Jet Set...Go! [EP]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Debut single from an Australian coterie headed by esteemed Lucksmiths vocalist and percussionist Tali White. On the title track, Tali is joined by Candle Records star Richard Easton plus members of Sodastream and Art of Fighting to create a wonderful racket with guitars and drums and handclaps that you can’t get out of your head. This three-song EP also features acoustic tracks "A Faraway Place" and "Cornflakes" which showcase Tali’s signature voice and are simply lovely in a Sugargliders-sort of way. An album entitled "Private Transport" is scheduled for release later in the year, but you’ll want to get hip to the Guild League now because this one’s limited to 1000 copies.

16 Lovers Lane
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Why don't more people know about this band?
  • Exceptional songs
  • My Favorite Album of All Time
  • hugely under-sold masterpiece
  • The Go-Betweens best moment given fantastic treatment.
 16 Lovers Lane
The Go-Betweens
Manufacturer: Jet Set Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. Tallulah
  2. Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
  3. Oceans Apart
  4. Before Hollywood
  5. Spring Hill Fair

ASIN: B00067Z24G
Release Date: 2004-11-09

Tracks:

  1. Love Goes On!
  2. Quiet Heart
  3. Love Is a Sign
  4. You Can't Say No Forever
  5. Devil's Eye
  6. Streets of Your Town
  7. Clouds
  8. Was There Anything I Could Do?
  9. I'm Allright
  10. Dive for Your Memory
  11. Streets of Your Town [Version 1][Multimedia Track]
  12. Streets of Your Town [Version 2][Multimedia Track]
  13. Was There Anything I Could Do? [Multimedia Track]

Tracks:

  1. Love Goes On! [Single Version]
  2. Wait Until June
  3. Mexican Postcard
  4. Rock and Roll Friend
  5. Casanova's Last Words
  6. You Won't Find It Again
  7. Running the Risk of Losing You
  8. Apples in Bed
  9. Head Over Heels
  10. You're a Big Girl Now

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Why don't more people know about this band?.......2006-01-10

"I try to tell you, yeah I can only say it when we're apart."

"Sometimes girl when I'm lonely, this is how I think about you"

These are lines of great writing and singing. Some of the best lyrics you'll find anywhere, there's more but I'm listening to it now and can't remember them without skipping the tracks and I don't want to. I remember really being into this when I worked at this tv show and had to drive back and forth from Pasadena. This album got to me while driving under those train track looking bridges. It just melted over the radio and soothed me even though I had to run stupid errons, it didn't matter, this was where I was heart and soul into this thing.

The album starts so sweetly and then slowly you come to heartbreak and the soothing feeling afterwards of starting over again. It's their best and holds up over time, makes you remember the good things about lousy days.

5 out of 5 stars Exceptional songs.......2006-01-07

I have never been a Go-Betweens fan but this cd is exceptional. When I purchased it the salesperson told me it was well worth the money. She couldn't have been more right. As far as I'm concerned there isn't one bad song in the lot. I would recommend this album to anyone who asked for my opinion.

5 out of 5 stars My Favorite Album of All Time.......2005-12-14

This would be my desert island disc, if I could only choose one. Sheer bloody magnificence is contained in these 10 perfect songs. I can't even choose favorites - my favorite is whatever one I'm listening to at the moment - but highpoints include: the fragile, but optimistic "Love Goes On!", the deceptively sunny, but dark "Streets of Your Town" (it's "full of battered wives") and "Quiet Heart", a tender love song that contains the somewhat depressing, but nonetheless true, wisdom "No matter how far you've gone, you've always got further to go".

"Dive For Your Memory", too, is sublime, Zen perfection. Very forlorn, but deeply poetic lyrics, set to a gorgeous, simple folk melody, accompanied by rich and tasteful acoustic guitar fills...

And, let me not leave out the romantically tortured narrative of "I'm Alright"...the protagonist of this song has been beaten down, but is, somewhat shakily, ready for a comeback.

Every Go-Betweens disc is worth picking up, but this is the most masterful and perfect distillation of their gifts so far.

(I'm a huge fan of them all, but if I had to narrow it down, I'd say the ones to get are: "Tallulah", "Liberty Belle", "Spring Hill Fair", "Oceans Apart" and, of course, this.)

5 out of 5 stars hugely under-sold masterpiece.......2005-11-18

You can't say this is underrated - critics have raved about it since its release - but at about 18,500 in the Amazon sales list, it is obviously unknown to millions of people who would adore it.
See previous reviewer for the run-down - I agree totally. I know all this group's albums. I saw them live, and McClennan solo - in fact I'm seeing Foster and McClennan at the Sydney Opera House next week. Sometimes they're not entirely easy to like; they make you work for it a bit.
But this is their masterpiece. Every memeber was in top form, despite personal turmoil, and the 'indie Rumours' is a good description. It's probably the best 'serious' rock/pop album to come out of Australia (challenged only by the more confronting Nick Cave). Gorgeous is the word. Pop music of the most affecting kind. In a fairer world, 16 Lover's Lane would nudge its way into the best 50 albums of all time.

5 out of 5 stars The Go-Betweens best moment given fantastic treatment........2004-11-30

Without a doubt, this is a must-have for any fan of the Go-Betweens and the place to start if you are new to the band. "A man far wiser than myself once referred to "16 Lovers Lane" as 'the indie Rumours'" the liner notes say in this fantastic re-issue of the Go-Betweens ultimate set of songs. No truer words were ever spoken about this amazing set. Why this album didn't spawn at least five top 10 singles is a mystery that will never be solved. But needless to say this is a fantastic set made even better by the wonderful packaging and extras included with this re-release

For those of you unfamiliar with the Go-Betweens work, this was the consummate work of their 80's heyday, for a great many reasons. The music is bright pop music, crystal clear, but in no way is it featherweight pop. The songs are beautifully arranged, every instrument, vocal, handclap, and anything else perfectly placed with not a note out of place, but this can be said of nearly every Go-Betweens release.

