickey Curry bludgeons the drum kit (on par with the great Jim Keltner) like a pile driver, Thompson's guitar solos are sterling, and Jerry Scheff's bass lines could shake granite. Either Jim Keltner or Mickey Curry on drums, and Tony Levin on base lay down a bulletproof rhythm on the other rockers (Jerusalem On The Jukebox, Don't Tempt Me), while Thompson interjects improvising and mesmerizing guitar lines. `Yankee Go Home' is an uplifting cheerful ride except for Thompson's lyrics - yes, he's angry.

The antithesis to Thompson's electric rockers and customarily cynical lyrics is the light and acoustic solo `Waltzing's For Dreamers.' Here, pessimism is replaced by longing and loneliness. Christine Collister is the only woman on Amnesia: her backup vocal harmonies amplify rather than contradict Thompson's gruff voice and irate delivery. For Richard and Linda followers, `I Still Dream' is especially poignant. Although the magic of `Shoot Out The Lights' may never happen, Amnesia contains more than a fare share of enchantment.

Technical Note: Not mentioned on the accompanying written material, I suspect this is a DDD release. Check the cymbals and top-hat on `I Still Dream' and `Can't Win.'

Sadly, most of Richard Thompson's amazing catalogue lies smouldering in the out of print bin. Since the 1970s he has consistently put out great material, but a mass audience never wafted up from the general populace. When Capitol signed Thompson they probably saw mass appeal, hits, and the next big critical and commercial success. In the mid late 1980s music rags announced Capitol's huge marketing campaign designed to haul Thompson from obscurity to stardom. Almost instantaneoulsy, Thompson's face appeared plastered in record stores, in music magazines, and the occasional television appearance. "Amnesia" belongs to this era, and Capitol pulled out plenty, if not all, of the stops to market it. Somehow the album stalled despite the strength of its contents. The 1991 follow-up "Rumor and Sigh" found Capitol getting what it wanted out of Thompson, but some ten years later the label dropped him. Thompson survives on Indie labels, but hopefully some label will put Thompson's considerable Capitol output back into print (calling Rhino!! Rhino!! Are you there!?!?!).

"Amnesia" is in no way Thompson's best album, but it contains some amazing material. "Turning of the Tide" should have been a hit. No good reason exists for its obscurity on the radio waves in 1988. The song holds up as a pop bulwark even today. "Waltzing's For Dreamers" could arguably be placed alongside some of Thompson's best material. A mellow bittersweet song about lost love, one of Thompson's perennial subjects, it almost sounds out of place amongst the pop rock songs that fill most of the album. Thompson waxes controversial on "Yankee, Go Home", including such lines as "Overpaid, oversexed and over here/Get smart, gringo, disappear/The Hun's at the gates of Rome/Yankee Go Home". Subtle it is not. One wonders if Capitol and Thompson exchanged blows over its inclusion on "Amnesia". "Don't Tempt Me" is a humorous (or not so humorous depending on one's point of view) take on bar room machismo. "I Still Dream" and "Reckless Kind" are Thompson staples burgeoning with bad bitter lost love. "Gypsy Love Songs", though a bit overlong, contains some great guitar work.

"Amnesia" doesn't deserve to wallow in never never land. Only two cuts made it onto Capitol's "Action Packed: Best of the Capitol Years" compression of five albums. Fans and the curious must resort to used bins or online auctions to get a copy. This album deserves better.

The previous writer said it all remarkably well, so my comments will be brief - in fact, about the only way that I'll differ is to award this album an unqualified five stars - I can't think of another album that Thompson's done that I like any better than this one. In fact, of all of his solo albums, this is the only one that I'd truly put on a par with "I Want to See the Bright Lights" or "Shoot Out the Lights." Again, I could go on at length, but there's really no point. This is a nearly flawless album, and if you have any interest in checking out Thompson's songwriting or guitar playing, you couldn't find a better starting point than this.

For some reason, this fine album (Richard's first for Capitol records, and second produced by Mitchell Froom) is neglected in favor of "Rumor and Sigh" and others. Tighter and more focused than any of his other albums with Froom, "Amnesia" is a solid, diverse dose of prime RT.

The best-known songs (i.e., staples of his live set) are the near-rockabilly "Turning of the Tide" and the ballad "Waltzing's For Dreamers," but they're not even the best things on the album. "Gypsy Love Songs" is a riveting guitar showcase along the lines of "Shoot Out the Lights." The wild "Jerusalem on the Jukebox" is a scathing attack on self-righteous preachers that's almost drowned out by the frantic band (a youthful-sounding Jim Keltner going nuts on drums). "Can't Win" is a classic RT tale of how society turns its young into hopeless drones; it's a perfect companion piece to the much older "End of the Rainbow." "Yankee Go Home" is a deceptively poppy indictment of American intervention in foreign wars that manages to be more bitingly funny than preachy.

Why does this album stand out from the ones that followed? The topical songs here (and there are several) are more subtle and sharp than the ones RT wrote later. The music on the album is consistently strong--the arrangements are fuller and sound like a real working band, unlike on "Rumor and Sigh"--plus the songs employ more exotic (Celtic and Mideastern instrumentation) than on later Thompson albums. Richard cuts loose on guitar more often too. That's always a good thing.

