| Author | Message | ||
     Phil Obbard Member Username: Pobbard Post Number: 2 Registered: 06-2005 |
Hi all, I've recently come to realize that most of my favorite songs in the TALLULAH/16LL era are Grant's. Given this, can anyone recommend a good starting place in his catalog? Thanks! | ||
| Graham Twyford Member Username: Graham_twyford Post Number: 17 Registered: 05-2005 |
'In Your Bright Ray' or 'Fireboy' | ||
| M. Mark Burgess Member Username: Fortysomething Post Number: 13 Registered: 05-2005 |
IYBR is probably the most consistent,although I think Watershed is closer to the old band sound. Fireboy is hot and cold with some real clunkers but also some of his best. Horsebreaker Star is perhaps the most "controversial" because of the slick production but it is very exciting in stretches. Heck, they're all good. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 14 Registered: 04-2005 |
Not being a real solo Grant fan, i would however recommend 'Watershed', despite some awful production. In song-writing terms, there is a continuity from the latter days of the original band. But skip 'Putting The Wheels Back On' every time. And get 'Horsebreaker Star' even if you end up making your own one CD compilation! | ||
| Brook Crowley Member Username: 1_fan Post Number: 35 Registered: 02-2005 |
Well me, I've two favourite solo albums from Grant McClennan, and incidentally, they were his first two. Needless to say, I don't own either of them, but I must if I ever see a copy. "Watershed", which featured a guest appearance from Amanda Brown singing back-up vocals on two songs, and "Fireboy" featuring Club Hoy's Penny Flanagan and Julia Richardson making aguest appearance singing harmonies on two songs. Talking of Club Hoy, I also own a mint copy of their fist Record "On and On" which Grant produced, and I think it was his first post-Go-Betweens project. That's another favourite GM record of mine. | ||
| frank webb Member Username: Frank Post Number: 2 Registered: 05-2005 |
I would nominate "In Your Bright Ray" as well. The more you listen to it the more you get out of it.... even after a few years. That's always a good sign in my book! | ||
| william rodgers Member Username: Willyorkpa Post Number: 14 Registered: 02-2005 |
I'm ready for the barrage of nasty responses...here we go...I think that some of the best GoBetweens songs were written by Grant! "Unkind And Unwise", "Just A King In Mirrors", and "Dusty In Here" are beyond reproach. And his solo track "Fingers" is one of the best songs ever recorded. He is an absolute genius. I will respond to all objections...... | ||
| John Flood Member Username: Floodjo Post Number: 25 Registered: 05-2005 |
Fireboy - brilliant start with Lighting Fires. That song, with the right airplay even today, could be a massive hit. Often throw it in at parties - people always ask "Who's that - sounds brilliant" And it still is. Then Signs of Life and Riddle in the Rain make up 3 fantastic songs by any standards. And the rest are pretty good too (skip the Pawnbroker though) | ||
| spencer roberts Member Username: Spence Post Number: 20 Registered: 05-2005 |
Break yourself in with Horsebreaker Star! Spence | ||
| Peter Collins Member Username: Tyroneshoelaces Post Number: 11 Registered: 05-2005 |
Controversially, I find Horsebreaker Star to be his best, and it includes the best Grant song ever in Open Invitation. | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 19 Registered: 05-2005 |
Despite referring to me in previous posting as "a bothersome moron" and "a brave little annonymous soldier," I find myself agreeing with my begrudging admirer, Padraig on this. I think Horsebreaker Star is the only solo McLennan release that I would listen to these days. I think some review or other said 'Horsebreaker Star gives up its charms gradually' and personally, I have found that to be the case. I love 'Hot water' and 'Keep my word' on the second disc. As has been commented upon elsewhere, it is patchy in places but overall it has a nice organic feel to it imho. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 95 Registered: 10-2004 |
My favorite Grant stuff would have to be the random early demos and b-sides that somehow wound up appended to the Botany St. (aka Freakchild) sessions bootleg; those particular songs being: Making it Right for Her, Just Get That Straight, She's So Strange, I Know What it's Like Without You, and Stones For You. I think Fireboy has some excellent tracks, like the Day My Eyes Came Back, and Signs of Life, not to mention the title track. The rest of it is not so good, methinks. I've always felt Watershed was a particularly bad album, except for "Haunted House," a beautiful, lush song that for me stands as one of his best. In Your Bright Ray is pretty good, though it can sound generic at times. I've never liked Watershed. I haven't heard it in about 10 years, so I'm mildly curious to see if I'd think differently of it today. But when I first heard it, I couldn't believe how bland, unadventurous, and MOR it sounded. Honestly, I think most of Grant's solo career is pretty MOR. What's interesting is that his songwriting suddenly seemed to get back on track once he and Robert decided to reform the Go-Betweens. At least that's how I see it. I don't know if this has to do with Robert's input or just his mere presence, or if it's the fact that Grant is forced into doing some quality control since he now only gets 5 songs pre album, but I think quite a bit of Grant's material on the past three reunion albums is more consistent than his solo stuff. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 96 Registered: 10-2004 |