The lyrics, plaintive ruminations on love, are clearly written by two songwriters/lyricists going through the opposite sides of relationships. I will not go into detail here as the liner notes tell the story, but the interplay within the band as these relationships play out are what drove the entire release. Each lyricist, Grant McLennan and Robert Forster, gets about half of the album's lyrics, and that is what makes the CD special. Images of the giddyness of new love ("Love Goes On!") are juxtaposed with images of love lost in such as way as to be almost shocking. "I'm ten feet under water/standing in a sunken canoe/looking up at the water lillies/they're green and violet blue/still the sun it finds/a place to light me" from "Love Is a Sign" has to be one of the best descriptions of how it feels when a relationship falls apart that has ever been placed in song. These themes are repeatedly dealt with in different ways, from young lovers meeting and breaking up to the "old" love of couples with children ("You Can't Say No Forever") having a fight.

The bonus material in this handsome double-disc set is truly welcome. The videos to "Streets of Your Town" (still undoubtedly the best song on this incredible collection) and "Was There Anything I Could Do?" underscore the relationships going on in the band while not seeming too terribly out of date. The bonus disc of outtakes and b-sides is also a fantastic addition to the set as it includes several songs that didn't make the final album cut but are presented as they were at the end of the recording sessions, being nearly complete but having that rough edge of a final demo.

The real treat come with the acoustic "demos" that are included. "You Won't Find It Again," "Apples in Bed," and "Head Over Heels" are played only by McLennan and Forster on acoustic guitars, providing for an intimacy that is unmatched anywhere.

To top it all off, the packaging (including an awesome essay by British songwriter Andrew Male) is exquisite, providing detail on the circumstances surrounding the album as well as any pertinent recording information.

This is "16 Lovers Lane" as it was meant to be heard--enjoy!
Before Hollywood
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Wizards of Aus.
  • I also love my Go-B's raw.
  • Before Hollywood
  • After Before Hollywood
  • The Ascendance of G.W. McLennan
 Before Hollywood
The Go-Betweens , and Go-Betweens
Manufacturer: Jet Set Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. Spring Hill Fair
  2. 16 Lovers Lane
  3. Send Me a Lullaby
  4. Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
  5. The Friends of Rachel Worth

ASIN: B000069KAA
Release Date: 2002-07-23

Tracks:

  1. A Bad Debt Follows You
  2. Two Steps, Step Out
  3. Before Hollywood
  4. Dusty In Here
  5. Ask
  6. Cattle And Cane
  7. By Chance
  8. As Long As That
  9. On My Block
  10. That Way

Tracks:

  1. Hammer The Hammer
  2. Heaven Says
  3. Just A King In Mirrors
  4. A Peaceful Wreck
  5. Man O'Sand To Girl O'Sea
  6. Near The Chimney
  7. This Girl, Black Girl
  8. Secret Track: The Exception of Deception
  9. Cattle And Cane (video)

Album Description

Stunning two CD re-issue featuring an 8 track bonus disc of previously unreleased material 'Hammer The Hammer', 'Heaven Says', 'Just A King In Mirrors', 'A Peaceful Wreck', 'Man O'Sound To Girl O'Sea', 'Near The Chimney', 'This Girl, Black Girl' and the long lost video for 'Cattle And Cane'. 2002.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Wizards of Aus........2007-06-17

In a funny sort of way, these are the kind of reviews I like doing least, when they should be the easiest and therefore the most enjoyable.
Fact is, there's only so many ways you can say something is good without a) sounding repetitive and b) not really conveying what you really feel. Neither is in any way satisfactory. This is why `professional' writers, good writers, are held in such esteem. Its not easy, week after week, thinking up wise new thrusts, entertaining barbs when, quite frankly, the briefs they get handed, would sink a battleship, never mind ones' enthusiasm.
There's only so much you can say about culture (unless you have 2 years to do research and then plunder the thesaurus), even when dealing, on the rare occasion, with genius. Imagine years of it; the same pop groups, same comedians, same sporting events. (Imagine being Motty!(GB soccer journalist) doing the Cup Final for 40 years, and still having to have to come up with something original to say about it). Difficult.
We have it easy on Amazon. Recycle some ancient rock clichés, rummage through some old obscure reviews and re-jig the salient points, add some modern parlance so you don't sound EXACTLY like some-ones grandad, throw the lot in a mixer and away you go. Just add water(like most bands!), and happy days. It helps slightly when you've been experiencing something for decades (and not just a week like a `real' reviewer would get), you can then comment on how the years have been kind, the power of the songs is undiminished, and how the whole caboodle is timeless.
Doddle. Time for tea.
The Go-Betweens excellent second album is easily all those obvious things and much more. Its basically guitar pop with an edge, ie; superb melodies and great lyrics. Quite straightforward really.
But there is proper, grown up greatness here, all their albums have it to a degree, but here its at some sort of peak. This is where they should have broke out from being an indie cult band, and moved into the million sellers club. I can't fathom why this didn't happen, maybe Rough Trade didn't have the clout, or were concentrating too much on the fledgling Smiths. I suppose we wont know now, same as I'll never know how the outstanding `Cattle and Cane' wasn't Number 1 for weeks. Too good perhaps?
"I recall, a bigger brighter world,
A world of books, and silent times in thought,
And then the railroad, the railroad takes me home,
Through fields of cattle, through fields of cane."
Sweeping lyricism like this infests every song, permeates every little digital groove. Pulls you even deeper into the already seething and soaring mass(!) the music has become, ever since the punky opener `A Bad Debt Follows You.' strode from the speakers. See? The titles are a transparent giveaway.
At the time, it seemed the Go-Betweens were timidly and coyly pushing this stuff, I think it was around about their fourth lp `Tallulah' that they began to realize how good they were. The bluff they expounded during interviews at the time was exactly that. Almost Dylan-like, both in sound AND attitude, but where it counts, on the record, strident and magnificent. An odd paradox, but when you're trying to convey the feelings and dreams that have shaped your life, you fit what counts high, where you can. You could certainly play' Before Hollywood' straight after `Blood on the Tracks`, and notice all kinds of communion, you might even get a genuine sense of continuity. Its also a marked truism that the Go-Betweens creative rocketing mirrored the beginning of Dylans' decline, its like he turned to God when he heard the competition!
Comparisons/influences (one and the same here) aside, this is yet another screamer from a time when it seemed we got a screamer every week. No slight on today's turns (it is!), good music's always out there if you know where to look, and with age doesn't come jade. I still want to leap round the room when I hear `Two Steps, Step Out' or `By Chance' even after all this time.
I'm trying to say this ain't some relic from a bygone era, it's fresh and sexy and every thing you've heard is the God's honest.
Ask Bobby D.
Mm...not as difficult as I expected. Now where's that kettle?
NB. Grant. A good `un. RIP

