| Author | Message | ||
     cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 23 Registered: 05-2005 |
i have listened to the evangelist and it's a masterpiece. a wonderful warm sounding record though infused with a sense of grant and thus sadness. when robert sings 'something's gone wrong' on 'demon days' which was the last song grant wrote your heart will break. there are strings, piano and organ in the instrumental mix and definite strains of dylan when the hammond starts to swell. the songwriting is mature and brilliant. it really is quite breathtaking and hat's off to robert and the band for ascending to such heights | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 24 Registered: 05-2005 |
shades of dylan (not strains) | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 150 Registered: 10-2006 |
...that sound you hear is me chomping at the bit. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1029 Registered: 01-2005 |
Two months to go! | ||
| Elizabeth Robinson Member Username: Liz_the_new_listener Post Number: 129 Registered: 10-2006 |
It will be a treasure trove. Thank you, Cosmo, for the preliminary report! | ||
| Nigel Beckford Member Username: Nigel_beckford Post Number: 4 Registered: 07-2007 |
Perhaps you can hum it online for us Cosmo ... words alone are too cruel. The launch gig will be great and will rival those 4 last year. Could be time to leap across the Tasman again for the kiwi contingent. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1532 Registered: 03-2005 |
Wow, Cosmo. Thank you for that. Someone I know expressed his fear that Robert might "half-ass" it. It sounds like his fear will prove unfounded. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1000 Registered: 10-2004 |
I should really ignore this thread until April, as the mounting anticipation is torturous! Nonetheless, thanks Cosmo for teasing us with such a nice review. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1001 Registered: 10-2004 |
Holy crap, that last post was my 1000th!!! I can now join our small, hardcore elite of rabidly obsessive msg. board contributors. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2135 Registered: 05-2005 |
Bloody hell Jeff, is that all!!// Where you been man!!! Look at me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!! ...sad innit!? | ||
| Guy Ewald Member Username: Guy_ewald Post Number: 211 Registered: 02-2005 |
I’m happy to read a glowing report, not that I expected anything less (half-ass it?) Typically, when an artist embarks on a solo career they feel the need to break free from the limitations of the group. But that’s not the case here; The Evangelist is a solo album by circumstance. Robert’s decision to continue working with Adele and Glenn and to hire Mark Wallis again as producer, the inclusion of three songs co-written with Grant… he’s shouldering the duty of carrying the legacy of the band forward (at least with this album). Not that he’s ever done a wild 180-degree turnaround. Danger In The Past was basically the album he wanted the Go-Betweens to record after 16 Lovers Lane; a stripped-down live-in-the-studio affair. Grant wanted to explore a more contemporary production approach and they each followed their own muse with their solo debuts. Time flies… I’m really looking forward to this. | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 135 Registered: 05-2005 |
Guy wrote "Not that he’s [RF] ever done a wild 180-degree turnaround. Danger In The Past was basically the album he wanted the Go-Betweens to record after 16 Lovers Lane; a stripped-down live-in-the-studio affair. Grant wanted to explore a more contemporary production approach and they each followed their own muse with their solo debuts." fsh writes: I think there's a lot of 'the bad seeds' on Danger in the Past - it's more gothic than anything else RF has ever released. When I listen to the b-sides of early Grant solo single 'easy come, easy go' i.e. - 'Making It Right For Her', and 'Stones For You' (trumpet version), I think the divide between Robert and Grant at the end of the GB's Mark 1 was not unbridgable. That's just my humble opinion obviously. I think ultimately, RF and Grant got tired of the form - another new bass player to integrate into the band and maybe they just didn't want Lindy around any more. I suppose at this stage it's just a matter of how history is written. ps - Watershed is scutter imho - not the songs - the 'production' destroyed it. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2142 Registered: 05-2005 |
I applaud fsh. You know when it comes down to it, there's only really 2 solo albums. They are effin unbelievable pieces of work. Danger in the past, Horsebreaker Star. For me, that's it.Forget the rest. I couldn't care a shit if I never heard the others, and I think the Jack Frost was utter bollocks. However, The Evangelist... | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1007 Registered: 10-2004 |
Calling From a Country Phone is my personal fav of all solo output from either artist. To me that record puts all else to shame. A beautiful, consistent, engaging, and sharp album. The arrangements, the melodies, the lead guitar, etc... everything fell perfectly into place for Robert on Country Phone. But to this day, I'm still ambivalent about "Danger." Too polite, too Bad-Seedsy, too folksy (in places), just not melodically interesting or engaging enough for these ears (save the gorgeous, jazzy I've Been Looking for Somebody). It looks good on paper, but I really only like a handful of its tracks. It'll be interesting to see how the Evangelist sits along Robert's other solo records, but also to see what themes (musical and otherwise) it picks up from where Robert left off with OA. fsh - I'm glad you mentioned Grant's "Making it Right For Her" and "Stones For You" (trumpet version), as those two songs are some of Grant's best solo work, imho. Judging by all those pre-Watershed tracks, some of which surfaced as b-sides on various singles, Grant was *really* onto something very cool. Totally uncommercial, but loaded with promise. And, like you said, not too dissimilar from GB's mark 1. In fact, it made for a logical next step. Melodically rich, but pleasantly organic and understated. Watershed, however, was basically killed by glossy production and excessively "safe" arrangements. | ||
| Dr Girlfriend Member Username: Doctor_girlfriend Post Number: 26 Registered: 10-2007 |
whee! now this argument is going on in two different threads! | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1009 Registered: 10-2004 |
I know, isn't this just barrels of fun! (Slow day at work... sigh...) | ||
| Charles Coy Member Username: Coy Post Number: 41 Registered: 10-2006 |
...from down by the water in Melbourne's sand belt, thanks Cosmo, your review was both mouthwatering and tinged with heartfelt expectancy...has the release date been deferred till April, thought March 08 was 'E' day...? JW- Country Phone agree 100% I saw Grant do an acoustic of 'Easy Come, Easy Go' in Brisbane in the mid 90's (my request)it confronts your comments on 'Watershed'...however the thread and comments keep me close enough to what we all lost those months ago.. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 979 Registered: 09-2006 |
If this has been mentioned in another thread I apologize, but: for those that're interested (like me), the first 150 people who preorder The Evangelist on the Yep Roc site get an autographed copy... | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 354 Registered: 05-2005 |
Just heard the album all the way through via streaming from Yep Roc and I agree with Spence. Definitely his best album. Can't wait to have it my hot sweaty hands!! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 2057 Registered: 05-2005 |
I have had a CD-R copy of The Evangelist for a few days now. Its early days, but I cant comprehend how anyone could possibly be disappointed by it when they hear it. Time will tell if its up there with DITP, or CFACP but I do know one thing. Demon Days will break your heart. | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 36 Registered: 07-2005 |
The Evangelist. IMHO the LP is Robert's best solo record, better even that Calling From A Country Phone, which I truly love. The songs bring to mind many different eras of the Go-Betweens/Robert. "Pandanus" reminds me of Spring Hill Fair. "It Ain't Easy" sounds like it could have fit snugly on Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express. "If It Rains" kind of reminds me of Tallulah-era Robert songs. And "Did She Overtake You" has a 16 Lovers Lane feeling to it, and it's prolly one of the sweetest tracks on the set. However, the best songs here remind me of nothing else, and transcend anything Mr. Forster has ever done. I've talked about how moving "Demon Days" is, and it truly is worth the price of admission alone. However, the final track, "From Ghost Town" is Robert's moving farewell to Grant, and it sounds like no other song he has ever written; completely distinct in his canon. A truly beautiful track, a sweet goodbye, and a fitting end to the record. | ||
| Adrian P Member Username: Adp Post Number: 21 Registered: 05-2005 |
Just had my first two listens, courtesy of the Yep Roc site. What an extraordinary, moving record it is. Can't wait to hear it all on CD, I'm sure it'll sound even better than it does through my little computer speakers! | ||
| Peter Azzopardi Member Username: Pete Post Number: 163 Registered: 09-2004 |
It's fantastic, isn't it. I promised myself I was only going to listen to the stream once or twice then wait for the CD, but I can't get enough of it. I think all Forster's solo albums are top notch, though this could take the cake. The production is very tasteful. I was a bit worried with Mark Wallis producing again. All hail the new Bob! | ||
| Matsrep Member Username: Matsrep Post Number: 57 Registered: 10-2005 |
Yes! It sounds really good after a few rounds. Thanks to Yep Roc for the streaming! Will there be any extras (signed copies?) from the European companies, too? | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 109 Registered: 02-2008 |
Well finely listened to it attentionatively. Have to say its pretty much the best thing Robertos ever done by many many country miles, friend-o. EXACTLY the record he needed to make and we needed from him. I like the way its informed by the loss of Grant but doesnt get all weepy and shit. He flipped the coin called it and won EVERYTHING! I hope he doesnt put it back in his pocket where it gets mixed in with all the other quarters. | ||
| Matsrep Member Username: Matsrep Post Number: 58 Registered: 10-2005 |
My favourites these days are Did She Overtake You? and Don't Touch Anything. The first could have fitted in on Morrisseys Vauxhall and I (this is meant as a compliment) and is really catchy. A possible radio favourite? The second is a dylanesque rambler, with strings. I come to think of early Mott the Hoople, when Ian Hunter wanted to be Dylan. But the good thing is of course that both songs are genuine Robert Forster songs. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 271 Registered: 01-2007 |
You know I a bit disappointed they've streemed it, I am happy to wait for it to get in to the shops or be released I want to savour the moment of purchaing it putting it on for the first time you get my drift,listening to it streamed doesn't seem right or special enough, I'm pleased everyone is loving it and that adds to my anticipation. | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 110 Registered: 02-2008 |
