Customer Reviews

Eternal Nightcap

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you do one thing today, buy this album.

The Whitlams have been together since 1992, and started out as a 3-piece and released their first album, a ten-song collection including two ballads, two short and odd songs, a few masterful jazz/rock pieces and even a 25 second hillbilly song about lighting your mother on fire.

After this, they only got better, with Undeniably, an album released in 1995. It contained numerous fan favourites including the singles I Make Hamburgers and Met My Match/Following My Own Tracks.

Unfortunately, in 1996, lead singer and guitarist Stevie Plunder (real name: Anthony Hayes) was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in New South Wales.

After four months, Tim Freedman got himself together with an assortment of musicians, Including Louis Burdett, Ben Fink, and original Whitlams member Andy Lewis (who went on to commit suicide in 2000).

This album, released in late 1996, is the result of all that history.

It opens with No Aphrodisiac, one of the most famous and influential songs in Australian music in the 90s. Tim Freedman wrote the entire song in one night with a keyboard and a bottle of scotch, with the obviously un-Whitlams like bridge written by friends Machine Gun Fellatio.

The next song, Charlie No. 2 (buy now pay later) is totally touching, and even better live, as it is played faster, with more rock.

Love Is Everywhere is a great jazzy little interlude that is only really there to give you a break before the next masterpiece -

You Sound Like Louis Burdett - an ingenious rock song, played with heavy piano and bass. This is one of my favourite songs of all time, and with good reason.

Melbourne, the original single off the album is a bittersweet love song, and is beautifully orchestrated.

Where's The Enemy and Life's A Beach are great, but not up to par with the rest of the album, but wedged in between them is Charlie No. 3, the final song in the Charlie trilogy, and probably the best.

Tangled Up In Blue is up there with No Aph, Louis, and Melbourne as the best songs on this album. An old Bob Dylan song about love and seperation, a favourite of mine.

Of the remainder of the album (Laugh In Their Faces, Charlie No. 1, Up Against The Wall, Band On Every Corner), you cannot find a single fault. Especially with Up Against The Wall - a song about seduction, lies, and betrayal.

Overall, this is a must have for anybody who likes any album of the Whitlams, as it bridges the gap between Introducing and Undeniably to Love This City and Torch The Moon.

But it. Buy it now. You won't regret it.

this band is incredible. the lyrics go from fun and funny to tragic and ponderous. They blow me away. but the vocals... so natural and flowing. And I am an American. I wish these guys could get out of Australia... don't get me wrong if I was in Australia I'd probably stay too, but the rest of the world needs to hear these guys. if you buy it, i'd love to hear what you think.

This album, recorded in the aftermath of Plunder's death, sees Tim Freedman coping with the loss of his fellow band member and best friend. The album is haunted with a melancholy sound (especially in the "Charlie" trilogy of songs, dedicated to Plunder), but this only hits home after comparing it to their earlier recordings with Plunder. We still have classic pop songs, like "You Sound Like Louis Burdett", but the album is dominated with traditional Tim Freedman ballads, like hit single "No aphrodisiac", "Laugh in their faces" and "Life's a beach".

I almost put "Undeniably" here instead of this. It is an excellent retrospective of the early half of their career, with a perfect combination of Freedman and Plunder numbers. It shows the Whitlams at their nutty best, and they sound unlike any Australian band you have heard before.

But this was the album that got me into the Whitlams, and I still consider it their greatest musical accomplishment. It's tragic that this album, dedicated to Stevie Plunder, made the Whitlams big.

But like all struggling artists, sometimes tragedy is all it takes.

Eternal Nightcap is an eternal classic, I first purchased this cd after hearing No Aphrodisiac on the radio (this song was voted number 1 for the year in JJJ hottest 100) and have been loving this CD every since. I have seen the Whitlams live and loved them...Tim certainly knows how to work the crowd and the best part was he hung out at the bar like a regular guy during the support acts, I also have seen Tim doing a solo show - just him and his piano fantastic I will never forget that night (sorry I had to rub it in to all of you USA types!!). Eternal Nightcap will in my opinion never get old, everytime I listen to it something else grabs me - especially the hidden track.

There are so many discs we (North Americans) miss. To think that a world of music passes us by, music that we might otherwise pick up and kiss.

Kiss this.

I bought this album three years ago and I listen to it constantly. I love every song on the album but in particular No. 4 "I sound like Louis Burdett" I have worn out this album. Tim Freedman is a wonderful story teller. Every song is a story - some are just paragraphs in a continueing story. I have not seen the Whitlams live (though I should living in Sydney) due to being afraid that seeing them may ruin this album for me. This is a must buy.

Tim Freedman comes of age on this album, which has some of the most melancholy yet beautiful songs on it that I've ever heard. The single which rocketed The Whitlams to national stardom is No Aphrodisiac, and it is one of the best on the album. Another highlight is the jazzy You Sounds Like Louis Burdette.

The Charlie series, Buy Now Pay Later (Charlie No.2), Charlie No.1 and Charlie No.3 are quite simply a wonderful compilation of thoughts written in to some of the best tunes you'll ever hear. Buy Now Pay Later is a personal favourite.

However, my favourite track on Eternal Nightcap is Melboune. I'm not really sure why it appeals to me, but it has to be one of my favourite songs of all time. This track is what makes this album really stand out for me, and I think it's chronically underrated by most people.

Overall, a fantastic album. Best listened to when you're in a quiet or sad mood, this is The Whitlams at their best.

I first heard this album in Japan, from an Aussie co-worker, and it blew my mind - I couldn't figure out how I hadn't heard anything about these guys. It's chock full of genius, and more than a little bit of pain (others have told the story here, I think). Just get it - you will not be disappointed!

It is weird liking a band that has two Double Platinum albums (out of four), yet is practically unknown in the US.

"You Sound Like Louis Burdett" was my introduction to the Whitlams while vacationing (or should I say "On Holiday") in Oz (long story). When I found out Louis was an ex-roomate, the song was just as cool, but it made a lot more more sense. "Terror, like charity, begins at home"

Part of me would like to tell a little something about each song, but it's late.

The Charlie songs are a great tribute to Steve, who along with Tim, start the band.

My ex-roomate was a bit of musicals snob. I think "Band On Every Corner" sums up one of the parts of him that all us ex-frends of his found annoying. Only, I don't know if he could have said it nearly as well.

I now own ever album of theirs I can get my hands on. The next time they tour Canada I am going to try to get to one of their concerts (I doubt I can afford Australia again for a long while).

Everyone I have introduced to the music of the Whitlams has loved it.

Buy The Whitlams, you'll thank me. After that, call you radio station and tell them they need to play more Whitlams (okay, so right now they don't get any airplay at all, that is the point). Don't thank me, help me get them popular enought that they will put on some US gigs so I can get to see them live again.

My sister turned be onto this album when she lived in Melbourne. I've had it for about three years and still listen to it regularly.

Three songs I always go to the album if not going through the entire bit: "...Louis Burdett" (track 4), "Tangled up in Blue", and "Band on Every Corner."

Tangled up in Blue is a pretty good Dylan cover. When he hit's the verse /like a bird that flew/ it seems entirely forced or too dramatic and I cringe, but otherwise a fun listen. The last track is a great ender and makes me think of a band playing their last song of the night in a pub to a lively receptive and welcoming--yet drunken--audience.