5 out of 5 stars I also love my Go-B's raw........2006-12-16

Within the last few months I have developed a ravenous appetite for the music of Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, beginning with Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express and Oceans Apart. Guitar and keyboard sonorities that hearkened back to my childhood, keen, literate lyrics and coming of age in the 80's sensibilities - what a combination, what a treat! I included more CD's in my next batch, and yet Before Hollywood ended up in my third - to be devoured after the brilliant Spring Hill Fair and 16 Lover's Lane.

As the liner notes attest, BEFORE HOLLYWOOD came about as if the then-threesome were standing on the cusp of great things. Robert Forster had tapped into his energetic side, and Grant McLennan had begun to sing his own songs, while making his bass guitar lines melodic. The chiaroscuro formula familiar to fans of the Go-Betweens began here, as soon as the two strong creative personalities asserted themselves. By the time the sultry tang of 'Ask' segues into the endearing simplicity of 'Cattle and Cane', we are pleased with such contrast, enjoying the present moment but anticipating what follows. But in no other song by the Go-Betweens has dawn and lightning contrasted as much as in 'As Long as That', because RF and GM so evenly alternate lead vocals. Forster's characteristic declamations, out of tune with the guitar but sounding right somehow, are answered by McLennan in a manner attuned to the mood of the song, with the same tune his bass plays. Within the bounds of those simple but not easy chord progressions, one man gets the listener's attention, and the other finds he cannot help but sing. And so it goes, from 'A Bad Debt Follows You' all the way to 'That Way' - on to Spring Hill Fair and the fuller, less vulnerable sound of a foursome. But don't miss the title track on the way - the lyrics are brilliant - and be sure to notice 'Dusty in Here' - typical McLennan songcraft. The glory days of 'Twin Layers of Lightning' are still to come, and I am happy to say I also love my Go-B's raw.

3 out of 5 stars Before Hollywood.......2006-06-28

Before Hollywood by The Go-Betweens is a strong album. The track Cattle and Cane is a classic.

5 out of 5 stars After Before Hollywood.......2006-05-30

After this album, this band was - to almost all who heard them -feted and loved. 'Before Hollywood' has power, depth and grace. 'Cattle and Cane' is a pop elegy with little parallel.

And for good measure, the bonus disc is not full of outtakes, but has previously released singles, the most compelling of which is the driving 'Man O'Sand to Girl O'Sea'

4 out of 5 stars The Ascendance of G.W. McLennan.......2006-03-02

This is the GoBs disc where GM finally started to assert himself and contribute songs, the beginning of the classic GoBs album formula, wherein each writer contributes 5 songs...

And GM more than acquits himself here, right out of the f-in starting gate, with the all time, extremely top shelf "Cattle and Cane"... I can't say enough about this epic and monumental tale of GM's growing up in rural Australia. It has to be in the top 5 best GoBs songs and is quite possibly their best ever...

And here, after the harsh and not particularly melodic sounds of the first disc, their songcraft starts to come into its own here. "Bad Debt", "By Chance", et al. are memorable and strong...

Spring Hill Fair
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • You've never lived....
  • Like you needed another reason to buy this CD!
 Spring Hill Fair
The Go-Betweens
Manufacturer: Jet Set Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. Before Hollywood
  2. 16 Lovers Lane
  3. Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
  4. Tallulah
  5. Send Me a Lullaby

ASIN: B000069CKV
Release Date: 2002-07-23

Tracks:

  1. Bachelor Kisses
  2. Five Words
  3. The Old Way Out
  4. You've Never Lied
  5. Part Company
  6. Slow, Slow Music
  7. Draining the Pool For You
  8. River of Money
  9. Unkind & Unwise
  10. Man O'Sand To Girl O'Sea

Tracks:

  1. Emperor's Courtessan
  2. Rare Breed
  3. Newton Told Me
  4. Just Right For Him
  5. Attraction
  6. The Power That I Now Have
  7. Second-Hand Furniture
  8. Marco Polo Jr.
  9. Sweet Tasting Hours
  10. Unkind & Unwise (Instrumental)
  11. Bachelor Kisses (Video)

Album Description

Stunning remastered 2 CD set featuring a 10 track bonus disc of previously unreleased material 'Emperor's Courtesan', 'Rare Breed', 'Newton Told Me', 'Just Right For Him', 'Attraction', 'The Power That I Now Have', 'Second-Hand Furniture', Marco Polo Jr.', 'Sweet Tasting Hours', 'Unkind & Unwise' (instrumental) and an enhanced section featuring the video for 'Bachelor Kisses'. 2002.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars You've never lived...........2006-03-02

...if you haven't heard this disc...It happening to be a very cool example of the GoBs particular genius and magnificence...This catches them just as they were transitioning out of the more punky, angular style of the first two proper albums into something more lush, produced...Evidence of this softening of rough edges and more sophisticated songwriting is apparent in such all time GoBs classics contained herein as the moving and unsentimental break-up ballad, "Part Company" and the spectral, lovely "Bachelor Kisses".

