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Richard Thompson - you? me? us? (1996)

Track listing:
CD1
  1. Razor Dance 2:38
  2. She Steers By Lightning 2:17
  3. Dark Hand Over My Heart 3:47
  4. Hide It Away 4:31
  5. Put It There Pal 6:09
  6. Business On You 2:46
  7. No's Not A Word 4:19
  8. Am I Wasting My Love On You? 2:55
  9. Bank Vault in Heaven 4:33
  10. The Ghost of You Walks 3:37
CD2
  1. Baby Don't Know What To Do Wit 3:29
  2. She Cut Off Her Long Silken Ha 4:56
  3. Hide It Away 4:18
  4. Burns Supper 3:38
  5. Train Don't Leave 2:17
  6. Cold Kisses 4:20
  7. Sam Jones 3:54
  8. Razor Dance 2:25
  9. Woods of Darney 5:37

Notes

On the surface, You? Me? Us? appears to be a major statement from Richard Thompson. Spread out over two discs, the budget-priced album features 19 tracks, separated into an electric ("Voltage Enhanced") disc and an acoustic ("Nude") disc, which each run around 40 minutes; "Razor Dance" and "Hide It Away" appear on both discs. Despite its appearance, You? Me? Us? isn't one of Thompson's major works. What sinks the album isn't the songs — as always, Thompson has written a handful of gems — but Mitchell Froom's production. Froom's gauzy, pseudo-experimental approach masks the songs in an impenetrable haze, which neither Thompson's guitar or voice can cut through. There is no texture to the album's sound — it is mushy and colorless, which cuts away at the heart of Thompson's direct, emotional songs. If the songs on You? Me? Us? were given the simple, direct production they deserve, it would have been a completely different, more compelling experience. As it stands, it's a wildly uneven and unengaging listen, like the great majority of the Froom-produced Richard Thompson records.