Pour Down Like Silver

Richard Thompson, Linda Thompson

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Original Release Date: 1975
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hannibal
• ASIN: B00000063R
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #217,657 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Pour Down Like Silver offers a fascinating glimpse of one of England's most seminal musicians steeped in a consuming passion. Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Richard Thompson and his wife Linda had converted to the mystical Islamic discipline of Sufism when they recorded this stark, riveting folk-rock album, which retains its powers as a uniquely spiritual document long after the couple's subsequent divorce and Richard Thompson's migration beyond its shaping doctrines. Modern listeners are left with a bracing essay noteworthy for such classics as "Streets Of Paradise," the brooding valentine of "For Shame Of Doing Wrong," the classic folk-rock love song, "Jet Plane In A Rocking Chair," and the powerful dirge of "Night Comes In," which transforms the image of dervishes dancing toward enlightenment into a deliberate yet hard-rocking climax worthy of Neil Young--with accordion, no less. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just buy it, June 4, 1999

By A Customer

OK, you've heard "Shoot Out the Lights," the greatest album R&L made when they didn't like each other. Now hear the best one they made while they were still in love.

"Pour Down Like Silver" is an incredibly warm, intimate album, and is strangely underrated. It was recorded at a strange time in the Thompsons' musical career--it reflects the Sufi Muslim spirituality that Richard and (less so) Linda embraced at the time, but it still retains the earthier aspects of their earlier work. The songs of regret over love departed ("For Shame of Doing Wrong" and "Beat the Retreat") are haunting--the pain is all too real. As is the devotion of a song like "Dimming of the Day." There's also humor ("Jet Plane in a Rocking Chair"), disgust ("Hard Luck Stories"), and moral outrage ("Streets of Paradise"), but the album avoids crossing the line into preachy self-righteousness, unlike the following pair of R&T albums.

And the music! So stark, yet shimmering. The instrumentation is far more spare than on the first two Thompson albums, every part on the record means something. Richard's guitar playing is more prominent than on "I Want To See the Bright Lights" or "Hokey Pokey"--this is more of a rock album, yet it's hardly typical. The singing is sublime, as good as any they've ever done.

"Pour Down Like Silver" tends to get lost in the (justified) hype of "Shoot Out the Lights," but it's arguably a better, more lasting album. Virtually every song is a classic and many have stayed in Richard's setlist for years. Treat yourself to one of the truly great albums and get this disc!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting artistry with hints of light in the darkness, February 24, 1999

By A Customer

It used to puzzle me why some of the funniest artists wrote the best "sad" songs. This album shows why. It takes artists with an understanding of life's gray areas to move convincingly between dark and light. The Thompson's show their true genius for navigating back and forth on this album and the songs here are as haunting as any I've heard.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MELANCHOLY BEAUTY, August 11, 2003

By	Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This great album opens with Streets Of Paradise, a fairly typical fast rock ballad sung by Richard. This is followed by the poignant and tender For Shame Of Doing Wrong with Linda on lead vocal. Linda also sings the next sad ballad, The Poor Boy Is Taken Away. Jet Plane In A Rocking Chair is a lovely melodic duet by the two, its underlying sadness not quite obscured by the bouncy tune. It's Richard's turn to sing on Night Comes In, a mournful slow ballad from where the album title derives. Beat The Retreat with its lovely guitar work is a brooding lament with Richard on lead vocal. Linda again takes lead vocal on the most overtly folky song here, the bitter Hard Luck Stories with its prominent fiddle and hummable tune. The gem of the album is the magnificent Dimming Of The Day/Dargai. The first part is an achingly melancholic piece where their two voices blend together beautifully. Dargai flows out of this, and it's a showcase of Richard's most breathtaking guitar playing, creating an unbelievable mood of sadness. Richard and Linda Thompon made beautiful music together and separately - here they give Leonard Cohen a run for his melancholy money. And although the music is very sad, it's never oppressively so and the variety of styles showcases the Thompson's remarkable versatility.