Search - Richard Thompson :: Sunnyvista

A cruelly underrated album

09/13/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the Richard and Linda Thompson album that even Richard and Linda Thompson fans don't hear too much about, and yet it is every bit as wrenching and disquieting as anything they ever did. As blasting an indictment of suburban anomie as has ever appeared on record, the collection is serious, sarcastic, cutting and contains a number of indisputably great tracks: the mock-Western fatalism of Living on Borrowed Time, the quiet insistence of You're Gonna Need Somebody, the wry humour of the title track, the shattering beauty of Two Lonely Hearts, the gutwrenching plaintiveness of Sisters -- the hardest song on this album to listen to -- and the more conciliatory, dreamlike coda Traces of My Love. Forget the jaunty Georgie On The Spree, which wasn't on the original release of this album and doesn't belong here, thematically or musically -- Sunnyvista is an uncompromisingly tough recording, but achieves true depth and emotional resonance through its musical accomplishment. Great guitar work, as always, great vocals from Linda in particular (she dominates the second half), and fine contributions from the likes of Gerry Rafferty. An album to rediscover."

A Really Weird One

curbach@sbcglobal.net | Dallas, TX United States | 06/27/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Sunnyvista" is easily the weirdist pre-Froom album in Thompson's catalog. From the bossa nova sounding title track to the recurring synthesizer embellishments, it contains song structures and instrumentation you won't hear elsewhere. It's also odd from a conceptual standpoint. My guess is Thompson had been listening to alot of Kinks records at the time he wrote these songs. The lyrics are generally "Muswell Hillbillies" style ranting against modern society mixed with a healthy dose of Sufism. So you have perhaps Thompson's most self-consciously "modern" sounding album and its an anti-modernist concept album.For the most part the songs are enjoyable, if not remarkable. It sounds like the Thompsons had some fun with this one, but the songs just don't really resonate. Only "Lonely Hearts" ranks with Thompson's finest work. Fortunately, "Sunnyvista" turned out to be just a strange left-field detour between "First Light" and "Shoot Out The Lights". Apparently, Thompson realized he was at a stylistic dead-end here because he did a complete 180 for the thoroughly brilliant back-to-basics "Shoot Out The Lights"."

A fantastic hidden rt gem

Jeremy M. Milstein | Chicago, IL | 08/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sunnyvista is probably RT's least known album yet it is one of his best. What I love about this album is that it sounds absolutely unlike any of his other albums up to that point or even after. Most of these songs have just great rhythms that at first seem like upbeat songs. Heck, Civilzation is a reggae song! Hoewever, as with any RT song, the lyrics can be just devastating and cutting.



The overriding theme of this album is how so many people have just given in to society and its demands of conformity to ideals that really are of little importance. This is well worth getting (much easier to get and cheaper on cassette (ebay) since it's out of print) and is essential for any rt fan.



Their are so many great songs but Living on Borrowed Time and Lonely Hearts are just wonderful songs that have such great melodies."