"In the dark when the shadows have their way, a finger's a chimney and the moon's on fire."
Arguably one of the greatest bands of the Post-Punk era, The Go-Betweens hit full creative stride on their second LP, Before Hollywood, an uncompromising, beautiful and consistently inventive slice of darkly-lit anti-pop. Headed by two gifted songwriters, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, each of whom pulled the band in different thematic directions, one of the most striking things about Before Hollywood is the way it all coheres so seamlessly together, achieving, in the process, a sustained and unconventionally melodic attack on pop music paradigms. While "Cattle and Cane," is certainly deserving of all the attention it gets as one of the best songs of the decade, it makes it easy to overlook just how consistently brilliant the entirety of Before Hollywood actually is. For example, the title track, with its spiky, spidery guitar figure and Forster's "Tom Verlaine but the words make sense" vocal delivery is a reminder of how melancholy this band could be. Conversely, on "That Way," the band unleashes some first-rate Jangle-Pop (complete with a swirling psychedelic organ in the background) that rates with anything The Church were doing at the time. Before Hollywood, as the title ironically suggests, is the sound of a hungry, impossibly talented band about to scale some great artistic heights.
Before Hollywood (2002 Remastered and Expanded Edition)
Disc I: The Original Album
1. A Bad Debt Follows You (2:25)
2. Two Steps, Step Out (3:28)
3. Before Hollywood (3:45)
4. Dusty in Here (4:10)
5. Ask (5:15)
6. Cattle and Cane (4:21)
7. By Chance (2:20)
8. As Long as That (5:25)
9. On My Block (3:49)
10. That Way (4:08)
Disc II
1. Hammer the Hammer (2:49)
2. Heaven Says (4:06)
3. Just a King in Mirrors (2:57)
4. A Peaceful Wreck (2:31)
5. Man O'Sand to Girl O'Sea (3:24)
6. Near the Chimney (3:39)
7. This Girl, Black Girl (3:32)
8. The Exception of Deception (1:49)
a great post, so eloquently put. there are a couple of real gems toward the end... 'by chance' and 'on my block'... they would've made side one on most albums!
ReplyDeletebedlam, thank you. What an amazing band, and here in the States, no one has even heard of them (well, almost no one)
ReplyDeletei think i was blessed to grow up in the 80s in Australia. Regularly saw the Triffids, the Go-Betweens, the Scientists... of course we had no idea back then just how spoilt we were. I mean i knew these bands were very good, but to think they are now revered around the world... lucky lucky me :)
ReplyDeleteAt last, another Go-Betweens album in lossless! Thank you once more, voixautre! I already have their beautiful magnum opus 16 Lovers Lane in FLAC, but if you have the following Go-Betweens albums also in FLAC, can I request them to be posted here as well?
ReplyDelete1. Bright Yellow Bright Orange
2. Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
3. Oceans Apart
4. Tallulah
5. The Friends of Rachel Worth
Thanks once again and keep up the good work!:)
bedlam, yes, that was an amazing music scene and trust me, I'm jealous, although I dis manage to see the Church live several times in their late eighties-early nineties prime
ReplyDeleteAnon. I have all the eighties stuff in the bonus disc remasters. I'll post them from time to time. I have some remastered Triffids coming soon as well. Also check out bedlam's nice new Australian flac site: http://risingabovebedlam.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeletei'll be posting Jack Frost in the next day or two voixautre, Steve Kilbey and Grant McLennan.
ReplyDeleteand Anon, stay tuned to my blog for later Go-Be's stuff coming soon
bedlam, I already have the Jack Frost albums. Do you have the first Hex album? (Kilbey side project)
ReplyDeleteNo i don't, sorry
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the Before Hollywood upgrade. Another lost and neglected band that deserves far more recognition than they received. Kurt
ReplyDeleteThanks Mr. Voixautre!
ReplyDeleteKurt & scurfie, you're both welcome. More to come!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much
ReplyDeletekanas, my pleasure!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for bedlam's site, voixautre! I'll be going there now to search for more Australian great albums.:)
ReplyDeleteAnon. he has some great stuff over there but don't forget about us over here at luna ;)
ReplyDeleteCan you post the others expanded esditions albums?
ReplyDeleteThank you very much!
Jorge, from Portugal
Been listening to this since DLing it -- another case of "how did I miss this?" Especially since I WAS aware of some of their contemporaries, i.e. The Birthday Party, Split Enz, and The Scientists.
ReplyDeleteGreat to find something new. Thanks!
reindeer man, yes, this one is great. Don't feel bad, it took me twenty years to discover this band
ReplyDeleteThanks for this discovery! ... Like many times before your post has really been a perfect introduction (even helps to overcome the shock of not knowing this great band ...)
ReplyDeleteIssi, wonderful to hear from you! I'm glad you liked this one. I'll be posting some more Go-Betweens in the near future, but also check out a wonderful new Australian blog: http://risingabovebedlam.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeletethank you sooo much for this and all the great music on your blog. I had some of this stuff but your obvious passion and eloquence sent me back to dig out old cassette tapes, lps and cds. But even more importantly I learned new things about music I already loved as well as discovering new music. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnon., thank you for your comment! I really appreciate your words. What you described is the reason I started this blog exactly 9 months ago. It's good to have you with us :)
ReplyDeleteHi, can you re-up this plz?
ReplyDelete