Richard and Linda Thompson: Shoot Out the Lights, Hannibal

It's one of the grim ironies of art that often its greatest glories result from outpourings of great personal pain. Shoot Out the Lights was released in 1982, but before it had hit the shops, the golden couple of British folk-rock had separated amidst a welter of bitterness. Even at this remove it is impossible not to listen to these eight tracks of vivid, emotional turmoil without feeling something for two people left naked by their honesty.

As usual, all songs were written by Richard Thompson, with the exception of the penultimate (and apparently appropriate) Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?, which Linda co-penned. Yet it's easy to view these songs through the voice of the singer: Don't Renege on Our Love (Richard) followed by Walking on a Wire (Linda) followed by Man in Need (Richard) and so on as if this drama was going on in the studio - which apparently it was.

Richard's guitar breaks are venomous, his voice righteous, while Linda's passion is more muted, almost as if she is broken. More than 20 years later the record retains its power and passion, and Thompson has never played better on record, his songs and guitar a perfect synthesis of his Memphis and Morris style. One crib: this remastered version offers much cleaner sound, but at the expense of the warmth of the original recording.

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Joe Breen