Having said that, there are still some attudinal, punky, FU touches here as well: the rude kiss-off, "You've Never Lived", the cynical world-weary wisdom of "Slow Slow Music" and the extremely experimental (for the GoBs) feedback-laced opus, "River of Money"...Oh, and there's also the Forster LA noir cum Melbourne classic, his version of "Positively Fourth Street", "Draining the Pool for You"....What can I say? As ever, these magnificent bastids rule.

And don't forget GM's helpful advice: you'll get hurt if you play with crooks....

4 out of 5 stars Like you needed another reason to buy this CD!.......2003-03-27

As if Spring Hill Fair weren't reason enough to buy this...you also get the bonus CD with lots of extras. The bonus CD contains a lot of great rarities. Some outtakes, a rare instrumental track ( where did that come from?), a B-side, and a track from the 1978-1990 best of thats no longer available here. Normally this extra stuff is marginalia at best and not worth the extra cash, but not this time. You get some great new songs that stand up next to any of their best. If you don't already have Spring Hill Fair then this is an offer you can't refuse. If you already have it then the bonus disc is really worth the extra money. "Newton told me" is already my favorite. Did I forget to mention the video of Bachelor kisses.
The Friends of Rachel Worth
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • On the most articulate of 'tweeners', the reunited Go-Betweens
  • Comeback Glory
  • A Welcome Return
  • People Move On
  • A Friend of the Go-Betweens
 The Friends of Rachel Worth
The Go-Betweens
Manufacturer: Jet Set Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Indie RockIndie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
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Australia & New ZealandAustralia & New Zealand | International | Styles | Music
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Similar Items:
  1. Bright Yellow Bright Orange
  2. Spring Hill Fair
  3. Before Hollywood
  4. Oceans Apart
  5. That Striped Sunlight Sound (DVD plus audio CD)

ASIN: B00004XSRY
Release Date: 2000-09-19

Tracks:

  1. Magic in Here
  2. Spirit
  3. Clock
  4. German Farmhouse
  5. He Lives My Life
  6. Heart and Home
  7. Surfing Magazines
  8. Orpheus Beach
  9. Going Blind
  10. When She Sang About Angels

Amazon.com's Best of 2000

Though the presiding geniuses of the long-overlooked Aussie band the Go-Betweens have spent the last decade pursuing solo careers, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan came back together with nary a hitch for The Friends of Rachel Worth. The reunion is enhanced by their ace backing band--Sleater-Kinney and Sam Coomes (Quasi). Despite their punk rock cred, their contributions are subtle and understated, letting the Go-Betweens take center stage, where they so obviously belong. --Tod Nelson

Amazon.com

The Friends of Rachel Worth, the Go-Betweens' seventh album, arrives 12 years after the sixth. Though the interceding solo careers of songwriters Robert Forster and Grant McLennan have had their moments, all great partnerships are more than the sum of their parts, and it is to be hoped that this album encourages them to put their reunion on a permanent footing. The Friends of Rachel Worth was recorded by Forster and McLennan in Portland, Oregon, with Sleater-Kinney falling in as a backing band. All the virtues that characterized the Go-Betweens at their finest are still present: five songs each by Forster and McLennan, each one a small El Dorado of hearts and flowers. As ever, their styles are contradictory but complementary: McLennan's peerless knack for the understated, insidious melody anchors Forster's heroically overwrought posturings. In terms of the Go-Betweens' awesome back catalog, this contains the exuberant pop sense of 16 Lovers Lane, the spare and evocative arrangements of Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express, and the lyrical accomplishment of Tallulah. Ultimately, the best that can be said of The Friends of Rachel Worth is that it is worthy of being called a Go-Betweens album, and those in the know will know that praise can come no higher. --Andrew Mueller

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars On the most articulate of 'tweeners', the reunited Go-Betweens.......2006-12-17

Being almost of an age with Robert Forster and the now late, great Grant McLennan, I find the transformation of the Go-Betweens from the wry, literate indie 80's band nobody ever heard of to a mellower version of themselves (best described as a sensitive, articulate adult-contemporary duo-combo nobody seems to have heard of yet) to be entirely logical. RF could not possibly have maintained the high energy level in 'Rare Breed' and 'To Reach Me' - nor would he have wanted to, because by 2000 less is more in 'Spirit' and 'He Lives My Life', sung by a wiser man. The angular side of him becomes more subtle and mischievous in 'German Farmhouse' and the delightful 'Surfing Magazines'. Methinks his old friend GM has rubbed off on him... And as for McLennan, he is more tuneful than ever, his songs now refreshingly outside of time. His voice, no longer so reedy, could still belt out 'Bachelor Kisses' and 'The Wrong Road' if he wished, (as in fact he chose to), but bear in mind what a pleasure it is to hear each and every contribution he makes to this album. 'Orpheus Beach' takes one's breath away, and 'Going Blind' is pure fun that takes me back to my childhood days while still sounding entirely fresh. (After all, we are almost of an age, the Go-Betweens and I.....)

A lovable keeper, an innocent pleasure from start to finish.

5 out of 5 stars Comeback Glory.......2005-06-21

One of the rare bands that bowed out in an unquestionable high(in what's arguably their masterpiece-1988's "16 Lovers Lane")the Go Betweens nonetheless decided to reconvene 12 years later for "Friends of Rachel Worth" which immediately made clear just how much the world was nmissing with their absence.

Nobody has the flair for guitar with the degree of charm that Robert Forster and Grant McLennan so easily display in all their compositions.

So,another handful of classics from the already exceedingly fruitful minds behind one of the most underrated bands in music.

Top cuts-"The Clock","Magic in Here","German Farmhouse","Surfing Magazines"and "Going Blind".

