Words from the Front

Words from the Front
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 1982 (1982-06)
Recorded1982 (1982)
StudioBlue Rock Studio, New York City
GenrePost-punk
Length36:42
LabelVirgin
ProducerTom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine chronology
Dreamtime
(1981)
Words from the Front
(1982)
Cover
(1984)

Words from the Front is Tom Verlaine's third solo album, released in 1982.[1] It was issued on compact disc in 2008 by Collectors' Choice Music. Music videos were made for "Words from the Front" and "Clear It Away", directed by Ed Steinberg.

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [2]
American Songwriter[3]
The Austin Chronicle[4]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[7]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
OndaRock6/10[6]
Popmatters[8]
Rolling Stone [9]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide5/10[1]

The Globe and Mail wrote that Verlaine's "shadowy, intense vignettes do cast a kind of spell, but there are few new developments here in the territory he has already mastered."[11] The Boston Phoenix said that Words from the Front "is probably Verlaine’s weakest album, but it holds up."[12]

Words from the Front was ranked among the top fifty "Albums of the Year" for 1982 by NME.[13]

Track listing

[edit]

All songs written by Tom Verlaine

Side one

[edit]
  1. "Present Arrived" – 5:17
  2. "Postcard from Waterloo" – 3:32
  3. "True Story" – 5:25
  4. "Clear It Away" – 4:11

Side two

[edit]
  1. "Words from the Front" – 6:42
  2. "Coming Apart" – 2:59
  3. "Days on the Mountain" – 8:55

Personnel

[edit]
Additional personnel
Technical
  • Dave Jerden - mixing
  • Michael Ewasko - engineer
  • Rich Mahon - illustration
  • Howard Rosenberg - photography

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 398.
  2. ^ Words from the Front at AllMusic
  3. ^ "TOM VERLAINE > Dreamtime & Words from the Front". American Songwriter. 27 October 2008.
  4. ^ "Dreamtime, and Words From the Front (Collectors' Choice Music)". The Austin Chronicle.
  5. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  6. ^ "Television". OndaRock (in Italian).
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "Tom Verlaine: Dreamtime". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  8. ^ "Tom Verlaine: Dreamtime / Words from the Front". Popmatters. 22 September 2008.
  9. ^ Rollingstone Rolling Stone review
  10. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Tom Verlaine". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 848–49. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. ^ Lacey, Liam (26 June 1982). "Words from the Front Tom Verlaine". The Globe and Mail. p. F6.
  12. ^ Piccarella, John (6 July 1982). "Season in Hell: Tom Verlaine dreams on". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  13. ^ "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2016.