30. Richard Thompson- Front Parlour Ballads

It's been a bit of a mystery to me why Richard Thompson hasn't more often recorded acoustic sessions. Seems he never felt it necessary to bring his songs without some form of electricity and you wouldn't miss it anyway- that was until this album was released. I'm not gonna argue about how acoustic's sometimes better, hoe less is sometimes more or how the songs are more alive if people only have to concentrate on Thompson's voice and guitar- quite simple it's that these songs don't need more than what they already have. Thompson's mark of quality is all over them. Lyrically he's adroit as ever- opening the album with "He was a species on the verge of extinction, she was an Air New Zealand hostess", always looking for some irony in the mundain. Great wordsmithery aside, Front Parlour Ballads is a great will and testament for a man who has lost some ballast and never has felt more alive.