I had the same thought, Mr. Frank, but I gotta say the dam quality on this thing is soooo good youll love it the 100th time as much as the first. So tho the surprise will be gone youll still love it beau-coo much and dam glad to get it. Exactly the albujm he needed to make and the album we needed to hear. Its better than all his other records combined. My favo-rite right now is "It Aint Easy" which has this line about Grant: A river ran and a train ran and a dream ran through everything he did". | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 176 Registered: 10-2006 |
Yeah, I'm waiting for the wee parcel to arrive too. I'm really happy that it seems to be good - maybe "Half-assed" will be a good title for the follow up instead?? Also cos I'm not really sure what streaming is and if it's different from downloading...hell, I still write letters to people, what can you do. Going to open a bottle of interesting wine, pack the wife and dog off to the country, stretch out on the sofa... | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 272 Registered: 01-2007 |
I might join you Stuart sounds good, all round to yours then!? I hope the interesting wine means very good, I suppose it should be an Australian red but I have to say I still on balance prefer a Bordeaux. Stuart you remind me of a long departed friend who still wrote letter very joyous ones, some things just can't be captured on email | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 177 Registered: 10-2006 |
It's a fairly capacious sofa, Frank! Not too easy finding Oz wines here in Italy, people would throw up their arms in horror at the very idea...However, I did unexpectedly see a Shiraz in a bar recently and bought it, so that might be suitable, if not luxurious. "A river ran and a train ran and a dream ran..." That's why I love Robert Forster, he doesn't just write words to hang a tune on, he writes lyrics. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 273 Registered: 01-2007 |
I didn't have you living in Italy Stuart, but a decent Barolo would go well or instead some Prosecco ( goes down very easily) | ||
| Richard Forster Member Username: Baby_stones Post Number: 1 Registered: 03-2008 |
Such a gorgeous album. I have a lot of trouble listening to it without getting all teary, myself. I love the sound and the arrangements. It's very gentle but very strong. It really is a beautiful tribute to Grant, isn't it? | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 111 Registered: 02-2008 |
It's an incredible and powerful tribute to Grant. At least two songs are directly about him: "It Ain't Easy" and "From Ghost Town", while the Grant co-writes, "Let Your Light In" and "Demon Days", while not directly about him, seem richly infused with his spirit. Indeed, the whole album does, really. "Let Your Light In, Babe" is quite reminiscent of that great, Dylanesque, GM parable in song, "Black Mule", lyrically and in its simple, but eloquent folk melody. I think it's RF's quantum masterpiece and such a great testament to the power of spirit and heart. | ||
| Svein Inge Saether Member Username: Springrain Post Number: 29 Registered: 08-2006 |
I have just one thing to say at this time: YES!!! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 2063 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Evangelist is reviewed in the new issue of Uncut. It gets the maximum 5 stars, but is not album of the month(boo!!) - that goes to Portishead, also with 5 stars. There is a small interview with Robert, including this line: "I knew I would record again, if only to record Grants songs, if only to record Demon Days which I think is one of the best songs he ever wrote" | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2251 Registered: 05-2005 |
U still lovin Evangelist Kev? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 2064 Registered: 05-2005 |
Spence, its fantastic and I'm loving every note of it! | ||
| Stephen Bowden Member Username: Tall_steve Post Number: 4 Registered: 05-2005 |
I was going to stick to ye olde tradition of purchasing the cd on day of release. But after tantilising snippets I couldn't wait any longer -I've decided to open the yep roc site (and the wine) and play the album download - a little at a time at least...and to savour the moment... like the best of gifts. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 276 Registered: 01-2007 |
before starting this afternoons surgery played some of it, it is excellent my main problem is not the streaming but my music listening doesn't revolve around computers, and when using computers am usually at work, I suppose the patients may enjoy a bit of robert if I had it on in the background! | ||
| Dusty Member Username: Dusty Post Number: 34 Registered: 05-2005 |
I tried hard not to listen to the LP. Unfortunately the streaming thing was too tempting and I've since listened to it 4 or 5 times over the past week or so. Objectively speaking, I think it's a fantastic album. I must admit that the first few listens of 'The Evangelist' left me feeling a bit cold, but I now think it's superb. As commented, 'Demon Days' and 'From Ghost Town' are both beautiful tracks in there own rights, but more importantly there are no weak/filler tracks throughout the whole ten-song cycle (it's pointless to mention particular highlights). As much as I love 'Danger in the Past' I think 'The Evangelist' will eclipse it as Robert's towering achievement. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1128 Registered: 10-2004 |
I might as well chime in here. I agree that it's a fabulous album, one of Robert's very best, easily better than DItP (although Country Phone is still my favorite). I can't wait until the album comes out so I can enjoy it away from the computer and really absorb it. For me, it's the slower, prettier numbers that really blow me away, for the most part. "Demon Days" is gorgeous, melancholy yet somehow kind of hopeful sounding. "From Ghost Town" is even more beautiful; one of the most hauntingly gorgeous and deeply moving tracks of Forster's career. The title track is similarly moving. "Don't Touch Anything" has Robert in hardcore Dylan mode, but this time succeeding far better than he did with that questionable 2nd version of RnR Friend on Warm Nights. Of the more upbeat numbers, "Did She Overtake You" is stunningly good - easily one of the album's standouts. "Pandanus" totally sounds like it could fit right in on BYBO, both in terms of its sound and melodic sensibilities. I'm still lukewarm on "Let Your Light in Babe," especially because I don't understand the motivation for writing a song that's *so* similar (and yet inferior) musically to "Born to a Family." And this will make me terribly unpopular around here, but I really can't get into "It Ain't Easy." Just sounds like empty filler to me. Easily the only truly weak track, imho. But overall this is a great album, and somehow totally fitting for this stage in Forster's career. | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 37 Registered: 07-2005 |
I felt the same way about "It Ain't Easy" the first couple of times I heard it, but it's truly a grower, and I really love it now. "It Ain't Easy" is the tune from this album that you'll find me singing in the shower. Great melody. As for "Let Your Light in Baby," I think it's best heard in context. It gives the album the little kick in the booboo it needs at the right time. On its own I think one can draw comparisons to all sorts of other Robert songs, but it works perfectly on the album. | ||
| Hugo Member Username: Hugo Post Number: 27 Registered: 06-2005 |
Well, I've been living with this album over the weekend, and I think I largely agree with Jeff. "Demon Days" is not only one of the three last ever Forster/McLennan songs, it's also one of the best. Its musical simplicity coupled with the oblique, haunting lyrics make for a masterpiece. The other slow tracks work really well too, they are at the heart of this album for me. As for "Let Your Light In", I think it works... just. Yes, there's the annoying similarity to "Born To A Family", and also the female "ooh ooh" backing vocals are the same melody as the Cat Stevens song "Wild World". Still, there's something kind of jaunty and haunting about this song that rises above its obvious borrowings. But "It Ain't Easy" I can't really get behind. Maybe because the lyrics are too explicit, and the melody just seems kind of generic... This doesn't really feel like a solo album to me, it feels like an amputated Go-Betweens album. The first couple of listens I kept subconsciously waiting for Grant to chime in somewhere. The overall sound of the album too is like an amalgam of the three "reunion" albums. It marries up the humbler, acoustic feel of the first two with the fuller sound of the last one. In fact, I think it captures that fuller, string-laden effect better than Oceans Apart, which occasionally lapsed into a rather middle-of-the-road sound that The Evangelist successfully avoids. I guess one area where this sounds most unapologetically Robert-esque is the Dylan sound in several songs, most particularly Don't Touch Anything (do I hear a touch of "Knockin On Heaven's Door" in the melody?). I can even hear some Dylan song in "Demon Days" - can't quite place which one, something off Blood On The Tracks. In fact, Robert's "take" on Dylan on this album is a sort of cross between 1966 organ-driven Dylan and Blood-On-The-Tracks Dylan... Anyway, it's a great album, lots to chew on here. | ||
| Colin P Member Username: Colinp Post Number: 2 Registered: 05-2007 |
Anyone figure out the lyrics to From Ghost Town? Here is my preliminary attempt after a single listen-through: http://www.colinptak.com/Ghost.txt | ||
| AS Member Username: Labelguy Post Number: 36 Registered: 05-2005 |
corrected  The Secret goes with its books and clothes from Ghost Town To a place no one can trace maybe there’s peace there in the streets there It’s gone, yes yes yes not to return why no no burned yes yes yes David wrote in his good-bye note ‘it’s all different now’ And he’s right I hope I get it right as I go on, as I move on It’s strong; yes yes yes what we made for a thousand years it will not fade no no no There are places he could have stayed But he had to go because he loved the rain There were hearts there was help But he couldn’t love them because he didn’t love himself It’s gone, yes yes yes it’s wrong and why should this be so yes yes yes And he knew more than I knew And I hated what he hated too This world, now that’s gone a girl a thousand words a swirl and why why why There are people who love the moon Its milky warmth and its brilliant gloom They hate the day it’s just too rough They go in the morning when they’ve had enough David wrote in his good-bye note ‘it’s all different now’ And it is there’s much I’ll miss as I go on as I move on It’s gone, yes yes yes it’s wrong and why should this be so why why why | ||
| Colin P Member Username: Colinp Post Number: 3 Registered: 05-2007 |
Fantastic! Thank you =) | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 117 Registered: 02-2008 |
Those are very nice and moving lyrics. Quite the elegy. I like the placement of it after It Aint Easy. Kinda two sides of the same coin. It Aint Easy is catchy as hell, and with its upbeat and jivy melody its sorta like a jazz funeral for GM and then Ghost Town is the somber hymn, the sober grappling with tough to face facts. It has some pretty hard truths in it I see, reading the printed lyrics. I think btw that Let Your Light In, though similar to Born To A Famly, is actually a better song. More interesting with more replay value. Born hasnt worn well for me - I think this will hold up better and I like the word picture the lyrics paint. Great album Roberto. Glad youve returned to your fans cuz we need you the most. | ||
| Adrian P Member Username: Adp Post Number: 22 Registered: 05-2005 |