EDIT - sleep deprivation is making me sloppy with my posts!!! What I meant to say above was, I've never liked Horsebreaker Star (NOT Watershed). I haven't heard it in about 10 years, so I'm mildly curious to see if I'd think differently of it today. But when I first heard it, I couldn't believe how bland and MOR it sounded. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 57 Registered: 03-2005 |
By now, Phil, you have probably figured out that it does not matter which Grant McL album you start with. You'll end up with them all. And you can join the argument as to which is his best. My two cents? "Horsebreaker Star" is brilliant but the one-disc U.S. release is probably better than the two-disc original. "Watershed" is a strong batch of songs given a pretty obvious pop radio sound. "Fireboy" is the least consistent but it has several very fine broken heart songs, such as the already-mentioned "Fingers" and also "Dark Side of Town." I've personally never liked "Lighting Fires"--I find it monotonous and musically nearly indistinguishable from "Was There Anything I Could Do?" another song that I personally view as a clunker. But, as you can see, other people like it a lot. "In Your Bright Ray" is a fine album with a bit of low budget sound. I would love to hear "One Plus One" on stage with the Go Bees. If you find yourself prefering the McLennan songs on the Go Betweens' records, you will definitely enjoy all of his solo albums. | ||
| M. Mark Burgess Member Username: Fortysomething Post Number: 14 Registered: 05-2005 |
And check out his coll.w/ Steve Kilbey of The Church--Jack Frost. These two take a little more time to appreciate but I think Snow Job, horrible cover and all, is vastly underrated. | ||
| Duncan Hurwood Member Username: Duncan_h Post Number: 9 Registered: 05-2005 |
It's difficult to decide between a cut-down Horsebreaker Star, and In Your Bright Ray. If we have to listen to every track then I'd certainly go for In Your Bright Ray, as there's only a couple of songs I don't like on that one. I particularly like the end sequence of "star" songs on In Your Bright Ray. IMO that album is the equal of anything he's done since then with the reformed Go-Bs (maybe "The Statue" and "Finding You" excepted). I only like a couple of songs on Watershed, and I wouldn't recommend it at all. I loved Fireboy at the time it came out, but I've grown to like it less over time. | ||
| Peter Collins Member Username: Tyroneshoelaces Post Number: 13 Registered: 05-2005 |
Dear fsh - you might be confusing me with Padraig. He is a different person and, so far as I am aware, we are not (closely) related. | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 20 Registered: 05-2005 |
Aaah, I was wondering how I found myself in agreement with 'him'. Thanks Peter for that correction. After a few disturbing nights I'll finally be able to rest easily again tonight. Apologies for any offence caused in confusing you with Padraig. | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 61 Registered: 08-2004 |
Fsh, when Pádraig referred to you as a curmudgeon, I'm sure he simply meant you were a 'gudgeon'. He's a nice fellow. I'd forget it and move on  love Cichli | ||
| Peter Collins Member Username: Tyroneshoelaces Post Number: 14 Registered: 05-2005 |
So fsh was in high dudgeon about being called a curmudgeon? | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 10 Registered: 05-2005 |
Poor old sole! | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 21 Registered: 05-2005 |
Fsh are always very wary of C Gulls. Incidently, Peter Buck included 'poor old soul' on his picks for a CD which comes with this months Uncut magazine. From memory I think Edwyn [another] Collins hates him, though I'm partial to a bit of REM myself. As to other matters, I'm only shooting the shit above, and I don't want to monopolise this board with my postings 'cause it drives me nuts when very occasionally someone or other tries it. So, I promise to be a good fsh for as short a time as possible. | ||
| Phil Obbard Member Username: Pobbard Post Number: 4 Registered: 06-2005 |
Randy, you're right - there definitely is no consensus! Well, that might not be a bad thing. Thank you EVERYONE for your suggestions - I think I'll jump in with HORSEBREAKER and go from there. Thanks again! | ||
| M. Mark Burgess Member Username: Fortysomething Post Number: 17 Registered: 05-2005 |
I listened to Horsebreaker Star yesterday for the first time in a few years. I had forgotten what a fabulous album this is. I remember bland production and weak spots but it was like a totally new experience. The single disc is near perfect, very eclectic. Could have been the setting as I was playing it on a short road trip with the windows down (someone else mentioned this on these pages). This should have been a hit but in some ways I'm glad it wasn't because we might not have had the reunion when we did. Still some corny rhymes but my favorite is Roma with coma. | ||
