release date: Oct. 25, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Robert Forster
label: Rough Trade Records - nationality: Australia
Track highlights: 1. "Nature's Way" - 3. "Echo Beach" - 4. "Tell Me That It Isn't True" - 5. "2541" (4 / 5) (live with Grant Hart) - 6. "Anytime" - 7. "Locked Away" - 8. "Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow" - 9. "Alone"
3rd studio album by Robert Forster following one year after his sophomore Calling From a Country Phone is like that released on Beggars Banquet - with Rough Trade distributing optical issues for the German and Scandinavian markets. The album consists of 12 compositions that are all covers with Forster sending his praise to some of his idols. The album is recorded with a short list of familiar names including bassist Mick Harvey, keyboardist Conway Savage - both from The Bad Seeds - and with drummer Clare Moore. Also future Bad Seeds member Warren Ellis plays violin on two tracks. The songwriters represent all types of styles and are credited for music spanning several decades, and they are as follows: Randy California (of the American band Spirit), Guy Charles Clark (American folk / country artist), Mark Gane (of American band Martha & The Muffins), Bob Dylan, Grant Hart (of American punk rock band Hüsker Dü), Herbert 'Happy' Lawson (American country songwriter), Steve Jordan & Keith Richards (song taken from Richard's solo debut), Neil Diamond, Tom Kelly & Billy Steinberg (song from their project i-Ten), Michael Hansonis (of German indie rock band King Candy), Mickey Newbury (American singer / songwriter), Bill Anderson (American country songwriter).
It's a quite coherent release despite the fact that all songs originally stem from various stylistic genres. All compositions have that distict personal touch of Forster's songwriting skills, which makes them all sound like his personal songs. Of course it helps that he only makes use of a handful of musicians and also that the individual songs mostly are arranged with focus on the performance of the vocal, guitar and / or piano backing, so that the songs have a re-arranged mix that fit in a jangle pop and folk-territory - and that works quite nicely. It still contains elements of Forster's love for traditional country, but nowhere to the same extent as you fill find on Calling From a Country Phone. Best songs here are, however, the jangle pop arrangements of the original new wave song "Echo Beach" by Martha & The Muffins, the country song "Anytime" by songwriter Herbert Lawson, and the punk rock song "2541" by Grant Hart. Alongside these, other songs shine almost as bright making the whole thing a fine collection of "lost classics".
In Forster's autobiography "Grant & I" he talks about this album as something he wish he'd never recorded. He says it was made in a rush, hardly without preparation and that it's basically a mistake compared to his better '93 album. Well, I'm sorry Robert, but I simply do not agree. This is a better album because of good material and a personal take on highly diverse songs. And perhaps the unpreparedness to the recording process just gave it that extra quality of Forster origin that others find in it - the same product he finds insufficient.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]
