I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

Not really interesting in any way...

For this review, I will not include the live bonus tracks added to the 2004 re-release.

It's weird—last month, the title track of this album appeared in my Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify, and here we are now with the full album.

For those who don't know, Richard and Linda Thompson are notable English folk-rock singer-songwriters who worked together for a decade as a married couple until their separation in 1982. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight is their first foray together as a pair, and it was a delight to be had.

The album opens strong with "When I Get to the Border" through "Down Where the Drunkards Roll" where strong guitar licks are pushed in front of the mix, complemented by a tight rhythm section, various instruments that add to the old English tone such as an accordion, mandolin, and krummhorns. Throughout, Richard and Linda commanded each of their vocal performances with the smallest amount of optimism amidst the stark and bleak nature of the situations described in the lyrics. Whether Richard and Linda portray being drunkards or thieving beggars, or watching friends and fortunes go away, they add a few lines in each song that give a sense of yearning for a better life.

Though I'll admit, by the time we get to "We Sing Hallelujah", the pace and tone of this album started to mellow out. While there aren't any bad songs in the second half given there's at least one more good standout with "Little Beggar Girl", in comparison with the stronger guitar hooks and compositions of the first half this made the whole album uneven when taken in the larger context.

Still, I genuinely enjoyed I Want to See the Brights Tonight as a bittersweet slice of folk rock.

Acoustic-focused music is just not my thing at all. This sounds so maudlin to me. I can't even seem to enjoy it as background music.

Zo, ik ben er doorheen gekomen, zonder in slaap te vallen. Niet dat het slecht album is. Muzikaal lijkt de basis soms bewust minimaal, en wordt daar met speelse geluiden en instrumenten op juiste momenten wat overheen gelegd. Het is gewoon weer een kwestie van smaak. En voor mij springt de wat suffige opzet en zang er teveel uit. De knipogen naar de jaren '60 (of waren ze gewoon toen al wat ouderwets) passen ook al niet bij mijn smaak. Dus ik klik zo het tweede sterretje aan, verken het volgende album en ga dit waarschijnlijk snel weer vergeten.

Very folksy folk. I don't know. Not sure what sets this apart from every other album in the genre.

Their harmonies are really great, and the lyrics are powerful. I enjoy that the instrumentation has a bit more oomph to it than a lot of folk rock too.

November 13, 2024

HL: "When I Get to the Border", “The Calvary Cross”, “Down Where the Drunkards Roll”, title track

I got Richard’s band Fairport Convention back in May (Unhalfbricking), and was a bit lukewarm on it despite a special melange of British and American folk. I took to this album quicker, however. It could be a right-time-right-place love, considering how many later “slowcore” albums have been hit-or-miss for me; these slow, meditative tracks are a surprising antidote to a cold, cloudy day. And you still have some brighter moments like “When I Get to the Border” and “The Little Beggar Girl”.

Would pair with a fireplace in the future, if I HAD ONE

Angenehm anzuhören, mich hat nichts genervt oder gestört. Mehr aber dann auch nicht. Das klarste 3-Sterne Album bisher für mich.
Songs der Playlist hinzugefügt: Keine

Oh, yeah. That’s the shit. I’ve heard it before. I’ll listen again. Linda shines through on this one.

Nice folk music, This album has some great songs on it and some not so great songs. Its a real mixed bag.

I really enjoyed the end of the rainbow and when I get to the boarder Then there were songs that I just could not get on with like the great valerio and the little beggar girl.

Favourite song: The end of the rainbow
Least favourite: the little beggar girl. It could have easily featured in Robin Hood the Disney cartoon.
Album artwork: Simple and effective cover

I absolutely love the title track. The rest of the record was good - but never rose as high.

I liked the title track a lot but the rest of the album was just okay. It's not a bad album, it might even be a good one, but it's not something I'll listen to again anytime soon.

This is so bad, dude. I think the singers sound Irish? So it kind of sounds like hippie Irish folk music - but not the cool hippie shit or the cool Irish folk music. If this was an album of old Irish drinking songs that would be AWESOME! sadly, it's more like music for Americans who pretend they're Irish and go to renaissance fairs and don't wear deodorant.

The last song on the album, The Calvary Cross (live) is terrific. Like, where the hell was this in the original song - or at any other point in the album?! It's so, so good. What a shame there's nothing else like it, id have enjoyed an album full of songs that sound like this.

Ok, so the last song was good enough that I went back and relistened to the album to see what I missed. I think it’s better than I originally thought, but i still stand by what I wrote above…just with a bit less vitriol. The Calvary songs are undoubtedly the highlights.

Didn't like it. All folk and country is the same. I am not a fan of this genre

British folk seems to be like the European equivalent of classic American country music, and in that I mean that I can find it enjoyable, but often times it is a swing and a miss. This album took until near the end for me to truly understand what I was listening to, because at first I thought it was just folksy and had the lyrics to back it up, but the final two haunting, existential tracks really did something for me, and made me realize that the whole record was lonely snapshot of spending a night alone in thoughts. I still have issue with both singer's voices, as they can really drag in some of the more "up-beat" tracks, and still most of the songs lyrically are typical "I'm sad and alone," but those final two tracks really boosted this for me into something I can see the appeal of, even if the genre isn't totally my thing still.

I’ve never been big on the 70’s British folk revival, which is funny because one of my favorite bands was heavily influenced by it. I just find a lot of it to be dull. I don’t like most folk music when it’s just one person and a guitar. There are exceptions, but for the most part I like more dynamic music. Even just a guitar and multiple people harmonizing is enough to pique my interest.
This album was mostly the type of folk I don’t care for. Just one person singing and a guitar playing. There were some songs that were a little more interesting, but still not my favorite. I’ll say the album opener was the high point and it was all downhill after that.

This is what country should be. Amazing folk. Just spectacular production, lyrics and themes. Perfection.

His voice sounds like the stereotypical voice that people do when taking the piss out of folk singers, with their finger in their ear.

Some decent songs on this, but also some dire ones (e.g. Beggar Girl). Overall not really my thing.

Sunday School music

This album was fine. Pleasant enough, but nothing special. 3/5.