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
), 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
enjoyed their breakthrough in the United States with the album that ended their career together, but
found them rallying their strengths to the bitter end; it's often been cited as
's greatest work, and it's difficult for anyone who has heard his body of work to argue the point. ~ Mark Deming