★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
I've heard a few of these songs before, and covers of them, but never the whole album. I've been reading about it for decades as one of the greatest albums of all time. That Richard Thompson sure is a great songwriter! I vacillated a while as to whether this was a five star album for me. I decided in the end that there are couple of tracks that just don't appeal to me (like "Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed," which I found too flat in both its imagery and delivery), so it's a strong four. Favorite tracks: "Shoot Out the Lights," "Wall of Death," "Don't Renege On Our Love," "Man In Need."