| John Flood Member Username: Floodjo Post Number: 30 Registered: 05-2005 |
Bloody hell, I'm resurrecting all those albums now! Fireboy is still my fave as I write - the one I listened to most often by a mile. I've sort of neglected "Horse" and IYBR and got tired of Watershed. Let's see what happens now.... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 15 Registered: 01-2005 |
Horsebreaker Star was the first solo Grant that I bought, also before any solo Robert. It remains my favorite, the single disc version. I play it as often as my favorite Robert solo album, Danger In The Past. In Your Bright Ray would be second favorite Grant album. | ||
| Richard Lim Member Username: Re17 Post Number: 10 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks for this discussion - which made me realize that both Watershed and Fireboy are available on iTunes. I used to really like Watershed despite the overly poppy production; somehow skipped Fireboy, though I own both subsequent albums, bits of which I like a lot. I used to be a very big fan of Grant's but I've been increasingly unimpressed by his writing in recent years - the scope of his songs just seems to be getting narrower. On Oceans Apart all we seem get is love songs that positively gush, or songs that seem to consist of random thoughts stuck together (This Night's For You, for example, feels to me like a storyboard for a particular glossy, particularly meaningless pop video). I don't mean to rant - I remain basically very keen on Grant's melodies, or I wouldn't have looked him up on iTunes in the first place. Richard | ||
| Duncan Hurwood Member Username: Duncan_h Post Number: 11 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'd say that *some* of Grants lyrics are very well crafted and thought out. Boundry Rider, and The Statue are fantastic songs IMO, and say far more in their brevity than most of the longer GoBs songs do. Those two are my favourite songs on the latest album - I find them both very moving. I agree about "This night's for you", but luckily I don't like listening to that one due to the distortion. | ||
| Greg Adams Member Username: Greg_adams Post Number: 15 Registered: 06-2005 |
>>>but I think Snow Job, horrible cover and all, is vastly >>>underrated. I'm glad to hear someone else say that. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 67 Registered: 04-2005 |
Reviving a long-dormant thread here because I was searching for comments about the two Jack Frost albums, which I finally acquired in the past couple of months. I have to join in with Greg and Mark in saying that "Snow Job" is excellent--an album so good I'm really embarrassed that I missed it for so long. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that I think it's the best non-GoBs album that either Grant or Robert was involved in. I find both Grant's and Robert's solo albums to be rather samey--neither has the voice or enough musical diversity to carry off an entire album particularly well. It's not an original statement to say that the GoBs collaboration/contrast approach flatters both men. Well, same thing is true with Jack Frost--in fact, it seems more collaborative than the GoBs, since Grant and Steve do so much harmonizing together (I wish G & R would do that too). What I also like about Jack Frost is that Grant stretches himself more vocally, lyrically, and instrumentally than he does anywhere else. It's almost as if he's intentionally flying in the face of his own sensitive image on songs like "Jack Frost Blues." That sort of thing wouldn't work on a Go-Betweens album, but I wish he'd done it more on his solo albums, which all sound kind of safe and interchangeable to me (though I think "In Your Bright Ray" is the best). The funny thing about Jack Frost is that I'm not particularly partial to the Church or Kilbey, but I think he's a terrific foil for Grant. I wish they'd make a third Jack Frost album. I wonder if Grant and Steve are still mates? | ||
| Guy Ewald Member Username: Guy_ewald Post Number: 54 Registered: 02-2005 |
I like The Church, love The Go-Betweens, but only like a handful of tracks on each of the Jack Frost albums. I think Grant's best solo album is Horsebreaker Star and his best side project was the Far Out Corporation. | ||
| Matthias Treml Member Username: Matthias Post Number: 37 Registered: 05-2005 |
Interesting assessment of the Jack Frost records. I never bought the 2nd one (awful cover what were they thinking?) but a friend did. As he was dissapointed by it, I only gave it a cursory listen and concluded the same. I think he sold it but if not, I'll try to borrow it and have another listen. I loved the first Jack Frost record. Only a few duds. I like the expansiveness of it, lots of great soundscapes and strong lyrics. I love Trapeze Boy (haunting) and Threshold (great story and sound). Who couldn't love Providence and Thought That I was Over You? I love both the Church and Go-betweens and thought this was an excellent collaberation. Guy after hearing Suicide at Home done acoustically on the 1999 tour, I always wanted to hear the FOC version. Later Robert and Grant played it on piano on the Munich sessions. How was it arranged on FOC's record. What is your assessment of the other tracks? Please give us a review - track by track. Thanks. | ||
