Across a Crowded Room

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Across a Crowded Room
RT Aacr.jpg
Studio album by
Richard Thompson
ReleasedApril 1985
RecordedSeptember and October 1984
StudioRAK Studios, London
GenreFolk rock
Length38:10
LabelPolydor
ProducerJoe Boyd
Richard Thompson chronology
Small Town Romance
(1984) 		Across a Crowded Room
(1985) 		Daring Adventures
(1986)

Across a Crowded Room is the third solo album by Richard Thompson released in 1985, on both vinyl and CD. As of 2019, it remains his final collaboration with long-time producer Joe Boyd (who had produced Thompson's previous four albums, including Shoot Out the Lights), as well as his last studio album to have been fully recorded in England.

Track listing[]

All songs written by Richard Thompson.

  1. "When the Spell Is Broken" - 4:31
  2. "You Don't Say" - 3:35
  3. "I Ain't Going to Drag My Feet No More" - 4:22
  4. "Love in a Faithless Country" - 5:55
  5. "Fire in the Engine Room" - 3:39
  6. "Walking Through a Wasted Land" - 4:01
  7. "Little Blue Number" - 3:04
  8. "She Twists the Knife Again" - 3:12
  9. "Ghosts in the Wind" - 5:39

The listing reflects the sequence of songs the original LP release. The original CD issue included an extra track, "Shine On Love" and had a different running order. Subsequent CD re-issues have reflected the song selection and sequence shown above.

Reception[]

Writing in Rolling Stone, Kurt Loder described the album as "replete with rollicking rhythms, master-class guitar excursions and piercing lyrical apercus." He suggests that "there's nothing lighthearted about the ominous "Love in a Faithless Country," in which the logistics of love are set forth in the terms of a John le Carré spy novel." He continues, "Richard appears to have his former partner much on his mind — and the lyrical pictures he paints are not pretty."[1]

Critic Robert Christgau, awarding the album a B+, says of Thompson, "He writes well-crafted songs about his love life, and while most of them are pretty good, only 'Fire in the Engine Room' packs the old metaphorical wallop and only 'You Don't Say' sneaks in the old emotional double-take."[2]

The album gives its name to the film Richard Thompson: Across a Crowded Room, a concert film shot at a 1985 performance at Barrymore's in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, which focuses on material from the album.[3]

Re-issues[]

In 1985 the album was re-issued on CD by PolyGram and in 1992 was re-mastered at Sound Recording Technology, Cambridge and re-issued on CD by BGO.[4]

Personnel[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Encyclopedia of Popular Music3/5 stars[5]
Rolling Stone4/5 stars [6]

Source:[4]

Musicians[]

Technical[]

  • Joe Boyd – production
  • Jack Nuber – engineering
  • Greg Jackman and Jerry Boys – remix engineering
  • Chris Dickie – assistant engineering
  • Jack Skinner – mastering
  • Dennis Keely – back cover photography
  • Phil Smee and Donato Cinicolo – front cover photography
  • Phil Smee at Waldo's – cover design

References[]

  1. ^ "Richard Thompson Across A Crowded Room Album Review". Rolling Stone.
  2. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: Richard Thompson".
  3. ^ "Richard Thompson - Across a Crowded Room".
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Across a Crowded Room, BGO Records BGO CD 139, 1992, CD insert
  5. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  6. ^ "Rolling Stone album review".
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