Words from the Front

Words from the Front
Studio album by
Tom Verlaine
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

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

All songs written by Tom Verlaine

Side one

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

Side two

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

Personnel

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

References

  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.