Fans of "Rumor and Sigh" and "Mirror Blue" who haven't picked this one up yet absolutely need to seek it out. It may be a bit of revelation.

because this is an amazing three-and-a-half star album, but i'mnot sure it's a four-star. there are a few cuts- "Yankee, GoHome" (which i love musically and find humorous as hell but which has potential to alienate more than a few listeners), "Jerusalem on the Jukebox", which i still get stuck in my head occasionally but which might not have the same stamina four years down the road, "Pharaoh" which is just midtempo drudgery, for the most part... but, having said that, "Turning of the Tide" and "Waltzing's" are worth the price of this disc threefold, especially "Waltzing's". i defy you to find me a finer lost love song written in the last forty years. perhaps "nightswimming". but "waltzing's" in the same closet.

I won't review each track as Idon't think it's that usefu to people who have never heard it. Suffice it to say that this is yet another must have alubm by RT. There's NOTHING wrong with this album. Every track is great. At this price they're virutally giving them away.

The late 80's and 90's were extremely kind to Richard Thompson fans. He was quite prolific between studio and live releases producing a wide variety and array of fascinating music. A lot of it is on this terrific album. Although flawed, it's also got some of the best material Thompson wrote during the 90's. "Turning of the Tide", "Reckless Kind", "Jerusalem on the Jukebox", " I Still Dream" and "Can't Win" are all classics. I personally like "Don't Tempt Me" and "Yankee, Go Home" but they lack the timeless quality of the other tracks. "Pharaoh" is an acquired taste. I personally like it but feel it goes on a bit too long.

The production of Mitchell Froom compliments the material well. I've heard lots of complaints about Froom screwing up Thompson's albums. Folks, those touches wouldn't have been on there without RT's approval. It works pure and simple. Now there are other touches on other albums that Froom (and Thompson)use that undermine the material but here it perfectly compliments the album much like "Rumor and Sigh" (one of Thompson's finest and underrated albums). I caught Thompson on the tour for this album at the Warfield in San Francisco and some of the best material here is highlighted on the RT live album "More Guitar" available at RT's website. It's a terrific album (sadly I don't know where the material was recorded and it isn't mentioned in the credits. At least one performance sounds like it was drawn from the San Francisco appearence but I can't be 100% sure as my memory could be playing tricks on me). It's a five star live album.

Strangely enough Capitol release the 5.1 Dolby Digital/DTS disc of "Rumor and Sigh" a couple of years back (appealing to the audiophile audience). I keep hoping they'll update and remaster his back catalog with bonus tracks (on a separate disc or with appropriate silence after the last track on the album as Thompson hates when bonus tracks are just "there"). Perhaps we'll see something come out in the UK or overseas and we can order it.

If you purchase this album and "Rumor and Sigh" you won't be disappointed. In fact if you purchase all of RT's output during the 90's (where he seemed to catch his second wind)you can't go wrong. Also recommended "Mock Tudor" and the boxed set "Watching the Dark" to dig further into his body of work.

Is this man actually capable of writing a bad song? Sure doesn't seem so. This is yet another brilliant, biting, lyrical, and beautiful album from the master of the guitar -- and of failed love. He just keeps getting better and better.

This is another strong Thompson collection, with the usual clutch of 'standout songs'. 'Turning of the tide' is a beautifully bitter analysis of how physical beauty fades (sic transit gloria mundi perhaps?). 'Reckless kind' is another of his masterful songs of abandonment, while 'Gypsy love songs' and 'Jerusalem on the jukebox' are two slightly surreal Thompson rocky pieces. For me though the highlights of this disc (in which I include 'Turning of the tide'), are the wonderfully yearning 'I still dream', which has heartfelt lyrics and plaintive melody to match, and 'Waltzing's for dreamers', which captures the innocence of hope long past redemption, with a gorgeously hesitant waltz melody, which writes itself on your heart. 'Can't win' is a similar sentiment expressed more explicitly, over a driving and insistent lyric line. An essential purchase for all Thompson fans.

Although it has its moments, this not Thompson's best work by far. That's because it's musically uneven, with uninspiring arrangements as on Gypsy Love Songs, Can't Win and some really silly numbers like the cliched Yankee, Go Home. Turning Of The Tide is fast with an appealing melody and a theme that mirrors Tom Waits' Saving All My Love For You, whilst Reckless Kind and I Still Dream are slow ballads about lost love, and Jerusalem On The Jukebox kicks ... at a driving pace while delivering social comment. The major saving grace is of course Waltzing's For Dreamers, a sparkling piece of poetry set to a sad, lilting melody that evokes the same feel as another of his classics, How Will I Ever Be Simple Again, with its melancholy lyrics:
"Oh play me a blue song and fade down the light
I'm sad as a proud man can be sad tonight
Just let me dream on, oh just let me sway
While the sweet violins and the saxophones play
And Miss, you don't know me, but can't we pretend
That we care for each other, till the band reach the end."
So Amnesia is worth getting, if only for this one song. But his album Rumor and Sigh is more varied and a much more rewarding listening experience.