| Author | Message | ||
     Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1259 Registered: 03-2006 |
Every week, particularly since the death of GM, I've taken to playing a couple of GBs albums in their entirety, just to keep them fresh in the mind, and also obviously, because I really enjoy them. Anyway, last night I played BYBO and, you know, it just really worked, really clicked. Virtually the whole thing just poured out of the stereo in full technicolor glory... In the past, I'd dissed it a bit, but it really is better than I gave it credit for...not an A, like the majority of their catalog, but at least a good solid B, maybe a B+. Maybe my newfound appreciation for it is partly based on the realization that this is it, folks, no more new Go-Betweens. We're left with parsing and reassessing, well, what we're left with... Any other GBs stuff that gets short shrift? | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 164 Registered: 08-2006 |
I actually bought SMAL two weekends ago. I'd never heard it, shockingly, and had the impression it was markedly different from the rest of the catalog. I'm surprised how much I enjoy it, and what a logical piece of the GBs oevre it is. I don't think it's a masterpiece, but I've enjoyed it quite a bit. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1018 Registered: 04-2005 |
Most of us here don't underrate it, but a few do, and some critics drubbed it a bit: Spring Hill Fair. To me, it has better songs overall than BH or LBATBDE--it's just tainted a bit by overproduction and a less organic feel. | ||
| steve haddan Member Username: Steve_haddan Post Number: 4 Registered: 05-2006 |
I feel "Heart and Home" from "Friends of Rachel Worth" fits the underrated category. It rarely made it to live sets and doesn't figure at all in the "Best Of" compilations I've read on this site. A beautiful lyric - Grant's lost love theme at its best - and his guitar riff is magnificent. Their second incarnation was up and running here and the album is one of my favorites. | ||
| Elizabeth Robinson Member Username: Liz_the_new_listener Post Number: 44 Registered: 10-2006 |
'Everything by the Go-Betweens is underrated', but anyway, I agree re Heart and Home, and would like to add all four songs on the bonus CD that came with Bright Yellow, Bright Orange. Thanks, Steve! | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 241 Registered: 08-2006 |
Elizabeth, I agree about the BYBO bonus tracks. Stellar, and a good call. If I'm not mistaken, they include "Girl Lying on a Beach," a song that affects me strongly every time I hear it. I think any of those songs would have been worth additions to the CD proper. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 131 Registered: 09-2006 |
LK, much agreed on BYBO...it digs in deeper for me with each listen, and I'd go even higher: it's a solid A for me now. Rob, I like playing SMAL and its bonus disc together - the herkity-jerkity groove they're into benefits with extended listening. The early-Talking Heads influence is so obvious, but they make something very much their own out of it. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 345 Registered: 01-2005 |
I mentioned this before, but my cd insert for BYBO is graced on the cover by autographs from Grant, Robert, Adele and Glenn. Robert wrote In The Rain in the raindrops. It's the bomb! | ||
| David James Member Username: Broadmajestic Post Number: 12 Registered: 10-2006 |
totally agree in regards to "Heart and Home" - one of Grant's best. the sounds of the guitars are quintessential go-betweens. and that lyric, 'eyes so blue it's like falling through an evening in the west' is so pure. | ||
| Guy Ewald Member Username: Guy_ewald Post Number: 191 Registered: 02-2005 |
Bright Yellow Bright Orange is an understated classic to my ears and I never understood why people (fans around here) weren't too keen on it. Song for song Rachel Worth is probably the stronger set, but I immediately liked BYBO better. |