3 out of 5 stars A Welcome Return.......2003-12-21

What can you be disappointed in when one of the best bands ever comes back together again. This is like John Lennon and George Harrison coming back from the dead and Paul McCartney and Ringo joining them after many years. Happy Days, and they still can put out the gems!

This album does not have as many gems as the previous one - 1988's 16 Lover's Lane or the one after it - 2002's Bright Yellow Bright Orange, but it is still good to hear!

4 out of 5 stars People Move On.......2003-06-24

The problem with some of the other reviews of this album (particularly Thoutah) is that they don't acknowledge that artists who write particularly personal songs are constantly changing their personal situations and perspectives on the world, which ultimately will change the type of songs they write and albums they produce.

With regard to the Friends of Rachel Worth, I would advise anyone not to obssesively compare this album to what the Go-Betweens released in the 80s. Yes, "Streets of Your Town" deserved the NMEs rating of the best single released in the 1980s, but that honor doesn't obligate the Go-Betweens to continue to write this song over and over again. Instead, view this album as Robert Forster and Grant McLennan bringing their individual life experiences in the 90s back into the collective enterprise that is the Go-Betweens. As the circumstances of Robert's life change (wife, children etc..) he like any person is apt to reflect upon his life, what it means that a generation after him now exists, and to contrast his current life to his past. For instance, "Surfing Magazines" is a brilliant take on Robert's view of himself as an outsider to the prevailing "surfie" culture that existed in the 70s when he was growing up in Brisbane. The song both simultaneously mocks this lifestyle and the fact that he once yearned for it. If that doesn't show progress in his writing, I'm not sure what does.

Similarly, Grant is showcasing his songs in a low-fi setting-somehat similar to the production values of Robert's solo efforts. So, even though his songs might not necessarily sound as "shimmery" and upbeat as his usual output, I think they are indicative of a maturing talent who is adjusting his expecations of the world and is thankful for what it provides him.

This whole notion of preserving a fixed viewpoint of a group and the individuals that make up the group is something that is common amongst people who never got to see a group perform in their original incarnation, and therefore can't relate to them as an organic group who will change as time and circumstances dictate, but instead regard them as a painting or some other artifact that can be displayed as demonstration of their own good taste.

Ignore the reviews, buy the album and enjoy the fact these two masters are working together again!

5 out of 5 stars A Friend of the Go-Betweens.......2002-08-01

Not so much a dramatic 'comeback' as never been away! I love this album, it grows with every listen. I first got into the GBs around the time of 'Liberty Belle' and saw them live here in England during the 'Tallulah' tour, now 15 years ago.

These songs are mature, sometimes gentle, evocative and warm. The lyrics to 'German Farmhouse' are implanted in my brain. How can Forster and McLennan be such good songwriters and SO under-rated?

If you haven't heard them before this is a nice intro ... but there's a goldmine of good songs to discover ...
Tallulah
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Tallulah
    The Go-Betweens
    Manufacturer: Jet Set Records
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    ASIN: B00067Z23W
    Release Date: 2004-11-09

    Tracks:

    1. Right Here
    2. You Tell Me
    3. Someone Else's Wife
    4. I Just Get Caught Out
    5. Cut It Out
    6. House That Jack Kerouac Built
    7. Bye Bye Pride
    8. Spirit of a Vampyre
    9. Clarke Sisters
    10. Hope Then Strife
    11. Right Here [Multimedia Track]
    12. Bye Bye Pride [Multimedia Track]

    Tracks:

    1. Time in the Desert
    2. I Just Get Caught Out [Early Version]
    3. Don't Call Me Gone
    4. Right Here [Early Version]
    5. If I Was a Rich Man/The House That Jack Kerouac Built [Radio Session]
    6. When People Are Dead
    7. Clarke Sisters [Early Version]
    8. Little Romance
    9. Bye Bye Pride [Radio Session]
    10. Doo Wop in 'A' (Bam Boom)
    78 'Til 79: The Lost Album
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • In the beginning
    • The Go-Betweens' beginnings...good but not great.
    • if you don't love this album, you are on crack
    • the style it takes
    • Great insight into a great band
    		 78 'Til 79: The Lost Album
    The Go-Betweens
    Manufacturer: Jet Set Records
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    1. Send Me a Lullaby
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    ASIN: B00000IMUC
    Release Date: 1999-04-06

    Tracks:

    1. Lee Remick
    2. Karen
    3. Help Or Something
    4. Just Hang On
    5. Long Lonely Day
    6. Day For Night
    7. Love Wasn't Made For You And Me
    8. Summer's Melting My Mind
    9. Obsession With You
    10. Rare Victory
    11. The Sound Of Rain
    12. People Say
    13. Don't Let Him Come Back

    Amazon.com

    The young Go-Betweens briefly flirted with issuing a single on Beserkley Records, the label that brought Jonathan Richman to prominence. Appropriately so; Richman's love of the everyday met Robert Forster's cultural obsessions on the now-legendary Australian band's first single, which coupled an ode to Lee Remick with "Karen," a typically feverish declaration of love for a favorite librarian. In addition to that 45 and the subsequent "People Say"/"Don't Let Him Come Back," The Lost Album also features nine previously unreleased demo-quality tracks made in Forster's bedroom. The Go-Betweens would grow more sophisticated, but these 13 songs show their wit and force already in place. Not just an invaluable historical gap-filler, this CD is as another moving, entertaining entry in their discography. --Rickey Wright

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars In the beginning.......2007-01-10

    This is a wonderful first time pop album. To see the Go-betweens as very young men playing in their apartment while knowing their long musical history culminating in Grant McClennan's death is very touching. These two are true artists.