I like It Ain't Easy too, the directness of the lyrics I find very moving. Does anyone know who 'sweet Sherrie' in the first verse is? | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 120 Registered: 02-2008 |
No, but I also had a question about who David, in "Ghost Town, is. The bloke from the Triffids? | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 41 Registered: 07-2005 |
Okay, I think the 'sweet Sherrie" in "It Ain't Easy" is a reference to the band Suicide's signature song "Cheree" which, when you listen to it, sounds like "sweet cheree." Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought this was the reference; to the Grant and Robert's old punk/new-wave days and influences. BTW--Great song if you haven't heard it. | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 42 Registered: 07-2005 |
Whenever I listen to "It Ain't Easy" I think of Robert's article about Grant, "A True Hipster" in which he describes the last time he hung out with Grant. Robert wrote... "He had a two-storey granny flat at the back of the house he lived in, and we played on a small deck there. A railroad track runs behind the house, and occasionally trains passed through the songs." It's s lovely song. | ||
| Colin P Member Username: Colinp Post Number: 4 Registered: 05-2007 |
Is there anything to say whether it is, "sherrie," "cheree," or the french "cheri"? If it's the french then it is just a general term of endearment for a sweetheart. | ||
| Adrian P Member Username: Adp Post Number: 23 Registered: 05-2005 |
I thought it was 'sweet cherie' when I heard it but then when I looked at the lyrics on the website it had 'sweet Sherrie'. Just curious, I agree it's a lovely song either way. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 329 Registered: 04-2005 |
Ok I'm a little confused here! I am sure on that Times podcast thingy that Robert says that "It Ain't Easy" was one of the 3 songs that Grant had written. So are the above suggestions that it is a RF song, (written in tribute) wrong? Or is it like 'Demon Days', where RF finished off a song already started? Whatever, "The Evangelist" is a great record... | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 43 Registered: 07-2005 |
I think from listening to the lyrics, it sounds like Grant wrote the music, and Robert wrote the lyrics. Sweet Sherrie, huh? Oh well, there goes my Suicide theory; which IMHO is much cooler. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2263 Registered: 05-2005 |
paul haig (ex josef k) did a great suicide song ghost rider. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1140 Registered: 10-2004 |
Still really not digging It Aint Easy... but I had a strange experience the other night with From Ghost Town. The song was going through my head as I was dreaming, for what seemed like forever. I don't even remember what I was dreaming about, but I swear, I woke up kind of teary eyed. Like, the song itself is so beautiful and so stirring that it basically established the emotional tone of whatever monotonous dream I was having. Point being, that's one powerful song! Either that or I need my head checked! | ||
| Colin P Member Username: Colinp Post Number: 5 Registered: 05-2007 |
wait, what website has the lyrics?!? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2098 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'm with Jeff on It Ain't Easy. The rest of the album is magnificent though. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1585 Registered: 03-2005 |
I hope I have a copy of this by now. I ordered one from Yep Roc (crossing fingers that it's one of the signed ones) but always have mail-orders sent to my work address and I'm still on vacation until Monday. I have an unofficial copy of this already but I refuse to comment on it until I get the real thing. But comments being posted by others on this thread make me happy. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 185 Registered: 10-2006 |
Encounter With An Australian Poet. This is an edited version of the Italian magazine Buscadero’s interview with Robert, this “tall, gangling, polite, extremely patient, middle-aged gentleman”. Robert on The Evangelist: “It’s a record with ten songs, my first as a soloist for ten years. Seven of the songs I wrote myself and three together with Grant, so it has deep roots into the past and I’m proud of that. I didn’t want a lot of instruments, just guitar, piano, vibes and not much more. I wanted it to be a record that gives comfort to the listener, not a lot of drums, full of warm acoustic sound. The title track has nothing to do with God, I just wanted to say that every artist is like an evangelist, communicating their feelings, sending a message to the listener – even on stage, you’re putting out words, music, vibrations. The record starts off with It Rains because it describes the moment I’m passing through now, rain washes away everything, and you have to accept being washed, purified, you have to accept and welcome change, it’s in the nature of things, like the rain. With Demon Days, the tune and title are Grant’s. It’s about the bad days, those days without positivity, reflecting Grant’s innate melancholy – his real demon was depression. Pandanus is a sun-going-down-late-on-the-beach song, that’s one of my favourite moments of the day. A lot happens during the day, and a lot happens at night. Twilight is a special fraction of time where everything seems in suspension, there’s peace, but at the same time memories and expectation. A place to hideaway, that’s what you look for as you get older. You spend your whole life in a city and even if you don’t actually get out of it you still dream of a place to escape to, a paradise on earth, where life is simpler, truer. Don’t touch anything: I’m fifty, now. I like the way things are, I like what I do. Everything’s real, it’s just like I’m living in a dream that’s come true. I don’t want anything to change in my life, I’ve found happiness, and I want to hang on to it, I want to hug it close. It ain’t easy: that was written with Grant, he really loved that song, he really liked that sound, that sense of country feeling. From Ghost Town is dedicated to Grant of course, it’s the last song I wrote for the record. It’s a song of reconciliation, he’s gone, finally I’ve accepted that. It was the hardest song to write. It seemed to just come down from the sky. And it brought peace with it.” The interview: What were your main influences when you started with the Go-betweens? Bob Dylan, of course, above all. His songwriting is just unique. Then the Velvet Underground and all that New York New Wave punk – Tom Verlaine and Television, Talking Heads, Blondie. And what are you listening to now? I don’t really listen to a lot of rock music, I have to admit, with the single exception of a psychedelic American group called Espace, and then folk music like Fairport Convention, Vashti Bunyan, these being the oldest and most recent of the stuff. Will there be any chance of seeing something like your concert series The Four Ages of Robert Forster here in Europe? Well, that would be pretty difficult, those were all with people who have recorded with me, and anyway, I don’t do so many concerts any more. But I have a new agent in Germany now and so I’m hoping to do some concerts in Europe and maybe some festivals in Italy. Who comes to your concerts? I don’t really think you could say I have a specific audience, I think it’s more of a big heterogeneous mass I bring together. Now that this new record is coming out it’s a stimulation to get back on stage and I think it’s a record that really lends itself to live performance. We’ll see. I hope people come along who love me for the music I make. Is it true that after Grant’s death you decided to not to record again? No, that’s not true at all. Grant’s death was a huge blow. I had to stop and pause for reflection. Then after about two years I started writing again and the record really came about by itself, it was a real surprise for me. And since three of the songs were written together with Grant it becomes a homage in a way to him, almost a posthumous Go-betweens record. What pushes you to keep on going? Not just music – writing, too, telling stories, I love language, I love words, the way they sound. I love reading, it really is the best way to spend your time I think. Your lyrics are highly poetic: what are your literary influences? I read non-fiction mainly, I love artist biographies, I love the Beat Generation, above all Jack Kerouac and Gary Snider, I love Jane Austen and I think Sylvia Plath is amazingly profound. And I think John Kennedy Toole’s Confederacy of Dunces was a real masterpiece. Could you finish by defining your music? That’s really hard to do off the cuff. I’d say it was a kind of folk music for meditation – melodic music. Yeah, that’s what you could say I do – melodic rock music. The interviewer concludes: “I go away, pleased to have met a true artist, and made a new friend. Thank you, Robert.” | ||
| AS Member Username: Labelguy Post Number: 38 Registered: 05-2005 |
I guess the mentioned band is not called Espace - it should be Espers | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 186 Registered: 10-2006 |
I was wondering why it was so hard to get info on them... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 2071 Registered: 05-2005 |
can i jusu=t say that demon days is the best solo or go-bs song ever committted to tape | ||
| Charles Coy Member Username: Coy Post Number: 53 Registered: 10-2006 |
..thanks Stuart W re Buscadero’s interview... I think I have read this 20 times, Though I have heard the album on Yep Roc, April 21 release for OZ awaits, funny, my son Leon turns 18 the same day... Demon days and From Ghost Town linger the most at this time, though Pandanus is looming... Is the magazine easily obtainable..? | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 125 Registered: 02-2008 |
Pts. to Forster for giving props to Confederacy. Tis a great feckin book that has given me and the missus many a chuckle!Well played Sir Bob. | ||
| Matsrep Member Username: Matsrep Post Number: 60 Registered: 10-2005 |
I went out one afternoon (Friday) and bought The Evangelist, on release date (here in Sweden). Randy, isn't the Yep Roc date three weeks away? Anyway: the digipack sleeve is silver, the packaging makes sense when you see it. Only three photos, though. Robert on the sleeve and Adele and Glenn in the booklet. All black and white. The publicity shots of Robert will probably grace reviews etc. The album itself is of course still great. It flows and Let Your Light in Babe works well together with the other songs, as does It Ain't Easy (which has a slightly try-out chorus by Grant: the booklet says exactly what are remains of Grant lyrics). Additional info in the booklet: All guitars on Pandanus by Robert, Glenn does some electric guitar on Did She Overtake You. Etc. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 288 Registered: 01-2007 |
Pre-ordered mine from Amazon, as I went to get The triffids rereleases at my local HMV ( had hgot BSD Calenture and In The Pines from them)and could find them, so not left it to chance and gone with the on line option, may arrive sooner anyway, the UK release is still 10/7 off, despite on Roberts website saying it will be the 14th | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 2072 Registered: 05-2005 |
got mine on thursday, direct from tuition in Germany. ordered late monday afternoon so took just over 2 days to arrive. the packaging is ace, silver suits the mood. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 621 Registered: 04-2006 |
