Daring Adventures is the fifth studio album by Richard Thompson, released in 1986.

Daring Adventures
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 1986
Recorded1986
StudioSunset Sound, Los Angeles
GenreFolk rock
Length47:06
LabelPolydor
ProducerMitchell Froom
Richard Thompson chronology
Across a Crowded Room
(1985)
Daring Adventures
(1986)
Amnesia
(1988)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]

After sales of his 1985 release Across a Crowded Room had not met expectations, Thompson was under pressure from his record label to deliver with his next album.

The first Thompson album to be recorded in the USA, Daring Adventures is a marked departure from its predecessors with a slicker, more commercial sound and backing provided by American session players. It marked the start of a controversial five-album collaboration between Thompson and new producer Mitchell Froom that was regarded, in some quarters, to have "Americanised" and commercialised Thompson's style and sound. The album is variously seen as a sell-out under pressure from a record company, or as an attempt to reach a wider audience.

With songs like "A Bone Through Her Nose", "Baby Talk" and "Valerie", the album also marked a shift in Thompson's songwriting away from the seemingly personal and towards the character portraits for which he has since become renowned. "Al Bowlly's in Heaven" and "How Will I Ever Be Simple Again" are two of Thompson's best-loved songs and concert staples; the latter is also one of the more frequently covered Thompson songs.

Track listing edit

All songs written by Richard Thompson

  1. "A Bone Through Her Nose"
  2. "Valerie"
  3. "Missie How You Let Me Down"
  4. "Dead Man's Handle"
  5. "Long Dead Love"
  6. "Lover's Lane"
  7. "Nearly In Love"
  8. "Jennie"
  9. "Baby Talk"
  10. "Cash Down, Never Never"
  11. "How Will I Ever Be Simple Again"
  12. "Al Bowlly's in Heaven"

Personnel edit

References edit

  1. ^ Deming, Mark. "Richard Thompson – Daring Adventures". AllMusic.
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.