    3 out of 5 stars The Go-Betweens' beginnings...good but not great........1999-07-10

    This collection is worth owning for the excellent (even crackly!) 7" singles and their respective b-sides (plus "The Sound of Rain" which was to be their first UK single in '79) that bookend this CD, but the rest of the bedroom recordings will only appeal to the diehard fans. These "lost album" recordings do not make for a very pleasant listening, namely due to the crude 2-track quality which cuts out in several places. The songs are not very memorable, but they offer glimpses of where Grant McLennan and Robert Forster were heading with 1981's "Send Me a Lullaby".

    5 out of 5 stars if you don't love this album, you are on crack.......1999-06-25

    this is one of the greatest albums i have ever heard by the go-betweens (or anyone for that matter). the recordings are raw and honest, the songs make you want to sing along. everything else i have heard by this band sounds nothing like the lost album. i don't know why those other people who reviewed this album are whining about the sound of the recording. if you love retro-rock and roll garagy pop songs, this one is for you!

    4 out of 5 stars the style it takes.......1999-04-22

    Having just recieved this record today I've got to sit down and write a few words about it! An insight into the beginnings of a truly great band consisting of the previously released but hard to come by singles "Lee Remick" and "People Say" and nine other songs, the latter recorded in Roberts bedroom in Brisbane. Though poor in sound quality there is no hiding the warmth and charm in these songs. The Go Betweens were always more about personality than actual musical skills. That is not to say that the playing is bad on the contrary it sounds very tight and fresh but technique was never an issue. Personality and style was. What a rare quality!

    3 out of 5 stars Great insight into a great band.......1999-04-06

    A fabulous relic that's finally seeing the light of day, this release is made up of mostly home recordings made four years before the Go-Betweens recorded their first proper record. While the sound quality is of course a little grainy (it sounds about as good as most bootlegs), and on or two tracks the sound cuts out, the songs shine through the non-existant production value: all of them are clever, gorgeous pop songs. However, the best thing here is the inclusion of the first Go Betweens single, "Lee Remmick" and the b-side "Karen." These two songs are worth the ten bucks alone.
    Going Blind
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Going Blind
      The Go-Betweens
      Manufacturer: Jet Set Records
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

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      ASIN: B00004YLET
      Release Date: 2000-10-10

      Tracks:

      1. Going Blind
      2. Woman Across The Way
      3. The Locust Girls
      Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
      Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
      • I love this album
      		 Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
      The Go-Betweens
      Manufacturer: Jet Set Records
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

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      ASIN: B00067Z23M
      Release Date: 2004-11-09

      Tracks:

      1. Spring Rain
      2. Ghost and the Black Hat
      3. Wrong Road
      4. To Reach Me
      5. Twin Layers of Lightening
      6. In the Core of the Flame
      7. Head Full of Steam
      8. Bow Down
      9. Palm Sunday (On Board the S.S. Within)
      10. Apology Accepted
      11. Spring Rain [Multimedia Track]
      12. Head Full of Steam [Multimedia Track]

      Tracks:

      1. Life at Hand
      2. Don't Let Him Come Back [New Version]
      3. Apology Accepted [Radio Session]
      4. I Work in a Health Spa
      5. Bow Down [Early Version]
      6. Casanova's Last Words
      7. Head Full of Steam [Single Version]
      8. Little Joe
      9. Wrong Road [Early Version]
      10. Reunion Dinner
      11. I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars I love this album.......2005-01-21

      This is my 5 star Go Betweens album....every song is a good one and several of them are great...anyone who loves the GOB's has their own favourite and you can debate which one, (and I have)...This is their fourth album and the guys had grown up here and were making songs that reflected and refined their personal experiences and not just their imaginary ones...Grant Mc Lennan and Robert Forster were uniquely two lead singers in the one band, and they both had unique voices...both were infallibly Romantic but Forster was the ironist, McLennan, even at his lightest, was always touched with melancholy...these guys were the genuine article and though they never got famous they were a remarkable band... Spring Rain is Robert Forster at his most jaunty, Twin Layers of Lightening at his most sophisticated, Bow Down his most romantic...McLennan's offerings The Wrong Road and Apology Accepted are splendid...I love this album...If you don't know the band, start with a Greatest Hits and if you get what The Go Betweens were up to, this is the album you must have.
      Send Me a Lullaby
      Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
      • Still finding their way...
      • the first great Go-Betweens album, plus goodies
      		 Send Me a Lullaby
      The Go-Betweens
      Manufacturer: Jet Set Records
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

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      ASIN: B000069CKT
      Release Date: 2002-08-20

      Tracks:

      1. Your Turn, My Turn
      2. One Thing Can Hold Us
      3. People Know
      4. The Girls Have Moved
      5. Midnight To Neon
      6. Eight Pictures
      7. Careless
      8. All About Strength
      9. Ride
      10. Hold Your Horses
      11. Arrow In A Bow
      12. It Could Be Anyone

      Tracks:

      1. Sunday Night
      2. One Word
      3. I Need Two
      4. Heads
      5. It Took You A Week
      6. The Clowns Are In Town
      7. Serenade Sound
      8. Hope
      9. Stop Before You Say It
      10. World Weary
      11. Distant Hands
      12. Undo What You Did
      13. Cracked Wheat
      14. Throw It Away
      15. After The Fireworks (with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)
      16. Your Turn, My Turn (video)

      Album Description

      Stunning remastered 2 CD set featuring 12 previously unreleased tracks including a duet with Nick Cave and an enhanced section featuring the video for 'Your Turn My Turn'. 2002.

      Customer Reviews:

      3 out of 5 stars Still finding their way..........2006-03-02

      ...Despite being a GoB fan of almost stalker-esque proportions, I don't rate this album...it doesn't work for me. I only have it to be a completist and for historical, archival purposes, geek that I am. I almost never pull it out to listen to. Here they are still kind of finding their sound, which at the time, was, at least to me, a fairly unoriginal, Talking Heads-y pastiche kind of thing. And don't get me wrong - this viewpoint informs their later music and shows you where they're from. It just doesn't add up to a very compelling listening experience.

      This one is pretty much for zealots only...

