hmm... Tallulah by the Go Betweens ain't as good as i was expecting

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

just picked it up the other day and, well, kinda underwhelming... not sure exactly what i was expecting but is this one kinda the worst of the new reissues? any thoughts?

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Friday, 14 January 2005 22:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, you're wrong.

― danh (danh), Friday, 14 January 2005 22:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I agree with you, it is the only Go-Betweens album I dislike as a whole. I have to skip Cut It Out and Someone Else's Wife everytime they come on. Some great songs on there though and I bought the reissue anyways knowing all this :).

― svend (svend), Friday, 14 January 2005 22:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Though the second disc is fairly weak, it does have A Little Romance, one of my favorite Go-Betweens songs.

― danh (danh), Friday, 14 January 2005 22:43 (twenty-one years ago)

The number of great songs on Tallulah though is like five more than on Liberty Belle

― danh (danh), Friday, 14 January 2005 22:44 (twenty-one years ago)

It's one of five disks I would have to have with me on the proverbial desert island.

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Friday, 14 January 2005 23:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Ken, I was just listening to this last night. It's my fave album by them, though it is not flawless. (For example, I agree with the above opinion about Cut It Out and Someone Else's Wife) If you give it another chance, or play it a month from now, you might have a different opinion.

― peepee (peepee), Friday, 14 January 2005 23:41 (twenty-one years ago)

The thing about Someone Elses Wife is he's so resigned to being a nice guy, Grant actually sounds angry about being in his position. I mean, how good can you be. It makes me incredibly happy. And Cut it Out is like a stap at mid period B-52's, it s worth it for a laugh and a break before the dour song that comes right after but yeah, I don't thinkg Grant had as many good songs for this one as he did for 16 Lovers Lane.

― danh (danh), Friday, 14 January 2005 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)

"Tallulah" is easily the Go-Betweens second weakest album. It does have a few classic songs on it, but as a whole it pales in comparison to every other '80s Go-Bs album, save the debut.

― hector savage, Friday, 14 January 2005 23:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I like it fine. "Cut It Out" isn't my fave, but I really love "Spirit of a Vampyre," one of the greatest of Go-Betweens songs. And "Clarke Sisters" too. I go back and forth and between with them--sometimes I think "Rachel Worth" is my favorite, sometimes "16 Lovers" and sometimes "Tallulah."

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Saturday, 15 January 2005 00:06 (twenty-one years ago)

What a wonderful record.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Saturday, 15 January 2005 00:46 (twenty-one years ago)

'Before Hollywood' people!!!

― Nic de Teardrop (Nicholas), Saturday, 15 January 2005 00:50 (twenty-one years ago)

What does the awesomeness of Before Hollywood have to do with the awesomeness of Tallulah?

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Saturday, 15 January 2005 00:51 (twenty-one years ago)

okay, so what do you all say is the best Go Betweens disc? (just type it here and please don't direct me to a C/D, thanks)

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Saturday, 15 January 2005 01:04 (twenty-one years ago)

pardon me, i keep forgetting the hyphen in their name...

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Saturday, 15 January 2005 01:05 (twenty-one years ago)

best = 16 lovers lane

― the surface noise (slight return) (electricsound), Saturday, 15 January 2005 02:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Yep, _16LL_ is the most consistently good all the way through.

― Jeff Wright (JeffW1858), Saturday, 15 January 2005 03:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Agreed, but Tallulah is still great. "Bye Bye Pride" is my very favorite GB songs.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Saturday, 15 January 2005 15:15 (twenty-one years ago)

And I guess I'm the only person who actually likes "Cut it Out."

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Saturday, 15 January 2005 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, I pulled it out the other day specifically to listen to that tune.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Saturday, 15 January 2005 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

sometimes I kind of like "Cut It Out." But mostly it seems obvious compared to the other songs on that album. And sometimes the '80s production is a drag too. I think the G-Bs are wonderful, perhaps a bit overrated as are many cult bands.

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Saturday, 15 January 2005 17:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I love the Go-Betweens because they are one of my favorite bands and yet they also happen to be Australian, the combination of which being proof that maybe my own petty obstacles can one day be overcome despite evidence to the contrary. That said, Tallulah is their most dissapointing album. It may be marginally better than Send Me A Lullaby but considering the material its sandwiched between and the fact that the band was ostensibly at the peak of the powers its a pretty weak effort. They sound like they're just going through the motions.

