| Author | Message | ||
     Victor Prose Unregistered guest |
THE 10 WORST ROBERT FORSTER MOMENTS There’s a lot of stretching here – as I indicated elsewhere, Forster never quite hit the lows McLennan managed in his most bored moments. But he was young once… 10. Danger in the Past’s “atonal” tracks The renderings of such career-defining beautiful songs as “I’ve Been Looking For Somebody” and “Justice” were the plums of this unexpectedly subdued debut, but the more forgettable material (I’m thinking primarily if not exclusively of “Leave Here Satisfied” and “Heart Out To Tender”) felt like pretentious concessions to the artiste’s Bad Seeds company. 9. “A Place to Hide Away” Told you there’d be some stretching. This is far from a bad song (the “I may take up teaching/I have a lot to say” couplet is the CD’s best line), but its relative slightness serves to noticeably undercut the punch and power The Evangelist too often lacks. 8. “Man O’ Sand To Girl O’ See” (Spring Hill Fair version) Only because it spoils SHF’s otherwise A++ quality by denying placement to a potentially grand brand-new tenth track (“Sweet Tasting Hours”, anybody? “Rare Breed”?), and because it’s too slow (even though it sounds sped up), and because they leave out my favorite line (“Guitar!”). 7. “Time in the Desert” Not terrible by any means, but by 1987 Forster had really exhausted the “arbitrarily angular” approach of his older, wilier days. 6. “Little Joe” See “Time In The Desert”. 5. “Snake Skin Lady” Placed here instead of “Fortress” or “On a Street Corner” because I remember how this one goes. Difficult as it is, much of Warm Nights is rewarding, complex, and commendably earthy. It has more than its share of dull moments, however, and I think this – which compounds the dullness with pretentious and/or silly and/or incredibly profound lyrics (“she had these pants”). This one also lends credence to Robert Christgau’s suggestion that the songs were “better than the help”, as the Man from Orange Juice punctuates a particular line about bands “count[ing] off, one-two-three-four” with an utterly brainless “one-two-three-four!” sound effect. 4. “Ask” Single-handedly prevents me from completely enjoying Before Hollywood. I can deal with the uncompromisingly melody-free “Before Hollywood” and “By Chance” because they’re kinetic, exciting, literate, intricate songs. But somehow, every time this literate, intricate, intermittently kinetic five-minute side-closer goes into the “we’re just…” part, I literally want to go to sleep. 3. “In Her Diary” When it comes to Forster’s more-or-less ho-hum Bright Yellow Bright Orange songs, I can take rudimentary (“Caroline & I”), repetitive (“Something for Myself”), unenergetic (“Make Her Day”), even completely inconsequential (“Too Much of One Thing”). But this barely feels like a song. 2. “After The Fireworks” Put at number two because a) I needed a space-filler and b) it was probably all Nick Cave’s idea, anyway. But I can guarantee you it wasn’t much of Grant’s idea, and if it was, he was lying to himself. And I blame the Bad Seeds’ sometimes harmful stylistic permeation of the Go-Betweens’ earlier material on Forster, even if he wasn’t the one that lived with Cave. 1. The Lost Album demos The first thing you notice about these thoroughly inept home demos is how uncannily reminiscent of the mid-to-late 60s they are. The second thing you notice is how thoroughly inept they are. Everyone likes the Abel [sic?] label tracks, particularly the classic “Karen”, but some of these (“Love Wasn’t Made For You And Me” [sic?], “Summer’s Melting My Mind”) are among the worst songs I’ve ever heard. Cheers, Victor | ||
| JunkInTheTrunk Unregistered guest |
1. Girl to a World, or whatever it's called. 2. Jug O' Wine 3. I Can Do 4. German Farmhouse 5. Lavenda 6. Surfing Magazines 7. Rock and Roll Friend (Warm Nights version) 8. Something for Myself 9. In Her Diary 10. Karen | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 267 Registered: 10-2006 |
Ah, no, completely inconsequential for Too Much of one thing, I can't accept!! Though I have to admit the song didn't really hit me in all its rich lyrical majesty until the profoundly beautiful acoustic version on the DVD; which convinced me suddenly that I really had to go back and overview the whole GoB's oeuvre; and it's strange how as one of the few real co-written songs - Forster lyrics and Grant tune - it would prefigure the posthumous collaborations on Evangelist. And I also love Snake Skin Lady: silly and profound and pretentious and nostalgic and moving, simultaneously...that's Robert Forster for you. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1559 Registered: 10-2004 |
Victor - Funny you mention After the Fireworks, as I'm not a fan of that track either. I don't think I even have it anymore, and I don't even care! Can't stand that one. As for Time in the Desert, I actually like that tune. The band's performance is a bit stilted and stiff, but I love the Philly-soul inspired chord progressions and melodies. I mean, it's like this white, Australian guitar-pop band trying to sound like the Chi-Lites or something. Awesome! I like Little Joe, too. It's a bit underdeveloped, but I can hear what they were shooting for. As for songs I'm not fond of: Spring Hill Fair version of Man 'O Sand - This is undoubtedly inferior to the blazing 7" version. It's interesting to hear, but it is kind of sad to think that it takes up real estate that could've been occupied by some pretty cool b-sides and demos that were floating around at that time. And why did they feel the need to repeat this anyhow? The 7" version was perfection. I'd have faulted them far less for simply including *that* version on the album. Danger in the Past - This song has never sat well with me because it sounds so much like the Bad Seeds. Like, oppressively so. It's got Mick Harvey all over it, obviously, and the problem is that when I listen to Robert Forster, I don't want to hear the Bad Seeds! I'm over the Bad Seeds. I just don't even really want to think about them. Warm Nights version of Rock 'n Roll Friend: See my comments about Man 'O Sand. Why mess with perfection? The original is beautiful. This version is embarrassing. Make Her Day - For me, this has to be most trite, generic sounding song Forster has ever written. It could've been knocked out by any faceless, indie band with hands and a guitar. Caroline and I - I don't mind this song so much, but I'm always irked by its generic appropriation of the La Bamba riff. | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 135 Registered: 05-2005 |
C'mon Jeff - Make Her Day - 'That's Punk Rock'! | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1565 Registered: 10-2004 |
Ha! Make Her Day is about as Punk Rock as Veruca Salt. |