got my copy on monday. after first, second and third listening i am really dissapointed. maybe my expectations were to high, but i can't really consider it as great as the last three (or all) gob's albums. i think it could be robert's best solo album, but all in all i think it is a bit boring. i know this sounds like blasphemy, but maybe my opinion will change after listening more often. | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 165 Registered: 05-2005 |
I got kicked out of home, so I don't know whether mine has arrived or not! Could someone send me a CDr or maybe andreas (last posting) - you might like to send me your copy if it's as bad as you make out. It would find a good home ... if and when I find a new one ... and it would unburden you of the purchase that mocks you ... can't you read Robert's lips on the cover ... they're saying "hey, sucker ...!" | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1592 Registered: 03-2005 |
I'm still waiting. | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 46 Registered: 07-2005 |
Andreas-- I'm curious about what in particular you dislike about the new LP? The songs? The production? I think it is superior to the first two reunion records because of the production alone, but then I've always liked the Wallis Sound. However, I think that the songs on this one are also better than Robert's on the first two reunion records as well. Either way, (and despite my above scribblings), I think comparisons are futile. I find the Evangelist far from boring though, riveting actually. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2278 Registered: 05-2005 |
Andreas, it might well be a slow burner for you? Give it time. Sometimes if you've been listening intensely to a favorite artist or group or to a type of musical style far removed from what Bob produces, it takes longer to recognise how good things really are/could be. I mean if you've been listening to The Moodists Thirsty's Calling or a Birthday Party album, then you pop Vashti Bunyan on, you may well feel immediately let down, until the karma sinks in 24 hours later!!! | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 143 Registered: 05-2005 |
I was in Germany today, there was plenty Evangelist everywhere. Big piles of Evangelist in every record stores! Robert is also in every magazines there. Very good review in the german Rolling Stones amongst other. I have my first listen right now. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 362 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'm still waiting for an Australian company to release a VERY australian cd on local release! Go figure! Meanwhile, in a German farmhouse..... This is driving me nuts!!! | ||
| Pat Garrett Member Username: Pat_garrett Post Number: 9 Registered: 04-2005 |
This is the link to the German Rolling Stone article: http://www.rollingstone.de/content/verlo sungen/go_betweens/ | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 192 Registered: 10-2006 |
Trained down to my local retailer on a sunny Saturday morning and picked up my copies of the Evangelist cd and spent all afternoon listening to it, listened to it falling asleep in bed, and listened to it first thing still in bed on Sunday morning...ok, I think it's an extraordinarily beautiful piece of work, and I think it has to be heard like that, almost as a continuous suite of songs, not something that I can dip into a track here and another there - I love its sound, from that first confident flickery twitch of a Forsterian riff at the beginning to that elegaic, lilting piano motif at the end - I love the words - and I love especially the amazing tenderness in his voice, especially on Demon Days, and the way he sings "baby" in the title track...I think it's the most honest, humane, deeply felt album any of us will have heard, or will hear, for a long long time... | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 622 Registered: 04-2006 |
after not getting really hooked after my first listenings my fourth listening was kind of a revelation. everything that i didn't have heard / noticed now was there. the songs live from the nuances. instruments and adele's voice, which enrichens the guitar-framework, the rhythm. here and there. it is a special album. not really an the go-betweens one, but also not a Robert Forster solo album like the others were. something inbetween. warm and a heartful of soul. yes, it is a slow burner to me, but that could not be wrong. often the albums that you are enthusiastic about at first listening are burned out fast. sorry fsh, i think i will keep my copy. best wishes, the ''sucker'' from germany | ||
| Colin P Member Username: Colinp Post Number: 6 Registered: 05-2007 |
The album is apparently up on the US iTunes store. It is iTunes Plus as well, which is always nice. Lyrics are in the CD sleeve, right? I'm holding out for that... | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 133 Registered: 02-2008 |
Whoever said above that its a suite of songs is on to something, I think. Nothing so corny as a concept album, more a loosely connected set, tied together by a central theme, a la "16 Lovers Lane" and "Blood on the Tracks". Yes, I do think it belongs in that heady company. What is the theme? I think the theme is more less a person at a critical juncture in their life. I'm sure it's partly, maybe even largely about the displacement brought on by the loss of Grant, but perhaps it's bigger than that. Whatever it is, it seems like real dark night of the soul, crossroads kind of stuff - these songs are so great because they needed to exist. And, that Robert has transcended his pain and transmuted it into such great art is pretty frakkin inspiring and makes you think that maybe there's hope for all of us. I still think "Let Your Light In" and "It Ain't Easy" are tremendous. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 193 Registered: 10-2006 |
I think that’s right, ETM, it’s a highly thematic album, no surprise given the intensity of the circumstances around its composition perhaps, and it all seems to revolve around ideas of sanctuary – short-term ones like a quiet beach at twilight, long-term ones like love, the family, then the convent, the church…there’s a lot of religious imagery scattered through it in fact, it begins with a baptism and ends in a graveyard, though it’s the imagery of an exhausted Christianity maybe, the imagery of an agnostic humanist picking at those shards of vocabulary that religion has left to us, but in the end the heaven aspired to is an earthly, domestic one, an achievable stability – though the slightly comic narrator in Let your light in, the solitary bike rider who works at home, at the end it’s not too clear if the family that’s been suddenly imposed upon him is a blessing or a burden, a bit of both maybe…The one track I really can’t figure out is the very Smithsish Did she overtake you, not only a Morrissey-like vocal but a similar ambiguity in the situation described… unless the “she” is Death, but I can’t make that work too well… | ||
| Martin Schori Member Username: Martin_s Post Number: 12 Registered: 05-2006 |
I have often heard that people might think concept albums are corny. I don't think so. Maybe Ewan can explain ... Anyway, my favourite concept album is Smile by The Beach Boys. | ||
| Richard Higgins Member Username: Richard Post Number: 11 Registered: 05-2005 |
Gets 9/10 review on Channel 4 Teletext today (page 344)... | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2282 Registered: 05-2005 |
i know wht Ewan means, for shit concept albums see The Stranglers - Gospel according to the meninblack. It was cack. I see here on the quietus, Andrew Mueller puts Evangelist as one of his fave current albums and that Liberty Belle is in his all time. http://www.thequietus.com/writers/ | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1599 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thanks for the link, Spence. Now I'll embarrass you: Hooray! The Winnebagos' "Born in the Sun" is one of Chris Roberts' current faves! These writers' favorite records crack me up. Roberts careens from Diana Ross' Greatest Hits to Television's Marquee Moon and Scott 4 (also MY favorite Scott album btw). Tommy Udo goes from a pair of Black Sabbath albums to a pair of Captain Beefheart ones. Mueller finds room for both "Liberty Belle" and ACDC's "Highway to Hell" on his list of four favorites. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2285 Registered: 05-2005 |
You know, it shows how times have changed. I can guarantee 20 years ago in the Nelson Mandela bar at any polytechnic gig, Mueller would dare not admit in his small quiet Indie groupings that AC/DC was on his radar, no way siree!! Nowadays, its true isn't it, anything goes. There would have been some though who thoughtit was cool to mention The Weather prophets in thesame breath as Black Sabbath back in the day, infact I rememeber a Joey Ramone figure at school all dressed up inhos rocker gear, with a Jam mod badge on his lapel! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2104 Registered: 05-2005 |
Andrew Mueller is from Sydney's North Shore Spence, close to where I live on the Northern Beaches. He went to Bon Scott High in Mosman. Oh how great is The Evangelist! | ||
| Dusty Member Username: Dusty Post Number: 35 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yep, it's amazing! | ||
| Michael D Member Username: Michael_d Post Number: 15 Registered: 06-2005 |
Up on the iTunes Store in Australia. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1155 Registered: 10-2004 |
Interesting how almost none of those music writers' favorites were released this decade. | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 50 Registered: 08-2005 |
3-star review in the Guardian today - Friday 18 April. (Haven't got my copy yet so I can't comment - it's on order from Yep Roc, hopefully a signed copy!) Robert Forster's first solo album in 12 years, his first after the untimely death of his fellow Go-Between Grant McLennan, begins with If It Rains, a song that shimmers with the same kind of exquisite sadness their much-loved band captured in their nine albums together. And when the soft guitars of Forster and McLennan's last joint composition, Demon Days, quickly follow it, the prospect of The Evangelist being a mournful masterpiece is all too gloriously likely. Sadly, that song's refrain, "Something's gone wrong, something's not right", reflects the album from thereon in. The clunky metaphors of its title track, the lumpen cheeriness of It Ain't Easy and the pacey feel of From Ghost Town are all lacking in subtlety, and offer too many bursts of light when you feel like more shade. And although Forster's characterful, Australian waver gets under your skin, the sentiments of these songs won't do the same. | ||
| Pat Boland Member Username: Pat_boland Post Number: 45 Registered: 05-2005 |
The review ties in beautifully with the thread on 'converting non-believers'. He tried and then he failed. | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 134 Registered: 02-2008 |
Dont Forster write some of his little pieces for the Guardianz? He should tell them to kiss his Aussie arse. What is "pacey" anyway? Next he gonna be sayin "its a bit pitchy dawg". | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1157 Registered: 10-2004 |
Weird review, I don't really get what he's saying at all. But you know, each to his own. However, I'll be genuinely surprised if the album pulls in many other mediocre reviews. | ||
| Adam Gibbs Member Username: Adam_gibbs Post Number: 6 Registered: 09-2007 |
