Daring Adventures by Richard Thompson

Daring Adventures is the fourth studio album by Richard Thompson, released in 1986. After sales of his 1985 release Across a Crowded Room had not met expectations, Thompson was under pressure from his record label to deliver with his next album. The first Thompson album to be recorded in the USA, Daring Adventures is a marked departure from its predecessors with a slicker, more commercial sound and backing provided by American session players. It marked the start of a controversial five-album collaboration between Thompson and new producer Mitchell Froom that was regarded, in some quarters, to have "Americanised" and commercialised Thompson's style and sound. The album is variously seen as a sell-out under pressure from a record company, or as an attempt to reach a wider audience. With songs like "A Bone Through Her Nose", "Baby Talk" and "Valerie", the album also marked a shift in Thompson's songwriting away from the seemingly personal and towards the character portraits for which he has since become renowned. "Al Bowlly's in Heaven" and "How Will I Ever Be Simple Again" are two of Thompson's best-loved songs and concert staples, the latter is also one of the more frequently covered Thompson songs.