No other Australian band has ever matched The Go-Betweens in being able to produce beautiful, sparkling pop music with such lyrical depth and thoughtfulness.
Singer/Songwriters Grant McLennan and Robert Forster released their first single together as The Go-Betweens in 1978, two years later they were joined by drummer Lindy Morrison, and 1982 saw the release of their first album Send Me A Lullaby.
By the time the group disbanded in 1989 a subsequent five albums were released, as well as having written some of Australia’s best pop songs, such as “Head Full of Steam”, “Cattle and Cane”, “Quiet Heart” and the iconic “Streets of Your Town”.
McLennan and Forster reformed as The Go-Betweens in 2000 and released another three albums before McLennan’s tragic death in 2006.
Quiet Heart is the first Go-Betweens’ compilation to span the bands whole career. As expected, all of the band’s best known hits are included in this collection, and is makes a great introduction to novices, or fans who are only familiar with part of the band’s discography.
Although some of the tracks from the 2000-2005 era seem somewhat out of place with the rest of the collection, for the most part Quiet Heart flows well considering the band had a different line-up for nearly every album they released.
Also included is a live recording from 1987, Vienna Burns. While the performance is great, the mix isn’t of great quality, but this will still be an enjoyable listen for any fans who never had the opportunity to see the band live, or those wishing to relive their glory days.
– A.P. Morton
