Richard Thompson
Mirror Blue - Capitol 1994
Tracks: 1. For The Sake Of Mary / 2. I Can’t Wake Up To Save My Life / 3. MGB-GT / 4. The Way That It Shows / 5. Easy There, Steady Now / 6. King Of Bohemia / 7. Shane And Dixie/ 8. Mingus Eyes / 9. I Ride In Your Slipstream / 10. Beeswing / 11. Fast Food / 12. Mascara Tears / 13. Taking My Business Elsewhere
Comments:
Richard Thompson's "Mirror Blue" from 1994 was produced by Mitchell Froom, which to some extent has given the music a different and new sound.
I really liked Froom's productions for Suzanne Vega ("99.9F" and "Nine Objects of Desire"), for whom he gave the music a different modern sound, away from the folk-tradition that she started out from.
In Thompson's case, I find Froom's influence less striking, although many others have commented critically on this.
While this album is not one of my absolute favorites among Thompson's many albums, it's not because of the production, but more because I feel there are fewer really good songs than what usually is the case with Thompson. His guitar playing is, as always, a great pleasure to listen to and the album opens strongly with a couple of solid rockers, "For the Sake of Mary" and "I Can't Wake Up to Save My Life". The former in particular has a nice sound, and Froom's characteristic sound is quite noticeable here. These two are followed by a series of songs that are quite good, but not particularly memorable.
In fact, it is not until the tenth track, "Beeswing", that I really feel moved again. This, in turn, is a song that really touches. A beautiful folkish melody and a very moving text / story about a young man who falls in love with a girl who does not want to be bound and who in the pays a price for a rootless life.
Another strong song is "Mascara Tears"; again back on the rock track and great heavy guitar sounds.
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