THE GO-BETWEENS
Bellavista Terrace - Best Of (Beggars Banquet)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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The Go-Betweens' career spanned the entire length of the eighties, but the Australian unit never achieved the kind of recognition as one of the bands of the decade that their songwriting skills and musical output merited. One of the inevitable problems for a band trying to breakout in the eighties was the state of the industry, and the Go-Betweens suffered from that situation as much as any and, unfortunately for those who missed their music as a result, more than most.

Their catalog is spread among a half a dozen companies, but it's generally acknowledged that they did their best work after settling at Beggars Banquet in 1986, where they released Liberty Belle & Black Diamond Express and 16 Lovers Lane, the two albums (out of six) that provide almost half of the material on this new `best of' collection.

This is one of those compilations that's likely to send you back for more, full of fine pop songs with an acoustic edge, jangle to spare, and a wry lyrical sensibility that sounds perfectly up to date over a decade after the songs' initial releases. A fine introduction to or a handy reminder of a band that deserved better, and just might get it yet.

Track List: Was There Anything I Could Do? * Head Full Of Steam * That Way * Part Company * Cattle And Cane * Draining The Pool For You * The Wrong Road * Bye Bye Pride * Man O' Sand To Girl O' Sea * The House That Jack Kerouac Built * Bachelor Kisses * Streets Of Your Town * Spring Rain * Dive For Your Memory

© 1999 - Shaun Dale