Thompson's best a mixed bag

Richard Thompson has recorded more than two dozen rock and folk albums since his career began in 1968, but many have never heard of him until now. \nThough he is supported with a small but enthusiastic group of fans, Thompson has never taken the steps to further his musical career to a wider commercial level, always sticking to his guns when it comes to artistic expression. But this expression which Thompson chooses to communicate through his music is really nothing out of the ordinary. Like most music of popular form, Thompson writes chiefly about love, and rarely avoids the common cliches that are littered throughout pop music today.\nThompson's intentions are good, and it seems that he's coming from a genuine place, carefully crafting each of his songs to convey a certain thought or message. His ability on the guitar, both electric and acoustic, as well as the mandolin and hurdy-gurdy, is truly remarkable. \nThompson verges on originality by veering away from typical styles of pop music, incorporating Celtic ("1952 Vincent Black Lightning") and bluegrass ("Cooksferry Queen") influences into his songs.\nBut what seems a promising diversion from mainstream rock and pop falls short of full delivery when really listening to Thompson's voice and lyrics. Thompson possesses a very limited vocal range, both in pitch and emotion. Often, particularly in his slower pieces, Thompson lacks the vocal inflection to communicate any real sense of varying emotion: that is, his voice seriously lacks expression needed for the different subject matter he approaches through his lyrics. When he sings about how he "cared too much" for a certain girl in "The Ghost of You Walks," its hard to believe his sorrow because of the lack of emotion in his voice.\nWhich leads to Richard Thompson's greatest downfall: his lyrics. It is commendable that he writes and performs his own music, but on the whole, Thompson repeatedly uses cliches that invoke nausea from such overuse. In all of his songs, he says nothing new or original about love (his main subject of choice). An old cliche is rehashed in "Waltzings For Dreamers," as Thompson dwells on the refrain's lyrics, that "we're all losers in love." He's not saying anything original or thought provoking about love, nor is he presenting this subject matter in an interesting or original way. \nThe one exception to Thompson's lack of writing ability can be found in "I Feel So Good," where Thompson chronicles the feelings of a criminal newly released from prison. The criminal joyfully sings "I feel so good, I wanna break somebody's heart tonight." Now, as sadistic as it might be, there is something in the human spirit that identifies with one feeling so good that we almost want to hurt someone else. Or maybe Thompson is just speaking from a criminal's deranged point of view. Nonetheless, this brief departure from his altogether bland lyrical ability is intriguing, and makes a listener wish Thompson could have produced all 19 tracks with such creativity and innovation.