BTW, I'll leave one example: "Black Eyed Dog". The first time I heard it struck me indescribably. To me, what makes guitar (or any instrument) work most "impressive" is not technical ability/difficulty/gymnastics/etc., but what he does here is use the instrument as an implement of *art*, to create a mood, "paint a picture" along with the poetics. It's a haunting piece. I have no idea what he's singing about here, yet I know exactly as well.

Another I recall being immediately drawn to was "'Cello Song". It's just a beauty of a piece, and I love these poetics as well:

"You would seem so frail
In the cold of the night
When the armies of emotion
Go out to fight
But while the earth sinks to its grave
You sail to the sky
On the crest of a wave"

Everyone is internally unique, and personally struck by differing things, but I don't think one can accurately generally declare something "not really that good, this person is better", "undeserved attention" or such. Otherwise there wouldn't be so many folks that a given thing "we all know about" means so much to. Obviously Nick strikes chords with a good many.

As was said by someone above, I've never personally been able to "get into" Richard Thompson, despite having read articles in guitar and other types of magazines back in my youthful initial bursts of learning and exploration into the wide open world of music/music history/etc., telling me how great he is. It just never *resonated*, but it's obvious that there are many people who consider him among the tops, probably some at the very top, even. It's understandable, everyone is internally unique.