      5 out of 5 stars the first great Go-Betweens album, plus goodies.......2003-04-24

      First of all, the track listing on the second disc is wrong. "I Need Two" and "Heads" are really one song called "I Need Two Heads". "It Took You A Week" was a demo version of disc 1's "The Girls Have Moved", but they elected not to include it apparently. "Throw It Away" isn't there either. And contrary to the description, the 12 tracks are previously unreleased, but some a-sides, b-sides, tracks from a semi-legit album of demos and a couple unreleased numbers.

      This is the first Go-Betweens album and features them at their first stage of consistently recognizable competence. (Earlier material is available on '78 til '79: The Lost Album.) Grant and Robert have more or less disowned this album, and they did move on quickly after recording it - their next album (Before Hollywood) has just faint traces of the plentiful angular and minimalistic moments here. It's also easy to see how these songs could have been performed and arranged in much more sophisticated fashion on later records.

      On the other hand, I don't think it matters much; this is still a fine and deeply interesting record. The band play well enough to have established something of their own sound, but they still wear their contemporaneous influences on their sleeves - in this case, the more literary of the early NYC punk crowd (Patti Smith, Television, Talking Heads) and the artsier of the early UK postpunk bands such as the Subway Sect. They've admitted as much and the aural evidence is there.

      This is Robert's album in a way unlike all future Go-Betweens records (which were split pretty evenly down the middle.) Take that as a cue that even the most "pop" of the songs here do not adhere strongly to normal pop aesthetics; ideas are expressed in purely musical terms in a way that no future Go-Betweens' record matches. The drum solo in the middle of "Eight Pictures", odd saxophone parts, embryonic attempts at vocal harmony . . . they add up to a deeply impressionistic recording, bursting with ideas. The second disc is much the same, though by its nature somewhat less cohesive.

      I'm glad this is the first Go-Betweens album I heard. It helps explain how the band later made use of slightly unconventional methods for conventional gain. The fun and riddles widely on display here confirm that the same sensibility underpins most of what comes later - it's just that their famous very dry sense of humor makes that a bit tough to unveil. In short, it's a great introduction to the band and a fine place to start.
      Bright Yellow Bright Orange
      Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
      • Always a Pleasure to Hear
      • as good as 16 Lover's Lane and Liberty Belle
      • Between the Go and the Gone
      • Four and 1/2 Stars!
      • Junkmedia Magazine Review
      		 Bright Yellow Bright Orange
      The Go-Betweens
      Manufacturer: Jet Set Records
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

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      ASIN: B000089CML
      Release Date: 2003-02-18

      Tracks:

      1. Caroline and I
      2. Poison in the Walls
      3. Mrs. Morgan
      4. In Her Diary
      5. Too Much of One Thing
      6. Crooked Lines
      7. Old Mexico
      8. Make Her Day
      9. Something for Myself
      10. Unfinished Business

      Amazon.com

      Following 12 years of solo work, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan surprised faithful fans in 2000 with the much-lauded Friends of Rachel Worth, and the duo have come out swinging again. Forster may have hit his peak here. His wry, tightly crafted stories of human behavior form the core of the set's strongest songs, highlighted by the brisk and jangly "Too Much of One Thing," the buoyant "Make Her Day," and the organ-adorned "Something for Myself." McLennan, on the other hand, delivers the goods in his usual straight-ahead, verse-chorus-verse fashion, providing an emotional refrain to sink our teeth into on "Poison in the Walls," and a wistful one on the elegiac "Unfinished Business." He seems to be moving in an even more accessible direction, while Forster's work is wrapped in layers that are sheer joy to peel away. Bright Yellow, Bright Orange is further proof that the second half of the Go-Betweens' career is one well worth following. --Lorry Fleming

      Album Description

      Ten shimmering slices of crystalline pop and delirious rock. Contains a bonus, limited edition disc (paper sleeve) with four never-before-heard tracks from the Bright Yellow Bright Orange and Friends Of Rachel Worth sessions 'Instant Replay', 'Woman Across The Way', 'The Locust Girls' & 'Girl Lying On A Beach'. Jetset. 2003.

      Customer Reviews:

      4 out of 5 stars Always a Pleasure to Hear.......2007-01-31

      Every couple of months I play this CD or Friends of Rachel Worth and they are always fresh, bright and interesting. Which, of course, makes it sad that we won't have any more new Go-Betweens music with the death of Grant McLennan last May. The Go-Betweens sound is, for lack of a better term, intelligent pop. It doesn't hammer you, making it impossible to miss -- and that's part of the point -- the literate lyrics they both wrote, occasionally stunning, often opaque -- "She's got eyes that really know how to sting" or "told not to pick at society's glue, think I'll sniff it." Serious craftsmen, they would have fit in any of the last four decades, guitars, strings, harmonies skillfully set off against precise three or four minute stories. Go-Betweens are musical short story writers, not novelists, William Trevors, not Cormac McCarthys. The best of the bunch here are Caroline and I, Mrs. Morgan, Make Her Day, Something for Myself and Unfinished Business -- with hindsight, a pretty ironic title for the last song on what proved to be their last CD.

      5 out of 5 stars as good as 16 Lover's Lane and Liberty Belle.......2003-12-21

      More light and flowing than Liberty Belle... so it is closer to 16 Lover's Lane - Amazon reviewer's favorite. Much better in my opinion than The Friend's of Rachel Worth.

      5 out of 5 stars Between the Go and the Gone.......2003-04-02

      It is almost impossible to truly describe the Go-Betweens and this cd in their pantheon. This is a band that refused to conform their music to some standard set by the industry or other bands, and now some of their fans are upset because this new cd does not conform to some supposed Go-Betweens standard. Well, if the Go-Betweens had been willing to conform in the first place, the gobees would not be the band we now expect them to be. This is the dilemma of being a fan of a band like the Go-Betweens. You either follow them down the path where they lead or you get left behind. If conformity mattered to them, they would not have been capable of being who they are. Taste the music. You will not be disappointed. You will become addicted. As the Moody Blues said - there is a distinction between the fan and the artist. The fans have to agree that the band is the artist. We try to get what we can from the artists, but they cannot give in to our demands, or they would lose their artistic integrity.