It never ceases to amaze me how wonderfully subjective music is. For me, "Let Your Light In, Babe" and "It Ain't Easy" are two of the highlights on an album that doesn't have a weak track. "It Ain't Easy" is pure Mclennan pop, and Mr. Forster's words are a fitting tribute, without shying away from highlighting Grant as being human, ie. having faults. The production for the album is beautiful, there is plenty of space in each song which really lets them breathe. I love Adele's harmonies and the mandolin and fiddle flourishes are wonderful. I agree with the above comment that this feels more like an amputated Go-Betweens album, I hear Grant all over it. To be overly generic here, I think this is Robert's "Blood On The Tracks". Overall, living with this album the last few days has been a very emotional experience. Much love for Sir Bob! | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 51 Registered: 08-2005 |
There's a long piece in the Sydney Morning Herald - April 19 Edition. www.smh.com.au and go to Entertainment then music. (I'm not posting the full URL because it's very long) | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1603 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thanks Simon. That's a nice review. It amazes me how long there still is until the album is released in Oz. And the USA, for that matter. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 196 Registered: 10-2006 |
There aren't any metaphors in the title track, clunky or otherwise, that I can see - it's mainly straightforward autobiographical narrative, isn't it? And Brisbane, or Australia, as "a desert with threatening neighbourhoods" is lovely. There's subjective, and there's subjective. And then there's dickhead. | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 49 Registered: 07-2005 |
Yeah, that Guardian review is written by a true non-believer. Speaking of believers, I think this is the metaphor that the review finds clunky in the title track. An Evangelist is one who describes her or his Christian beliefs to others. While Robert is singing about belief in the song, ("I believe, I believe, I believe"), he is preaching about his belief in love. While it's not my favorite melody on the album (everyone's a critic), it is a moving and image evoking song, and FAR from clunky. I think the Guardian reviewer (1) wasn't much of a GoBenatti, (2) listened to the album once for his review, (3) was longing for something like Beck's "Sea Change," and (4) was incautious with his prose. Had "The Evangelist" become some sort of downtrodden, slow paced affair, I think it would be much worse off. What would have become of that Striped Sunlight Sound that all the believers know and love? I think Robert gives an excellent explanation of why this Guardian reporter would never have gotten his wish when he describes the writing of "It Ain't Easy" in the Sydney article. Grant would have preferred a little striped sunlight in his tribute, and Robert delivered. | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 139 Registered: 02-2008 |
Robert, to me, gets a lotta points for not getting all maudlin. It's overall a genius way of processing what for him had to be quite cataclysmic. Funny too. The great "It Ain't Easy" has a line about how "he picked me up when I might've slipped and never done anything again. If you think about it, that same sequence of events has been repeated. Robert might not have recorded again if it had not been for the need to give Grant's songs, particularly "Demon Days", a setting, to let them be heard. There's some sweet resonance there... | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2298 Registered: 05-2005 |
Bryce, what a fabulously articulate response. There's an advert for it with a pic of the sleeve in today's Guide, given away with the Guardian!!! | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 50 Registered: 07-2005 |
Thanks Spence! Just defending my favorite artists. | ||
| Svein Inge Saether Member Username: Springrain Post Number: 33 Registered: 08-2006 |
Indeed, the interpretation of the title track (if you can call it an interpretation) in quoted Guardian review is completely misguided. Cheers to Bryce, well put. As we know, and as RF says in the SMH piece, this is how Grant would have wanted it. It's all just perfectly weighted. I just can't avoid thinking, what an album they would have made, if they could have done one more together! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2111 Registered: 05-2005 |
My friend Nick Kelly interviewed Robert for the Irish Independent. http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/ music/a-fond-farewell-to-an-old-friend-1 352873.html | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 330 Registered: 04-2005 |
Just in case anyone missed the lengthy piece that Simon posted about, here is the ful url for the John Birmingham interview. Well worth a read. http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/mclenna ns-final-fragile-masterpiece/2008/04/17/ 1208025349049.html | ||
| Lawrence Mikkelsen Member Username: Simplythrilledhoney Post Number: 84 Registered: 03-2006 |
I was just wondering if anyone can confirm whether the CD is available in stores in Australia? My wife is going to be in Sydney next week and figure I may as well ask her to pick me up a copy rather than doing the mail-order thing. Any comments on the packaging of the Australia pressing? (Jewel case? Digipak? Nice booklet etc.?) Cheers Lawrence (Who is really excited about this album, but happy to be biding his time by listening to the new Triffids reissues.) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2115 Registered: 05-2005 |
It is out in Australia on Saturday Lawrence. My advance is a digipak, but maybe there is a jewel case version also. It has a lyrics booklet. It's a nice package. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 291 Registered: 01-2007 |
I'm waiting for my copy from Amazon had half hoped it would be here today or even last saturday. Did see it today in HMV etc | ||
| James Member Username: James Post Number: 42 Registered: 05-2005 |
One listen so far. I really like it though it is hard not to feel sad at some points. | ||
| Richard Lim Member Username: Re17 Post Number: 27 Registered: 05-2005 |
Well, I am a true Go-betweens believer, to borrow and tweak a term from this thread - and I'm in no hurry to get The Evangelist. I haven't been particularly enthused by anything I've heard off the album. It's not bad, but the production seems rather pedestrian to my mind. Which is a pity as I had really wanted to like this album. I might just slink off to HMV and get a copy later this week, or maybe next month, or maybe next year... | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1606 Registered: 03-2005 |
Lawrence, aren't the Triffids reissues wonderful? This must be the first occasion in my life when I've felt that an album was improved by being made longer (Black Swan). I patiently continue to wait for my official copy of the Forster album, hopefully signed. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 292 Registered: 01-2007 |
My copy arrived this lunchtime and listened to half of it, it quiet and sad not bad things it started to reveal it self after a few songs for me to get my mind in that frame of mind.It may take a few listens but all good things do Randy I'm loving the Triffids but not got Black Swan yet< have the vinyl somewhere, I'd left this to last as it has been my least favourite Triffids. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1123 Registered: 08-2006 |
Richard, like you I wasn't especially moved by the individual songs I heard, but I think you'll be surprised by the album as a whole. It works brilliantly as a piece. The pacing is excellent, the story arc is moving and tunes you thought sounded wan out of context spring to life among one another. Plus, it gets better with each playing, which, in my mind, is always the mark of a good record. As others have said, I think it's RF's strongest solo work and a worthy successor to "Ocean's Apart." I'll be curious to know how it sits with you after you've given it a few spins. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 630 Registered: 04-2006 |
some postings above i told about my first listening experiences and that i wasn't really impressed resp. the songs bored me a bit. after an intensive listening without any disturbing i felt completely different. great and touching songs. a perfect album. for sure robert's best. it is an album you should, no, must listen carefully to otherwise you felt the same like i did at the beginning and still do when i just listen to it on the way to work and for example reading a book or the newspaper simultanously. the album, the songs needs the listener's attention, otherwise you don't hear the sparkles thereon. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2309 Registered: 05-2005 |
U seen this ? http://media.theaustralian.com.au/multim edia/galleries/flexiplayer.html?channel= 669 I love the way he's quite serious, then towards the end beams like sunshine, striped sunshine of course!!! | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 421 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks for that Spence. The key word for me in the piece was WHEN he tours the album. Hopefully that means just hoping in the car to get to a gig, or at worst, a cheapo Ryanair flight, as opposed to travelling to the other side of the planet! I'm still desperately waiting for delivery of my copy. I think I'm developing OCD, checking my post box about 20 times each morning, even popping home at lunch to check has it arrived! | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1165 Registered: 10-2004 |
*eagerly awaiting the 29th, when it will appear at my local record store* | ||
| Duncan Hurwood Member Username: Duncan_h Post Number: 105 Registered: 05-2005 |
Mine turned up yesterday - though there's no way I can form an opinion about it yet. It needs a few listens... initially I'm amazed how much more powerful "Demon Days" feels in the context of the rest of the album. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 199 Registered: 10-2006 |
Slink off to HMV sooner than later, Richard - live with it, let it sink in, you'll have bits of it floating round your head every moment of the day like I do... | ||
| Hugo Member Username: Hugo Post Number: 28 Registered: 06-2005 |
Another interview: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story /0,23739,23553474-5003421,00.html | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2313 Registered: 05-2005 |
I tell you what, RF has no problems with PR positions should he ever set up an RF ad agency!!!! | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 52 Registered: 07-2005 |
Great article about Evangelist in The Village Voice. http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0817,r obert-forster-s-long-goodbye,419667,22.h tml | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 293 Registered: 01-2007 |
I've waited for the CD and only heard snippets of the streamed broadcast, but really like the CD it gets in under your skin, I like the way the music is all in the same style and Roberts singing is excellent. great CD | ||
| william rodgers Member Username: Willyorkpa Post Number: 35 Registered: 02-2005 |
did anyone get their autographed copy yet from Yeproc? | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 55 Registered: 07-2005 |
William, not yet, but I think they have shipped 'cause I just got an email yesterday about it. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1614 Registered: 03-2005 |
Mine arrived today. And, yes, it is signed! I thought maybe I'd waited too long to be in the early batch of orders because I let about a week pass before placing my order. I love the album. But I want to be in just the right mental space before I comment on it here. What I need is a nice quiet morning and some coffee. This is a very fine album | ||