| Guy Ewald Member Username: Guy_ewald Post Number: 56 Registered: 02-2005 |
Well, I don’t have the album handy so I won’t give a track-by-track review and I haven’t listened to it in a while, but from memory… My impression of the Far Out Corp. is that it’s a more successful “electric guitar” record than ‘In Your Bright Ray’, which it most closely resembles in Grant’s solo canon. Grant’s brother plays drums, the guitarist is from the group Powderfinger and there’s a fourth member, a woman (is it Adele? I can’t remember). To my ears they achieved the organic sound of a young BAND, whereas ‘In Your Bright Ray’ has a stiff, studio-musician-soup kind of feel (I know many people here rate it as his best solo work, but I don’t). Far Out Corp. has a full production sound (not overblown) and features some keyboard and synthesizer work that’s reminiscent of the Jack Frost albums. But it’s not quite as “experimental” sounding as his work with Kilbey - the songwriting is closer in spirit to his solo work. I can’t recall the titles of any other standout tracks and I don’t think the album was sequenced particularly well (it kind of peters-out and ends with an odd-choice of closing track) but the “feel” of the album is right for me. I wasn’t expecting much since it was an Australia-only release, I’d never heard of it or read a review before I saw the album being auctioned on eBay. I’m not saying it’s a stone classic, but it was a pleasant surprise and I would think most members of this forum would enjoy it. | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 35 Registered: 05-2005 |
The drummer is Ross McLennan, but he's not Grant's brother. I don't think Grant has a brother. | ||
| Guy Ewald Member Username: Guy_ewald Post Number: 57 Registered: 02-2005 |
Really? From the little photos in the insert one of the guys looks like he could be Grant's brother... what do they say about assumptions? Adele Pickvance is indeed the bass player on FOC. I listened again last night for the first time in a while – some of the keyboard work is a bit more lugubrious than I remembered, but overall it’s a good listen. The credits on the album are scant and I don’t know if all the songs are Grant’s or not… most of them sound like they are. | ||
| Erhard Grundl Member Username: Erhardgrundl Post Number: 5 Registered: 09-2005 |
Ross McLennan is Grant`s son. | ||
| beno Member Username: Beno Post Number: 1 Registered: 03-2005 |
In your Bright Ray definately! Smooth production, breezy songs, and not a bad track on there. Track ordering is excellent, especially the onslaught of Malibu 69 leading into Who Said Love Was Dead? Do You See The Lights is beautiful and there are a couple of singles in Cave In and Room For Skin. I found the dated sound on Watershed & Fireboy put me off those and I never got into the country sound on Horsebreaker.. too many songs as well. I like between 10-12 decent songs on an album. I agree with the post about Mclennans solo career being very MOR. IYBR stands out for me as being his last attempt and is a success I think. He ends on a high. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 76 Registered: 03-2005 |
I have to jump in on this thing about Grant's solo music being MOR. I know that some have criticized Grant's post-reunion efforts as MOR also. But how is Grant's solo and post-reunion music more MOR than things like "Bachelor Kisses," "Hope Then Strife," "This Girl, Black Girl," "Apology Accepted," "Right Here," "Bye Bye Pride" "The Devil's Eye" or our beloved "Streets of Your Town?" While I'm at it, do Robert's "Head Full of Steam," "Baby Stones," "Atlanta Lie Low," "Bow Down," "Lavender" or "Love is a Sign" qualify as MOR? I think the answer is a resounding "no" to all of them and I think the same goes for Grant's newer material. Both Grant and Robert are frank about the fact that they are pop writers. The successful application of their pop instincts should not be confused with MOR. MOR means bland. There will be neither rough edges nor subtlety. I don't really think that description does the work of either Grant or Robert any justice. Well, okay, maybe "Your Heart, My Home" . . . . | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 57 Registered: 05-2005 |
Well said Randy! I'm ready to charge into battle against the naysayers after such a stirring speech! On a different note, I watched the Athens, GA DVD (about the 80s Athens music scene) over the last couple of nights. Great film. I have had the soundtrack since 1989 (bought in Athens, GA as it happens), but never previously saw the film. | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 93 Registered: 11-2004 |
It's a fascinating documentary and I'm glad that Jack White (in the bonus section) had the courage to admit that he owes a lot to the likes of Flat Duo Jets. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 58 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yeah, watching Flat Duo Jets made me think that White Stripes owed a lot to them and it was good that Jack acknowledged it. |