      Is Bright Yellow Bright Orange a great cd. Yes. Is it Liberty Belle or 16 Lovers Lane or something in-between? Well, it is Bright Yellow Bright Orange. What they have to tell us now is not what they had to tell us then. How could it be any other way?

      5 out of 5 stars Four and 1/2 Stars!.......2003-04-01

      The general opinion of "Rachael Worth" *seemed* to be "well it's good, but not quite up to par..." so I never picked it up (sorry guys). But I can say without reservation that this is one of the best Go Betweens albums I've heard yet. What makes it such a great album? Well, great songs of course! I think everything here is a winner, and there's a nice balance between soft introspection and feel-good pop tunes. "Poison In the Walls" & "Old Mexico" have rapidly worked their way into my list of favorites. If you're a bit uncertain if you'll be let down by the "new Go Betweens" sound, this one should seriously win you over. So pick up a copy and support these extraordinary yet overlooked songwriters who show they've still got the touch that won them such a devoted cult following.

      4 out of 5 stars Junkmedia Magazine Review.......2003-03-14

      Like a love affair from the past, time has granted closure to the period encapsulated by the Go-Betweens' first six albums. From 1981's bleak and angular Send me a Lullaby to 1988's mature and elegiac 16 Lovers Lane, it seems that as a collective they managed to say so much, and maybe enough. It was a period marked with the passion of an impoverished band that moved 4000 miles from their Australian homeland to London -- and by the electrifying (and perhaps burdensome) genius of two young writers of considerable depth, Grant McLennan and Robert Forster. There were also, of course, the cliché drug problems, gratuitous label swindling, and incestuous romances that the world has come to associate with rock n' roll. Like a love affair conscious of its own inevitable death, it was a wonderful thing.

      Bright Yellow Bright Orange, the second album since the Go-Betweens' reformation in 2000 (the first being 2000's Friends of Rachel Worth), can't escape being thought of as the icing on the cake of a relationship already consummated. Like a couple that have already gone through the fires of marriage and divorce only to come together again, the strangest torments have already passed. While Rachel Worth managed to conjure some of the old Go-Betweens spirit (a feat and expectation that mustn't have been easy), details such as indie rock touches from Sam Coomes (Quasi) on keyboards and heavy-handed production from Portland's Larry Crane put them in a pose they obviously weren't accustomed to.

      The album also suffered from the loss of their secret weapon (and definer of their early classic sound), drummer Lindy Morrison, who was replaced by a pretty-good-but-not-perfect-choice, Sleater-Kinney's Janet Weiss. For an album dominated with some of the most uptempo pop ever written for a Go-Betweens' record, Rachel Worth's sleeper gem, and the gateway into Bright Yellow Bright Orange, was "He Lives My Life," a Forster ballad of unrequited love. This song, despite its somber tone, was the only one on the album that made you feel like you were listening to the 'real thing' again.

      Bright Yellow Bright Orange is a much better album than Friends of Rachel Worth primarily because it largely abandons the formers' modern rock ambitions for a reflective and more natural folk-rock sound. Veterans of Forsters' solo work (and fellow Aussies), Adele Pickvance (bass) and Glenn Thompson (drums -- still no Lindy Morrison!) just seem to 'get' the Go-Betweens much more than the Portland crew. The rambling confessional "Too Much of One Thing" faithfully resurrects "Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts" from one of Forster's favorite albums, Dylan's Blood on the Tracks. McLennan's melancholy piano ballad, "Unfinished Business", revisits the desolation of "Dusty in Here" from the first Go-Betweens album. Both exude a natural breath and light lost in Rachel Worth's slickness.

      And while the upbeat tracks from Rachel Worth are delightful, they seem cloying in comparison to those on Bright Yellow. This is because Rachel Worth showed the Go-Betweens toying with a 'sound', whereas Bright Yellow is simply their own thing. Written for the Princess of Monaco, Forster's marvelous, Television-haunted "Caroline and I" harkens back to the nostalgia of an earlier Go-Betweens' classic, "Spring Rain." The equally impressive "Mrs. Morgan," a song about a town that is angry with its local fortune teller, shows McLennan reflecting on the consequences of being a seer. Enchanting male/female back-up vocals recall the sound of some of his most classic Go-Betweens' offerings "Bachelor Kisses" and "Streets of your Town."

      Like Friends of Rachel Worth before it though, Bright Yellow, Bright Orange is bogged with about 30% filler. The Go-Betweens have never been consistent, and 20 years going, they still can't 'really play' their guitars (thankfully). So can anyone explain why this release is better than the recent efforts of some of today's best bands?

      Jonathan Donaldson
      Junkmedia Magazine Review

      Music:

      1. Just Not Punk Enough [Explicit Lyrics]
      2. King David (Part 1) Learn The Truth
      3. King David (Part 2) Learn The Truth
      4. King of America [Import]
      5. Life Model
      6. Lightweight Romeo
      7. Live in the Voodoo City [Live]
      8. Lovestruck Pt. 2 [CD-single]
      9. Metal Circus
      10. Milk & Kisses (+2 Bonus Tracks)

      Music

      music

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      Evergreen Boy

      Manfred Symphony / Voyevode

      Masterworks for Clarinet & Piano

      Misty-the Very Best of

      Midnight Flyer [Original recording remastered] [Import]

      Mozart: Don Giovanni

      Live at Vine Street [Live]

      Franz Völker Singt Lieder

      Neal Mccoy

      Lament

      Huevos [Enhanced] [Extra tracks] [Original recording remastered]

      LOCK & KEY

      Liquid Assets

      Russia's War

      At Maybeck