| Irishcornboy Member Username: Irishcornboy Post Number: 5 Registered: 07-2005 |
My copy arrived today as well. It's autographed twice. I guess Robert tried to autograph them with a light colored pen and it smudged quite a bit, including the back side... so re-signed in blue ball point. Digipack format. Very pleased with the black and silver design/print job. Booklet as well. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1023 Registered: 09-2006 |
Mine has the same twice-signed thing, ICB, though the orange felt-tip isn't smudged at all, in fact looks very nice indeed. And I'm certainly not complaining... Agreed, Randy, 'tis a lovely piece of work. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1024 Registered: 09-2006 |
Gosh, I didn't notice until just now that I'd passed 1000 posts...and it only took me a year and a half! | ||
| Charles Coy Member Username: Coy Post Number: 54 Registered: 10-2006 |
..Robert said it was a bunch of songs you could lean into. I got mine Saturday 26th, it travels through my home into my car, it leans on me everywhere.. Each listen alerts my senses and sparks new favourites. Don't Touch Anything is an unexpected gem, Did She Overtake You aligns and settles emotional differences and From Ghost Town places me into a vunerability, I never experienced before..and always so far a tear looms..I love this Album, I'm proud to be a small part in all this.. | ||
| Dusty Member Username: Dusty Post Number: 36 Registered: 05-2005 |
Has a very good, detailed review in 'Allmusic'. 4.5/5 http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg &token=&sql=10:hxfrxz9jldde | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 56 Registered: 07-2005 |
The Allmusic review is great. I think it's interesting that Jurek claims that Ocean's Apart is the Go-Betweens masterpiece, surpassed only by 16 Lover's Lane. I don't hear that too much, or see it written, but I think I agree. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1615 Registered: 03-2005 |
I'm still not ready to write about "the Evangelist" and maybe after the Allmusic review I don't need to. But a few things come to mind. First, I know that Glenn and Adele both have their own projects and they should pursue them but I am hoping that they--and especially Adele--continue to work with Robert. He needs the continuity and they are both very well plugged into his sensibility. I love the fact that Robert worked over the new songs with Adele's collaboration. A very real and essential part of the artistic success of this album is due to Glenn and Adele. Oh, screw it, here I go: I was given an advance bootleg copy of this album before I knew anything about the stories behind the songs. At the very first listen, "If It Rains" had me blubbering like a baby. I guess I don't agree with the Allmusic reviewer's characterization of Robert's writing as less poetic and more direct here. It's spare, yes. Robert's been moving in that direction for a while. But for me, "If It Rains" is about the bargaining stage of grief, pure and simple. And for the sonic background? This utterly breathtaking morning sunshine of a McLennanesque electric guitar accompanying the classic Forster acoustic barre chords. Robert, of course, knows how to do Grant and I imagine that Glenn and Adele do too. Did they do so on purpose? No idea. But they did it. This could be an actual Go Betweens recording. And then there's the thunder. It could be a corny effect but it's not. It's where the blubbering just totally comes unglued. I am a basketcase. But the thunder brings me comfort and reassures me. It will finally rain. I knew "Demon Days" had to be Grant's. The chord progression, the "something's not right, something's gone wrong" is so Grant that it had to be his. But Robert's delivery? I've never heard him like this. He literally sounds like he's about to break into tears in places on this song. I do it for him. The arrangement is faultless. If you listen to this song on headphones you hear a male voice in the "dah dah dah dah dah's" that could be Grant himself. I choose to believe that it is; he slipped into the studio when no one was looking to put that little finishing touch on it. I love the fact that Robert completed the lyrics. He picked right up where Grant left off but, inevitably, with a new meaning: "the half whispered hopes the dreams that we smoked puffed up and ran as only dreams can dreamt by the young sparks to be sung in places so bright . . . ." I get no relief from the beautiful "Demon Days" which probably was going to be Grant's stand-out song on the new album. I'm still crying. So I am particularly thankful for "Pandanus." In many ways this sounds the way BYBO should have. As the Allmusic critic writes, it is a thorough Go Betweens song through and through, of the Robert Forster variety. And it is set in the perpetual present-tense, celebrating something Robert can continue to enjoy so long as life allows him. Adele's bass line is melodic, recalling Grant's style before Robert Vickers took over. This is a very cheering song, allowing us all to have a look outside and remember what's still beautiful. I'm not sure I ever caught the dusk time that Robert's singing about when I was in Brisbane last year. I seemed to always be rushing somewhere around that time but, even so, I think about the half hour I spent by myself on a bench in New Farm park after nightfall, waiting until it was closer to time for one of the shows to start and watching the occasional boats go by and, well, "the lights on the hill" reflecting on the water which lapped at the bank only a few feet from my perch. Put your headphones on again. Grant really approved of this song too and sneaked in to add his "bah, bah, bah's" to the arrangement. Ok, that's enough for now. | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 161 Registered: 02-2007 |
Randy I look forward to your next instalment. You describe so well the intense emotions I am feeling too, but can't seem to find the words. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1126 Registered: 08-2006 |
Here's Robert Christgau's take on the record in Blender. (He gives it four stars.) Surviving half of indelible Australian songwriting combo is still collaborating, even after death. Reviewed by Robert Christgau "There was melody, there was harmony, there was sweet Sherrie, but it was melody he loved most of all," Robert Forster recalls in "It Ain’t Easy," his warm, quick-stepping tribute to fellow Go-Between Grant McLennan. It's one of three Forster-McLennan titles on Forster's finest solo album—his first since McLennan's fatal 2006 heart attack. Especially on the Go-Betweens' later records, McLennan's abiding tunefulness set off Forster's spikier, talkier songs, so they glinted like knives in the sun. Here "The Evangelist," which mulls the return to Brisbane that displaced his German wife, and the standout "If It Rains," about a drought, both precede excellent McLennan collaborations. Conjuring doubts and hopes with focused tenderness, Forster’s writing has never been surer. For flow and chemistry's sake, let's hope there are more McLennan melodies in his kit. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1026 Registered: 09-2006 |
Lovely reviews, all...I've always liked Forster a touch or two more than Xgau does, (even here he can't resist slipping in a reservation or two), but he still does the record proud. Can't add much to what's been said already, except being a rain lover I feel compelled to cheer whenever a complex song on that subject (used either as metaphor or actuality, or usually both) comes along, because even a fair number of songwriters who should know better have used it as an all-purpose one-dimensional metaphor for life's woes. Xgau again, talking about "Who'll Stop the Rain" : "The greatest weakness of Fogerty's oeuvre is that he never wrote a song praising what makes the crops grow." | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1187 Registered: 10-2004 |
Finally got my hands on an actual copy today from my local record store. Although I have heard it numerous times, I'm anxious to really absorb it now that I have the whole package in my hands. As for the cover art, the silvery monochrome looks nice, but it's a shame that the lettering on the front is pixelated, even on the CD, which makes it look a bit low-budget. But I do like the swirl pattern in the background, and the booklet is nice too. (How's that for a "compliment sandwich"?) | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1191 Registered: 10-2004 |
On another note, it's really interesting to read in the booklet who plays what. Adele and Glen each contribute quite a bit beyond their respective bass and drums, and they clearly had a major impact on how this record turned out. Glen, in particular, contributes a helluva lot of guitar (I'm assuming most of the lead/melodic stuff). I hope Robert continues to work with them, because I think they have a deep understanding of his music. | ||
| Charles Coy Member Username: Coy Post Number: 57 Registered: 10-2006 |
...'Did She Overtake You'...I have been around long enough to know a great pop song, in addition this song outranks 'Make Her Day' as my most favourite Robert driven vocal. 'and one day she'll make it without you' ..the wind in my hair and the song ablast...bring on 'Spring Rain'... | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 148 Registered: 02-2008 |
If It Rains, yet another song about the classic human condition - "if my luck improves, this time things will be different and I'll make something out of it", is indeed the standout for me. Although considering that Forster's been living in Brisbane, maybe it's just about the terrible drought they've had. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Pandanus, my other fave of the non-McLennan tunes, seems to be Robert's own "Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay", with its protagonist finding peace and refuge staring out at a body of water, though the circumstances are slightly different. Dig if you will, too, the hip reference to Scott McKenzie's "If You Go to San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers In Your Hair)". A magisterial performance. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 297 Registered: 01-2007 |
I think my current favourite is a Place to Hide Away | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2343 Registered: 05-2005 |
Nicely put LK. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1192 Registered: 10-2004 |
Charles, I'm with you on "Did She Overtake You." It's probably my favorite song from the album. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1028 Registered: 09-2006 |
I'd say it's a little cigar and a little no cigar, ETM... | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1128 Registered: 08-2006 |
Got my official copy yesterday. Sounds even lovelier, richer and more detailed, than my advance version and the packaging is excellent. The cover looks far better in printed form than the jpegs online would suggest. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1132 Registered: 08-2006 |
Also by Christgau, here's his review of the album on NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story .php?storyId=90078083 | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 2087 Registered: 05-2005 |
I've always thought this guy Christgau was a bit dodgy, just couldnt pin it down to any one thing. Then I read this quote "The impolite truth is that Robert Forster was The Go-Between's lesser half". As Ricky Gervais would say "Is he having a laugh?" | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1031 Registered: 09-2006 |