― Chris Davis (Chris Davis), Sunday, 16 January 2005 04:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I named our second cat Tallulah after the album, which has some of my favorite Go-Betweens tracks on it. Great start!

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Sunday, 16 January 2005 20:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Tallulah, 16 Lovers Lane, Springhill Fair and the new ones are the ones to get.

― danh (danh), Monday, 17 January 2005 03:22 (twenty-one years ago)

eleven months pass...

"Someone Else's Wife" is fantastic. danh so OTM upthread.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 5 January 2006 03:40 (twenty years ago)

I too named a cat Tallulah after the album. Hmm.... And ditto on "16 Lovers Lane" as the knockout disk.

― Kim Cooper, Thursday, 5 January 2006 08:54 (twenty years ago)

"And Cut it Out is like a stab at mid period B-52's" - I always saw it as a stab at Kiss-era Prince.

I seem to remember a video with Robert Forster in red flared cords, doing the splits? (or is that wishful thinking?)

― bham, Thursday, 5 January 2006 10:13 (twenty years ago)

that was the clip for 'head full of steam'. robert was wearing a midriff top and grant was dressed up like a girl.

i was saying the same thing to a friend about tallulah. if it weren't for 'the house jack kerouac built' the album would be still floundering. despite grant's commendable 'bye bye pride' and 'right here', there's always the already mentioned and maligned 'cut it out' and 'someone else's wife'. i've never been that much a fan of his work.

any australians here remember smudge's 'don't wanna be grant mclennan'?

― csbx, Thursday, 5 January 2006 11:04 (twenty years ago)

ha I remember!

― ratty, Thursday, 5 January 2006 11:21 (twenty years ago)

i have that single in both formats

― jim p. irrelevant (electricsound), Thursday, 5 January 2006 11:26 (twenty years ago)

Cut out Cut It Out and this is a damn fine album. A little marred by eighties production values, but then again so is 16LL. There's a thread on the Go Betweens forum about this album with comments from Lindy Morrison and Robert Vickers. Lindy opines that it's "exceptional because of the interplay between drums, bass and violin, the spanish guitar, Richard Preston, Simon Fisher Turner and ok brilliant songs." Although she also says that Cut It Out is "crappy".

And Robert Vickers:

"I still like Tallulah. Not as much as Liberty Belle but I think it's a very strong album. The production is a mish mash because Right Here and Cut it out were recorded with a different producer in a more expensive studio and even some of the the tracks we recorded with Richard Preston were remixed before release.

I like it because it always suprises me. There are quite a few different kind of songs there and the arrangements are full of drama and angst. Much of which reflected what was going on in the rehearsal room.

Cut it Out is a bit of a problem. I don't think we were wrong to try what we did with the song. We had done funky things before (Slow Slow Music comes to mind) so it wasn't entirely out of leftfield. But I do wish we had recorded some back up songs to use on the album and made Cut it Out a non-LP single when it was clear it didn't fit on the album. Not that it did any good as a single but it was worth a try.

Anyway there's so much great stuff on the that album that you have to forgive one lapse."

http://go-betweens.org.uk/chatroom/messages/1/553.html?1115865017

― jz, Thursday, 5 January 2006 11:55 (twenty years ago)

Tallulah is one of Forster's greatest records (You Tell Me, I Just Get Caught Out, The House that Jack Kerouac Built, Spirit Of A Vampyre, The Clarke Sisters) and one of McClennan's least (Someone else's Wife, Cut it Out, Hope Then Strife) ..But then, I dig all Go-Betweens records religiously. .. and I shall can what I'm listening to right now and put on Tallulah.

― D.I.Y. U.N.K.L.E. (dave225.3), Thursday, 5 January 2006 13:05 (twenty years ago)

Any album that has Right Here and Bye Bye Pride can't really be McClennan's worst...

― jz, Thursday, 5 January 2006 13:10 (twenty years ago)

"Hope Then Strife" is marvelous!

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 5 January 2006 13:32 (twenty years ago)

Here's a live version of Cut It Out, that isn't too bad:
http://s37.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1PE3D9BLJR56H2BFFHXBD8VFSQ

― D.I.Y. U.N.K.L.E. (dave225.3), Thursday, 5 January 2006 13:33 (twenty years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.