Daring Adventures

Daring Adventures

Track Listings

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

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
1986 album produced by Mitchell Froom. Froom replaced Thompson's usual rhythm section with top-shelf session players Jerry Scheff on bass and Mickey Curry on drums plus Jim Keltner on three cuts.

Tracks:

Bone Through Her Nose
Valerie
Missie How You Let Me Down
Dead Man's Handle
Long Dead Love
Lover's Lane
Nearly in Love
Jennie
Baby Talk
Cash Down Never Never
How Will I Ever Be Simple Again
Al Bowlly's in Heaven

Album Description

1986 album produced by Mitchell Froom. Froom replaced Thompson's usual rhythm section with top-shelf session players Jerry Scheff on bass and Mickey Curry on drums plus Jim Keltner on three cuts.

Customer Reviews:

Adventurous Music!.......2007-04-09

Don't be swayed by the negative reviews of this excellent album. This is a well produced cohesive collection of finely crafted songs with great arrangements. Thompson's lyrics are as witty as ever and most of the songs have memorable melodies. The guitar work is fantastic as most listeners have come to expect from Richard Thompson. His vocals are very strong as well. Much stronger than his 70s work. This is Richard Thompson in full bloom. Enjoy!

Should be right at the bottom of RT's impressive discography.......2007-01-22

This is a HUGELY disappointing record from one of my absolute favourites. I've heard almost all of RT's work from the Fairport days down to "Front parlour ballads", and I have to say I have never come across an album quite so poor. Even the much maligned "First light" beats this one by quite a bit.

While the dated production is definitely one of the major reasons for this poor rating, the primary reason is that the melodies just aren't good enough. Some of these songs ("Bone through her nose","Cash down never never") are downright raucous, and even among the others there is hardly a melody that can stand up with RT's best work, save perhaps for the sublime "How can I ever be simple again". "Al Bowlly's in Heaven" really doesn't work for someone who's not into jazz, and the only other noteworthy melodies are "Jennie" and "Lover's lane", which collectively earn this record the two-star rating. In my opinion, this album needs to be bought only if you'e got absolutely everything else by RT and just need to complete the set. Otherwise, it's a must to avoid.

Al Bowlly's in heaven listening to this..........2004-11-11

Thompson's 1986 album "Daring Adventures" fits well into his output from the 1980's. Not only that, it has remained in print unlike most of his Capitol albums. It's not hard to see why. The driving Celtic-rockabilly song "Valerie" stands out here. Why wasn't it a hit? Who knows? "A Bone Through Her Nose" sounds a bit trite at first, but its hooks have this tendency to surprinsingly clamp onto neurons. The same rings true of the rollicking "Baby Talk". "Lovers Lane" is a haunting song about one of Thompson's favorite subjects: love gone bad. It wails and mourns about deception, co-dependency and their inevitable results. Lost innocence and youth pervade "How Will I Ever be Simple Again" as an observer tries to understand how a girl in a war torn area can maintain her childlike simplicity. "Al Bowlly's In Heaven" swings with a jazzy style rare for Thompson. Sung from the point of view of a disgruntled post-war soldier, it epitomizes the album's theme of loss and grief. A great album closer.

"Daring Adventures" contains more of Thompson's folky side than subsequent albums. Just listen to the amazing fiddle break on "Valerie", or the introduction to "Missie How You Let Me Down". Fiddles, recorders, accordians, dulcimers, and other instruments not typically associated with rock are everywhere. Capitol "folked him down" throughout the nineties with few exceptions (probably looking for big hits). The roots of that sound blare from this album, but don't yet dominate. Perhaps Mitchell Froom (who produced this album as well as most of Thompson's Capitol output) moved Thompson in that direction.

As great as Thompson's albums are, the hooks do not usually stick at first listen. This may explain why the big time has evaded him for so many years. Usually a Thompson album has to sink in. But once it does, there's no going back. "Daring Adventures" presents a very salient example of this phenomenon. Everyone should give this album at least three listens before abandoning it. At first listen it may sound like typical fare, but by the third its wonderfulness blossoms.

Al Bowlly.......2004-09-23

This album is a fine one overall, but it is worth getting primarily so you can listen to the classic "Al Bowlly's in Heaven." A raging protest, an evocative history lesson, a haunting melody, a late-night foxtrot...this is simply one of the greatest songs ever written and performed by a guitar slinger. Thompson's dolorous singing style fits it perfectly. This song should be taught in poetry classes.

The Thompson fan base looks at this as one of Richard's periodic attempts to "go commercial." Perhaps so. "Valerie" is the kind of fast-rocking song I would like to hear on the radio but never do. Whatever the sales strategy of this album was, "Al Bowlly..." makes this a timeless disk.

(There's another great version of this song, by the way, on the three-disc "Watching the Dark" set. It's live, and also wonderful.)

GREAT STYLISTIC VARIETY.......2003-05-18

This album showcases Thompson's mastery of many styles, from rock and pop to his folk roots. The opener, Bone Through Her Nose, is a bit silly but the next track Valerie is a catchy pop song with a fast tempo and melodic hook with a fabulous fiddle break. Missie How You Let Me Down is a sad song of regret that reminds me of the old country classic Good Year For The Roses, whilst Dead Man's Handle is a flowing mournful ballad with a lovely melody, and Long Dead Love is more of the same. The pace picks up for Nearly In Love, a melodic rocker with a commercial edge, but it's back to lost love and regrets on Jennie, a gentle soulful number with beautiful guitar and organ. Real rock `n roll raises it head on Baby Talk, a humorous number about sweet nothings. His folk roots surface on the real gem of the album, the tender sorrowful How Will I Ever Be Simple Again with its simple but hypnotic melody and poignant guitar work. Like a lullaby, it's sad and comforting at the same time, and stays with you long after the last note has faded.