I agree, though I'd just change it to "My impolite belief is that..." And I'm glad he at least finally came out and said what he's only broadly implied before. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2354 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kev I agree, this Christgau bloke, "The impolite truth is that Robert Forster was The Go-Between's lesser half. Grant McLennan, Forster's friend and partner for his entire adult life, took up music at Forster's urging. But it was the late McLennan who again and again gave this song band what every song needs most Ñ a good tune." and this line "Songs have never come easy to him." effin ell mate, leave it out!!! as Danny the dealer said in Withnail, very, very foolish words man!" Or as Tim Canterbury said from Gervais' The Office, "you're a cock, your'e a cock, your'e a cock!" | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1622 Registered: 03-2005 |
Oh man. I'm hung over this morning and I see this? I suppose most of us can agree that Grant cranked out the more conventionally melodic songs. Sometimes like a factory. But Robert invents his songs. Now and then, he does a perfectly conventional one but a very high proportion of Robert Forster songs are brilliantly original creations. He takes risks. Lots of them. Take out your Go Betweens albums and remove the Robert Forster songs. Let me know how that goes. If songs have never come easy to Robert--and I think Robert might agree with that statement since he reports only writing a couple songs a year typically--it's because Robert sets very high standards for a song. Even Xgau seemed to start disagreeing with himself as the review progressed, observing that Robert's songs ended up making the deeper impression on the three GoBees Mk. II albums. Lesser half my #$%! There've been some comments on here about the marvelous "Did She Overtake You," clearly one of Robert's contributions to the intended album. What is that little dissonant note on the chord closing each line? Is that a seventh? Whatever, it recalls Grant's "Someone Else's Wife" to me but of course is not overwrought like "Wife." It's Go Betweens with a little Philly soul, a very cool and uncommon coupling. Lyrically, it's a brilliant relationship post-mortem and so typically for Robert there're no pat answers to the questions it poses. The title song has been compared to "He Lives My Life" which is easy to understand but I'm inclined to say "The Evangelist" is more fully realized. First, there's the ravishing arrangement. But then there's what this song says. If I remember correctly, he wrote this after Grant's death. I hear this song as an almost pleading assumption of responsibility. At the time of the writing of this song, everything was looking pretty dreadful. One of the reasons for the move back to Brisbane--to be near Grant--had abruptly vanished. Brisbane was running out of water, surely a nearly inconceivable event to a northern European. But Robert isn't giving up here. I remember thinking when I first heard this song what a great husband Robert must be. For me, "Let Your Light In Babe" is the song that gives me the least to hang onto. Lovely mandolin, acoustic bass and violin though. Robert's been doing little unassuming songs like "A Place to Hide Away" since the turn of the century now. (I'm thinking of songs like "Girl Lying on a Beach" or "Woman Across the Way" or "In Her Diary" and "Lavender"). Much like the title suggests, I see these little songs as a therapeutic musical retreat for Robert from the demands of his major numbers . . . like the gigantic "Don't Touch Anything." When I first heard this I was straining so hard to hear a Grant significance to this that I first thought of the title as the admonition you're given at the scene of a crime. But no, this song encapsulates one of those nice moments in middle age when you can look back and actually take some satisfaction in where you find yourself to be. I pulled out the guitar to play to this record a week or so ago and was really surprised at the daring chord combinations used here. I wonder why this song made Grant roll his eyes. "It Ain't Easy" is carried by the lovely guitar sounds and the gutbucket rhythm supplied by Glenn and Adele. When you remember that Robert planned this album with nine songs, you have to marvel at the lovely idea of ending it with this super upbeat Grant chord progression accompanying the album's one overt eulogy. So "From Ghost Town" just came from nowhere. It messed up the nice little package. I am reminded of how in my own times of grief I will whipsaw between brave acceptance and abject despondency. This coupling of these two songs at the end of the album ends up very well illustrating the messy confusion of the situation. Catharsis? No, there's neat catharsis here. Oh, my poor head. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1033 Registered: 09-2006 |
Agreed with your thoughts on the title song, Randy, and would add that in "Let Your Light In" the barely contained joy with which Robert sings, and the line about how he must be rushing home (to be with his family) do even more to fill out the picture of what domesticity has brought to his life. A great one for dancing around the room to, as well... I think if you took the Forster songs off a GoBees record and gave it to Christgau to review it'd come out a lot like his review of Horsebreaker Star, in which he spends the entire thing toggling between exulting over the lovely tunes and feeling like something's missing, that it's this close to bland. I've been one of Xgau's bigger supporters on this board, but that "impolite truth" line is neither, it's just obnoxious. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1034 Registered: 09-2006 |
Though I'd also say that every last one of us has made (at the very least) one such carelessly rude comment believing we spoke the "truth." | ||
| Bryce Member Username: Rockandrollfriend Post Number: 57 Registered: 07-2005 |
"But it was the late McLennan who again and again gave this song band what every song needs most — a good tune." All I've got to say is... "Part Company" "Spring Rain" "Head Full of Steam" "Clouds" "I'm Alright" "Dive For Your Memory" I'm sure that there are many more that could make this list, but these are some of the strongest pure melodies, and plain tuneful songs out there. This Christgau guy needs some Q-Tips. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1200 Registered: 10-2004 |
As to the "lesser half" statement, well, to be honest, I've never paid close to attention to music journalists because I think most of them are assholes, regardless of taste. They tend to be flamboyantly verbose, embittered blowhards with an axe to grind, who make out like their opinions are gospel truth. I'll admit I know precious little about Christgau and never even heard of him 'til I started frequenting this message board. If he wants to think Forster was the "lesser half," that's fine, as I'm a strong believer in subjectivity when it comes to music. But by branding his little opinion the "impolite truth," Christgau's crossing the line into being an asshole. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 820 Registered: 08-2004 |
Well a lesser half is like 110%. It doesn't actually exist. I think it's 110% inaccurate to suggest any half could be more or less than another. If I were to split hairs over it. Churlish to a fault. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2355 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yeah I agree, the fu*kin journo is wrong. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1623 Registered: 03-2005 |
I like Jerry's comment. He's right. There's no such thing as a lesser half. If I remember right, the time in Oz is 16 or 17 hours ahead of mine in Los Angeles. We've reached the second anniversary of Grant's exit to Ghost Town. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1203 Registered: 10-2004 |
Ha, looking back on my comment above, that's funny how grouchy I was! I need to stop posting things first thing in the morning when I'm still only half-awake and full of hate. But I still find Christgau's little jab extremely annoying. As for the 2nd anniversary of Grant's passing, I'd forgotten the exact date. I remember quite vividly when I first found out. It was a Saturday afternoon and I'd been lounging around, playing guitar. For whatever reason, I was doing something I seldom do, which is to figure out and play *other* peoples' songs. I just so happened to be playing and singing Grant's Love Goes On, kinda playing it in a loop for around 20 minutes or so. At some point, I put my guitar down, tried logging onto the message board, only to find out the utterly devastating news. I was just in complete disbelief. I kept re-reading the announcement just to make sure I hadn't gone crazy or something. I spent the rest of the afternoon in a disconsolate state. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1624 Registered: 03-2005 |
I know what you mean, Jeff, about playing other people's songs. But I know "Love Goes On" because it's such an entertainingly long string of easy chords. In fact I played it last night. The timing of your exercise is really spooky. I had spent the weekend visiting my parents and eldest brother in Fresno. I didn't take my computer with me in those days. I came home on Sunday night and logged on to watch the usual 375 messages spool up. I had no spam filter back then. Then I started sorting out the crap and came to the message from the Board administrator. I was absolutely certain the message was going to tell me that I was banished from the board for excessive off-topic entries. And just like you, I kept re-reading it. It stripped all the skin off me. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 299 Registered: 01-2007 |
I'd been out with my wife , daughter and brother nad his wife, to a local italian and as I was getting the post meal drinks ready I logged on and reead the terrible new. My wife is a big GBs fan and we were both upset by the new but my brother and his wife couldn't relate to it as they we never into the Gbs or that much into music in a big way anyway. It took me ages to get use to it and couldn't play any of Grants musci for about 6 months | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1205 Registered: 10-2004 |
Randy - yeah, the timing was *really* spooky. Especially since I'm such a skeptic when it comes to most things "spooky." I saw it as a bizarre coincidence, but couldn't help but be a wee bit disturbed by it at the time. Like Frank, I couldn't listen to the Go-Betweens for a while after that. And when I did, several weeks later, I remember putting on OA, and as soon as "Finding You" came on, I started sobbing. My girlfriend at the time came into the room and said, sympathetically, that it was just too soon. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 300 Registered: 01-2007 |
We're all different some people could put his music on immediately, but for me he'd been such a big part of my life for along time it was simply too painful. I use to relate more too Grant than Robert but as I've got older Robert has been the more influential | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2358 Registered: 05-2005 |
