Front Parlour Ballads
by Richard Thompson
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    58
    Bogs down in stillborn ballads, vague metaphors, and fusty arrangements that sound too Olde English, even for him.
  2. Paste Magazine
    50
    But cliché is not the only thing that mars “Thames” and other tunes... It’s the lethargy of the tempos, the navel-gazing compositional complexity, the empty flashiness of the acoustic-guitar runs and over-enunciated words.
  3. The A.V. Club
    50
    Perhaps he needs the pressure or the camaraderie. Perhaps not. But for some reason, Thompson sounds detached from the songs on Front Parlour Ballads, even though he's in the thick of them.
  5. Stylus Magazine
    50
    This album is difficult, complicated, pretentious, infuriating, inconsistent, and asks more questions then it answers.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. martinb
    Feb 5, 2006
    9
    Usual RT mix of wry lyrics, dark ideas and superb playing.
  2. wx
    Oct 28, 2005
    5
    Glod bless him for just keepin' on and everything. I mean, it's no worse than Fairport Convention. But if I want clever narrative, Glod bless him for just keepin' on and everything. I mean, it's no worse than Fairport Convention. But if I want clever narrative, I've got Elvis Costello, and good licks are a dime a dozen. Tom Verlaine is the guitar genius we should be celebrating.… Full Review »
  3. Sordel
    Aug 17, 2005
    7
    Adventurous but, for this artist, underwhelming
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