Richard Thompson - Watching the Dark ARTIST.....: Richard Thompson TITLE......: Watching the Dark LABEL......: Rykodisc STORE DATE.: May-11-1993 GENRE......: Folk-Rock ENCODER....: Lame 3.97 / -V2 --vbr-new SIZE.......: 272,8 MB Track Listing: CD1 01 - A Man in Need 03:34 02 - Can't Win (Live) 09:13 03 - Waltzing's for Dreamers 04:07 04 - Crash the Party (Live) 05:37 05 - I Still Dream 05:09 06 - Bird in God's Garden/Lost and Found 05:44 07 - Now Be Thankful 02:27 08 - A Sailor's Life 11:26 09 - Genesis Hall 03:39 10 - The Knife-Edge 05:32 11 - Walking on a Wire 05:29 12 - Small Town Romance (Live) 03:43 13 - Shepherd's March/Maggie Cameron (Live) 05:00 14 - Wall of Death 03:44 CD2 01 - For Shame Of Doing Wrong 04:30 02 - Back Street Slide 04:28 03 - Strange Affair 03:11 04 - The Wrong Heartbeat 03:12 05 - Borrowed Time 05:38 06 - From Galway To Graceland (Live) 04:47 07 - Tear Stained Letter (Live) 06:53 08 - Keep Your Distance 04:12 09 - Bogie's Bonnie Belle (Live) 03:52 10 - Poor Wee Jockey Clarke 02:32 11 - Jet Plane In A Rocking Chair 02:50 12 - Dimming Of The Day 03:53 13 - Old Man Inside A Young Man 04:29 14 - Never Again 03:10 15 - Hokey Pokey (The Ice Cream Song) 03:23 16 - A Heart Needs A Home (Live) 04:01 17 - Beat The Retreat 05:51 CD3 01 - Al Bowlly's In Heaven (Live) 05:13 02 - Walking Through A Wasted Land 04:03 03 - When The Spell Is Broken (Live) 06:56 04 - Devonside (Live) 03:56 05 - Little Blue Number (Live) 02:56 06 - I Ain't Going To Drag My Feet No More (Live) 05:12 07 - Withered And Died 03:27 08 - Nobody's Wedding 03:16 09 - The Poor Ditching Boy 03:04 10 - The Great Valerio 05:26 11 - Twisted 02:01 12 - Calvary Cross (Live) 07:12 13 - Jennie (Live) 04:03 14 - Hand Of Kindness 06:04 15 - Two Left Feet 03:55 16 - Shoot Out The Lights (Live) 05:33 ÄÄÄÄÄ cd1: 74:24 cd2: 70:52 cd3: 72:17 Release Notes: Multi-disc box-sets usually fall into two categories — they're either overstuffed "Greatest Hits" compilations, or packed with enough rarities to ensure loyal fans will part with their money. Since Richard Thompson's career hasn't sent him perilously close to worldwide stardom, the triple-disc anthology Watching the Dark was created with the latter market in mind, and if it falls short of being the perfect overview of Thompson's wildly varied career, it's a superb set that manages the not-inconsiderable feat of drawing an accurate picture of the height and breadth of Thompson's body of work, and offers enough buried treasures to leave jaded fans chuckling with glee. Sequenced thematically rather than chronologically, Watching the Dark covers Thompson's favorite themes well enough — there's enough spiritual mystery, mortal heartbreak, and British traditionalism to satisfy nearly anyone — and while the first priority appears to be Thompson the songwriter, Thompson the musician is documented with a similar degree of devotion. Watching The Dark gives relatively short shrift to Thompson's work with Fairport Convention and his experimental collaborations, but as an overview of his solo work (both with and without former wife and frequent collaborator Linda Thompson), it's remarkably thorough, and packed with fascinating and illuminating rarities. There are copious concert recordings, fascinating studio outtakes, and a handful of otherwise unavailable songs, along with an intelligently chosen selection of highlights from the first 25 years of his career in music. The sheer bulk of Watching the Dark (over three and a half hours of music) makes this a difficult introduction to Richard Thompson's work, but anyone with more than a passing familiarity with his music will be dazzled by it — few box sets honor their subject with as much intelligence and depth as Watching the Dark.