Funny how we all know where we were when the Big G passed away. I'd been at a recording studio with what seemed like 20 people (apart from my ex sparring partner in the group, who shall remain nameless) in the very small studio mixing room, piecing the winebago's album together. We were, going to cover Cattle and Cane, with lush strings and execute it in our own narrative and slick way (who's he kidding!) however we ran out of time. I'd decided to cover this song many months before. Sometimes i think covering a classic is a mistake, you know sacred ground. But I loved it and wanted to pay hommage to it. We were not going to tackle it verbatim, not musically anyway, and probably not vocally either. It'd been a really close, warm day, things had gone well and I was on an up! After we'd finished the session I embarked on a journey to a wedding evening reception. At about 7pm I received a phone call on my mobile whilst driving, from the person who failed to turn up (incidentally who never bothered ringing me earlier) I was just dying to hear the excuse, sorry I digress, that he'd heard on the news that Grant had died. To be honest, I thought it as s sick joke, from someone who had been on the bottle. I must admit, I really didn't believe it. I was by the side of the road at this time, and I just sat there. It had started to rain. I sorta lost focus in my eyes and just looked at the greenery around me and the passing traffic off of the M54 near ironbridge. I couldn't regain focus for about 15 minutes. I was completely freaking gobsmacked. At the wedding reception I got smashed, and for most of the night I just sat ooutside talking with people and trying to forget what i'd heard a couple of hours before. | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 155 Registered: 02-2008 |
I was watchin the Kentucky Derby when I heard. You know what Im startin to associate a lotta bad shit with the Derby. This year they had to put that poor filly down. I aint watchin the frakkin thing any mo. I was struck with a certain sense of disbelief when I heard about Grant, like nuh uh that cant be true and I gotta say that on some level I still find it really hard to believe or maybe accepts a better word. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1138 Registered: 08-2006 |
I was where I am right now, at my desk, probably kicking out a little work left over from the week. For some reason, I pulled up Pitchfork from my bookmarks, which was an odd choice because they don't update on the weekends. But they did that day. I remember all the air going out of the room. I'm still not sure it's all returned. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 426 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'd been at a music festival over the public holiday weekend, and when I got to work that Tuesday morning, my head was still full of music. As usual, first thing I did was to check my private email account. My reaction on seeing a message from the Message Board administration was "great, maybe they're touring soon". I must have read that message a hundred times, willing the words to change. I logged on to the site, hoping that it was some particularly sick hoax. It was a gorgeous sunny early summer day, the striped sunlight shining through the blinds on my office window, but all I could do was sit and shiver. A couple of nights ago, I was driving the 140 miles from where I live now, down to my leaky-roofed house. Along with some other bits, my recently arrived copy of The Evangelist was along for the drive. Probably on the third listen through the album, From Ghost Town came on, and I suddenly felt as if I'd been hit in the chest with a ton weight. The tears came so fast, I could hardly see the road. I pulled over to the side of the road and sat there sobbing, for Grant, and for other friends no longer here. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2132 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks for sharing all of the above reminiscences. I went into the kitchen and I was just about to go out but turned on the radio news at 10am. They said Grant had died. I immediately tried to get in touch with Pete Azzopardi to let him know. He was at work but the message was passed on to him through his girlfriend. Then I went online to read it on the message board, to see if it was really true. Kevin had sent me an email. He had heard earlier on the other side of the world. That was a demon day. | ||
| Charles Coy Member Username: Coy Post Number: 60 Registered: 10-2006 |
...I tried to block yesterday out, in the car on my way to work I played my usual favourites (at this time) 'Wrong Road, Apology Accepted, Hammer the Hammer, This Girl Black Girl, then called up From Ghost Town and rotated it the rest of the way. My colleagues thought I had'nt slept. This board helps it all move on.. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 639 Registered: 04-2006 |
The 6th of May is my son's birthday. In 2003 the Gob's played exactly on that day in Berlin - so I missed the concert. In 2006 I thought that I would get 'old' with the Gob's and I decided to participate here on the board. A lot of nice people welcomed me and I had a lot to tell and discuss. At the end of the 6th of May in 2006 after a exhausting birthday party with a bunch of 8 year old young 'rockers' I checked the message board and read the sad news about Grant's passing. Unbelievable that was. And I remember that a deep sadness -which lasted months- came over me. | ||
| Adrian P Member Username: Adp Post Number: 31 Registered: 05-2005 |
I didn't get the awful news until Monday lunchtime when I checked this site from my desk. Had to head out for a long walk to clear my head. What's that line from one of the Jack Frost songs? "It's funny how someone you've never met remains with you." (sorry if I've misremembered that). The Evangelist seems like a closing of the circle. A powerful and helpful listen. | ||
| Mark Mucek Unregistered guest |
It's almost as good as Oceans Apart. Just needed that little extra bit of Grant's pop sensibility. | ||
| Ted Member Username: Ted Post Number: 9 Registered: 01-2005 |
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/frontro w/past_programmes.shtml A few words from RF on the Friday 23 May show (and I mean a few). But may be of interest to the completists here... "Losing your song-writing partner. Lyricist Don Black, former Go-Between Robert Forster, Jazz musician Russell Davies, and music critic Neil McCormick discuss what happens when song-writing partnerships come to an end. " | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 2399 Registered: 05-2005 |
cheers Ted, its at 19m 44 sec if you want to rush the iplayer... | ||
| Duncan Hurwood Member Username: Duncan_h Post Number: 106 Registered: 05-2005 |
I've had the album a few months now, and think I can assess what I think of it now, if anyone cares! It takes a while to get to grips with the song. As a whole I find it a very cohesive album. It stays on the same level musically, and can easily be enjoyed as one piece, unlike (for example) "Warm Nights", which I find find quite bitty. The ordering of the tracks for "The Evangelist" is just perfect. "If it rains" is good, but not one of my favourites. It's an evocation of facing certain emotions, but it's not my favourite song on there. "Demon Days" sounds much better on the album that it did as the b-side of the single. It's undeniably moving with such a sad vocal gaining strength through understatement. "Pandanus" I like, but it hasn't really leapt out at me. It's catchy, pleasant, but certainly an album track to me. It's nice, but it seems to be missing something, some chorus that it builds up to but doesn't quite reach. "Did she overtake you?" is one of my favourite songs on the album. I like it's story of changing circumstance that the narrator finds himself suddenly in, and the tone of surprise. It's a gorgeous little song. "The Evangelist" I don't like very much. It's a little too personal for me, and I can't really connect with it. "Let your light in, babe" is an absolute masterpiece of a song. I haven't got superlatives enough to praise it. Musically it's wonderful, while the lyrics tell such a sweet story with great undertones. It's such a joyful song, and exactly the kind of thing that first made me such a fan of The Go-Betweens. Beautiful. "A place to hide away" hasn't grabbed me that much either. A b-side of a song for me. "Don't touch anything" has a valedictory feel. I played it when I was trying to put a model together with my children, and it worked really well for that! "It ain't easy" is fantastic. I really do love the music Grant wrote - I was a huge fan of his faster songs. I'm glad we've got another one of them here. The lyrics are exactly the right level of celebration of life. I've played it and "Let your light in" more than anything else on the album. I love the way "From Ghost Town" doesn't sound like anything else on the album. It's a little too sad to really say I enjoy it, but I appreciate it's emotional strength, and it is very moving. | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 195 Registered: 05-2005 |
Duncan wrote: ""Demon Days" sounds much better on the album that it did as the b-side of the single." How does the version that was on the download single differ from the version on the album? Is it a demo or something? | ||
| Duncan Hurwood Member Username: Duncan_h Post Number: 107 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hi fsh! No, it's the same song, I was just listening to it in a different way depending on the context. When I first heard "Demon Days" on the download, it seemed a little lacking when compared to "Let you light in". But on the album, the first (slower) track feels like a lead in to it, and to me it gives "Demon Days" a more cathartic feel coming after the build up of 'If it rains...' It sounds much better there than as a single track on its own. | ||
| Ian Darby Member Username: Jan Post Number: 8 Registered: 10-2006 |
I don't know how many of you read French but I happened to be reading a review of the Evangelist on a French website. It was quite interesting and had a rather academic approach to deconstructing all the songs (very French dare I say). I was a little surprised when the reviewer concludes that Robert is writing about a brother who suicided in 'From Ghost Town' - an entirely new and unexpected take on 'David wrote in a goodbye note.....'! http://www.on-a-good-day.net/article-197 84066.html The Evangelist représente donc plusieurs enquêtes en une : sur le disparu, sur celui qui reste, et sur ce qui ensemble faisait leur force. Il s'y ajoute un autre disparu : son frère David, suicidé apparemment (celui-ci a laissé une « goodbye note »), et dont certaines phrases qu'il lui adresse pourraient aussi bien concerner Grant : « It's strong, yes yes yes what we made for a thousand years it will not fade no no no ». A défaut de connaître l'histoire avec David, je vais raconter ici l'histoire avec Grant. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 375 Registered: 01-2007 |
My Dad 70 yesterday Loves The Evangelist. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2351 Registered: 05-2005 |
Happy birthday Frank's dad! My father recently turned 65. Can't imagine he'd like The Evangelist. The last concert I can recall him going to was in 1989 - Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Liza Minelli in Dublin in 1989. I was living in Boston at the time and so didn't go, though I can't imagine having gone even if I was in Ireland at the time. Boy I'd love now to have seen that concert. | ||
| Adrian P Member Username: Adp Post Number: 37 Registered: 05-2005 |
returning to this album last night for the first time in a while ... definitely my album of the year. Great songs and such warmth coming through. Possibly Robert's finest solo album? | ||
| Andreas Severins Member Username: Andreas_severins Post Number: 53 Registered: 11-2007 |
Hi Adrian, I as well think it is Robert's finest solo album. Today I got the new german rolling stone with the albums of the year. The Evangelist is #4 there!! Not too bad Andreas. |