By the Fire
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = By the Fire
| type = studio
| artist = Thurston Moore
| cover = By the Fire.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{start date|2020|09|25}}
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Alternative rock
| length = 81:58
| label = Daydream Library Series
| producer =
| prev_title = Spirit Counsel
| prev_year = 2019
| next_title = Screen Time
| next_year = 2021
}}
By the Fire is the seventh solo album by Thurston Moore.{{cite web|title=OFFICIAL BIO|url=https://www.thurstonmoore.com/thurston-moore-bio|access-date=August 30, 2023}}
Moore claimed the album and its release were a political act saying "I put out By the Fire as a political move. Any time you put out a record, a book, a fanzine, a blog, a cassette, a CD, whatever you're doing, that's a political move. You're actually engaging in a social world. I called it By the Fire because of that. [It's] the idea of people sitting around a fire and dialoguing."{{cite web|last=Hart|first=Ron|title=Thurston Moore on New LP, 2020 Election, Meeting Our Publication's Founder|url=https://www.spin.com/featured/thurston-moore-sonic-youth-interview-spin-35/|work=Spin|date=November 5, 2020|access-date=May 5, 2021}}
Reception
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = Exclaim!
|rev1score = 5/10{{cite web|last=Sylvester|first=Daniel|title=Thurston Moore Is a Pale Imitation of His Former Self on By the Fire|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/thurston_moore_sonic_youth_by_the_fire_album_review|work=Exclaim!|date=September 28, 2020|access-date=May 5, 2021}}
| rev2 = NME
| rev2Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web|last=Buchanan|first=Rhys|title=Thurston Moore – By The Fire review: love and healing from the Sonic Youth man |url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/thurston-moore-by-the-fire-review-2759374|work=NME |date=September 24, 2020|accessdate=May 5, 2021}}
| rev3 = Pitchfork
| rev3Score = 7.8/10{{Cite web|last=Berman|first=Stuart|title= Thurston Moore: By the Fire|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/thurston-moore-by-the-fire/|work=Pitchfork|date=September 29, 2020|access-date=May 5, 2021}}
}}
Ron Hart of Spin called the album "his most direct solo outing since his 1995 debut, Psychic Hearts." Stuart Berman of Pitchfork praised the album and said of the almost 90 minutes length of the album "it's a record that justifies and even demands the extra space to explore."
Daniel Sylvester of Exclaim! was less effusive calling the album "boring and tedious" and said of it "much of the material sounds like Sonic Youth, even if the quality isn't there."
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing = Thurston Moore and Radieux Radio
| headline = By the Fire track listing
| total_length =
| title1 = Hashish
| length1 = 5:45
| title2 = Cantaloupe
| length2 = 4:43
| title3 = Breath
| length3 = 10:50
| title4 = Siren
| length4 = 12:15
| title5 = Calligraphy
| length5 = 5:18
| title6 = Locomotives
| length6 = 16:43
| title7 = Dreamers Work
| length7 = 4:52
| title8 = They Believe in Love (When They Look at You)
| length8 = 7:46
| title9 = Venus
| length9 = 13:46
}}
Personnel
- Thurston Moore – vocals, guitars
- James Sedwards – guitars
- Debbie Googe – bass guitars
- Steve Shelley – drums
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Thurston Moore}}
{{Authority control}}