Love over Rage
{{Infobox album
| name = Love over Rage
| type = studio
| artist = Tom Robinson
| cover = Love over Rage.jpg|border=yes
| alt =
| released = 1994
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre =
| length =
| label = Cooking Vinyl
| producer = Al Scott
| prev_title = Living in a Boom Time
| prev_year = 1992
| next_title = Having It Both Ways
| next_year = 1996
}}
Love over Rage is an album by the English musician Tom Robinson, released in 1994.{{cite news |last1=Wapshott |first1=Tim |title=Look Who's Talking: Music comes first, sex a close second |work=The Independent |date=23 Apr 1994 |department=Weekend Style & Spending Page}}{{cite news |last1=Fanshawe |first1=Simon |title=The war baby at peace |work=The Guardian |date=27 May 1994}} It is dedicated to Dez Tozer, a former lover.{{cite news |last1=Holden |first1=Stephen |title=The Mellowing of a Gay Punk Rebel |work=The New York Times |date=4 Sep 1994 |page=A30}} Robinson promoted the album by playing the 1994 Glastonbury Festival and embarking on a North American tour that included shows with Barenaked Ladies.{{cite web |title=Tom Robinson Biography by John Dougan |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tom-robinson-mn0000515038 |website=AllMusic |access-date=27 November 2023}} The first single was "Hard".{{cite news |last1=Crozier |first1=David |title=All the Fun at the Fair |work=Cambridge Weekly News |date=1 Jun 1994 |page=35}}
Production
Robinson used studio musicians as a backing band. Chris Rea contributed to the album.{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Dave |title=Alternative Rock |date=2000 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |page=598}} "Green" criticizes corporations that use environmental oratory to draw attention from the polluting effects of business. "DDR" describes life in the former East Germany. "Days" looks back on the music of Robinson's young manhood. "Chance" and "Silence" examine the AIDS epidemic.
Critical reception
{{music ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite web |title=Love over Rage Tom Robinson |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/love-over-rage-mw0000118041 |website=AllMusic |access-date=27 November 2023}}
|rev2 = Robert Christgau
|rev2score = {{Rating-Christgau|cut}}{{cite web |title=Tom Robinson |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Tom+Robinson |website=Robert Christgau |access-date=27 November 2023}}
|rev3 = Derby Evening Telegraph
|rev3score = 7/10{{cite news |last1=Bravo |first1=Russ |title=CD Eye |work=Derby Evening Telegraph |date=14 May 1994 |page=8}}
|rev4 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev4score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2011 |publisher=Omnibus Press}}
|rev5 = MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide
|rev5score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide |date=1998 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=676}}
}}
Trouser Press wrote that "Robinson can still sound preachy, but overall this is a stunningly mature work."{{cite web |title=Tom Robinson |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/tom-robinson/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=27 November 2023}} The Philadelphia Daily News deemed the album "a punchy, provocative grouping of rock anthems, the sort only Brits seem capable of writing."{{cite news |last1=Takiff |first1=Jonathan |title=New Rock Anthems with a Hard Bite |work=Philadelphia Daily News |date=29 July 1994 |department=Features Yo! |page=42}} The Boston Globe called it "catchy, soulful and still politically charged."{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Jim |title=Robinson Returns: After 15 years, the angry young revolutionary has a new record deal and the same high ideals |work=The Boston Globe |date=12 Aug 1994 |department=Arts |page=61}} The Age noted that Robinson shows "enough self-deprecating humor, wry observation and the ability to pen the occasional catchy melody."{{cite news |last1=Wise |first1=Brian |title=CD of the Week |work=The Age |date=August 21, 1994 |department=Agenda |page=6}}
Robert Christgau praised "Fifty" and "Green". The New York Times concluded that "the songs on Love over Rage may be more complex and personal than the moralizing of Mr. Robinson's early recordings, but they are no less passionate in their search for truth." The Washington Post opined that "the liveliest track is the lite-reggae "Loved", a bouncy pitch for no-strings lust."{{cite news |last1=Jenkins |first1=Mark |title=Ladies Grow Dull; Robinson Goes Pop |work=The Washington Post |date=7 Oct 1994 |page=N17}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| title1 = Roaring
| length1 =
| title2 = Hard
| length2 =
| title3 = Loved
| length3 =
| title4 = Days
| length4 =
| title5 = Driving
| length5 =
| title6 = Green
| length6 =
| title7 = DDR
| length7 =
| title8 = Fifty
| length8 =
| title9 = Silence
| length9 =
| title10 = Chance
| length10 =
}}
References
{{reflist}}
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