Artist: Richard & Linda Thompson
Album: Shoot Out The Lights
Year: 1982
That cover says it all. English guitar-slinger Richard Thompson, backed into the corner of the room, with a picture of his wife Linda on the wall. A single lightbulb swings above him. The wallpaper is peeling. And scrawled in red is this album’s title: Shoot Out The Lights, one of the most emotional breakup albums of all time. He was probably the most highly regarded English guitarist not named Eric Clapton and an ex-member of folk-rock pioneers Fairport Convention. She was a British folk singer with a silvery voice. They were married in 1972 and proceeded to record album after album of quality rock music. But by 1982, things had fallen apart. Linda was pregnant, their records weren’t selling and Richard was having an affair with his tour organizer. Their first attempt at recording new material in 1980 had been disastrous. No record label would touch them. Finally, in 1982, they managed to sign with the tiny Hannibal label and tried to record their songs again. The results were absolutely astonishing. Although all but two of the songs on the album were written before the marriage was in its death throes, the wild emotions flying everywhere gave the songs a strong, immediate edge. “Walking On A Wire” was originally just a pretty ballad. Now it was a weary, sighing lament to failing love. “Don’t Renege On Our Love” was transformed from a midtempo toe-tapper to a damning indictment of an ungrateful partner. And then there was the title track: five-and-a-half minutes of razor-sharp guitar slashes, soundtracking one of the most harrowing tales of paranoia ever put to tape. To this day, Shoot Out The Lights sounds raw and wiry, a record so stripped to its bare essentials that the emotional turmoil beneath it all rises to the surface. The marriage was doomed, but, in its last gasps, Richard and Linda Thompson delivered a truly incredible album.
Artist: The Go-Betweens
Album: 16 Lovers Lane
Year: 1988
Most breakup albums are angry. They’re filled with betrayal, rage, loneliness and bitter resentment. But, in 1988, Australia’s Go-Betweens managed to pull off one of the greatest anomalies in music: the graceful breakup album. Grant McLennan, one of the Go-Betweens two major songwriters, had discovered violinist Amanda Brown playing in a café in 1986. She was promptly invited into the band and, quickly, she and McLennan were an item. As any student of Fleetwood Mac knows by now, inter-band relationships are almost always doomed to failure. Sure enough, McLennan and Brown were no exception. However, the way they broke up and managed to capture those feelings in song is unique. Instead of the usual backstabbing and accusations, McLennan’s songs on 16 Lovers Lane reflect a mature sadness, quietly pining for what his relationship used to be. The opening track declares “love goes on anyway!” (complete with exclamation point). This type of sentiment continues throughout the album, from the gorgeous, heart-wrenching “Quiet Heart”, during which McLennan cries “I tried to tell you, I can only say this when we’re apart,” to the lovely, breezy “Streets Of Your Town”. The latter song is a particularly wonderful moment, as McLennan and Brown sing a calm duet with each other, in stark contrast to the figure-pointing and manipulative bullshit on albums like Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. 16 Lovers Lane is a thoroughly thoughtful and restrained album, reflecting the maturity of the songwriters behind it. Even at its most intense, with songs like “Is There Anything I Could Do?” the focus is internal and constructive, as the song’s protagonist tries to reason through his moment of loss. Although the emotional gutpunches of more bitter breakup albums are thrilling, this album shows that there are other, equally rewarding ways of expressing those feelings.
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