The Evangelist

Robert Forster | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 29, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Yep Roc Records
• ASIN: B0014062X4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #189,370 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The spirits of both McLennan and The Go-Betweens are keenly felt, April 29, 2008

By 

loce_the_wizard "loce_the_wizard" (Lilburn, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Evangelist (Audio CD)

With the Go-Between's now forever sundered by the untimely passing of Grant McLennan, Robert Forster has now gone forward with his fifth solo album, "The Evangelist." The spirits of both Mr. McLennan and The Go-Betweens are keenly felt here: "The Evangelist" features the last three writing credits penned by Forster and McLennan, and both Adele Pickvance and Glenn Thompson, the other two members of the latter version of the band, ply their skills on multiple instruments, in addition to their respective duties on bass and drums. Still, it's hard not to be listening for McLennan's guitar or voice here.

Without becoming mired in sentimentality, Mr. Forster pays tribute to the late McLennan, in this well-produced, great sounding recording. There is enough variation in the tone and tempo among the songs to keep you paying attention or from feeling stymied, though some songs seem a bit undone. For example, the bright airy, Let Your Light In, Babe---the most uptempo track here---is followed by the darkly, dry, A Place to Hide Away, a solo number with just Forster and his guitar that seems somewhat out of place.

After several listens, I keep being drawn to a number of the songs---If It Rains Demon Days, It Ain't Easy, and Let Your Light In, Babe---and feel certain I'll be playing this CD quite a bit, though it may not be everyday fare.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Eulogy!, July 9, 2009

By 

Greg Kinne "Criticaljoe" (midwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Evangelist (Audio CD)

Although this review is belated, I believe the album by Robert Forster `The Evangelist' is one of this year's most important releases. Written by Forster after the unexpected passing of his songwriting partner Grant McLennan of Go-Betweens fame, this album marks a crucial moment for Forster. `The Evangelist' is a melancholy affair, deeply rooted in sadness; there is a newfound sentimentality in the music that Forster is now making. This album sounds like it was part of the grieving process and had to come out so that Forster could find some peace.

Opening tracks, "If It Rains" and "Demon Days" are beautiful laments to Forster's friend and set the tone for the entire album. "Demon Days" is particularly heartbreaking with the lyrics recalling the initial shock of a death; "But something's not right, something's gone wrong" coupled with the plaintive strumming of a lonely guitar. Notably, the refrain of "Demon Days" was written by Grant McLennan, which adds more resonance to the lyric.

The album lightens up with "Pandanus" and "Did She Overtake You" which offer jaunty rhythms that seem more in key with a Go-Betweens album. "Did She Overtake You" makes a nod to the Beach Boys with its jumpy background vocals. Title track, "The Evangelist" is another standout track. On it, the narrator asks for forgiveness and redemption for his tumultuous past deeds while consoling his beloved. "Let Your Light In, Babe" is another song that McLennan wrote the chorus to, and it's an upbeat sunny track that features a rolling melody accentuated by a joyful violin.

"A Place To Hide Away" is a spare song that features only guitar and moog accompaniment that follows Forster thinking of the things he can do to give himself a break. "Don't Touch Anything" seems a little out of place on the album as it seems like a self-conscious lecture that would fit another record. "It Ain't Easy" is the hardest rocking song on the album and sounds like a eulogy, "...I write these words to his tune that he wrote on a full moon, and a river ran and a train rain and a dream ran through everything he did." Closer "Ghost Town" is a swooning track that mentions that the narrator must go on although things might be a bit more difficult without his friend.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tombstones, cobblestones . . ., September 16, 2008

By 

Boxodreams "[e-mail]" (district of columbia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Evangelist (Audio CD)

I chose to wait, lay off it for a while, before I wrote about "The Evangelist." How could it not be so fraught with weight; anguish; helpless, downward trajectory? How could it not steer you right back to mourning? Those who know know this is Robert Forster's first album since the death of his beloved friend and partner in the Go-Betweens, Grant McLennan. The two opening tracks, "If It Rains" and, particularly, "Demon Days," are so hushed and haunted by sadness, the tone feels set for the entire album, an album that can at times barely find room to breathe under the enormity of those songs. I'd lay on the couch in the dark, put the disc on and immediately feel buried under the past and loss. Finally, I took the damn thing out of the house and put it in the car for driving and willed its other songs to show themselves, and, lo and behold, they did! "Pandanus" is a lovely, muscular and jazzy pop song, like Forster's old Go-Betweens comebacker "Make Her Day" from "Bright Orange, Bright Yellow;" "Let Your Light In, Babe" is jaunty fun, like a great old folk tune that is far more story form and less impressionistic than most of Forster's work; "It Ain't Easy" nails a terrific hook in another fast-paced shuffle that continues the path forged by "Born to a Family" on "Ocean's Apart." True, the album ends with the melancholy piano memorial "From Ghost Town," almost a bookend to the old "Dusty In Here" from "Before Hollywood" way back when, but in a different listening context, the rush of the road, the album now breathes and I love it more for its revealed depth. I saw Robert Forster in New York at Joe's Pub last night, with old Go-Between sidekicks Adele Pickvance (terrific bass player) and Glen Thompson (played guitar mostly while a young kid took the drums) and they were on fire. From "121" as the opener to "Head Full of Steam" from "Liberty Belle..." to the new record, the stuff just kept flowing out, song after song. On line before the show, the fans, now mostly in their forties, braced for a sad night, but it was, instead, a night of rock n' roll. Robert called it the best 70 minute the band perhaps had ever put together and the future of possibility appeared to open up. The guy is just so terrific, so welcoming in so many ways, I'm proud to call myself a fan. He invited the lot of us out for drinks on the Bowery afterward and I followed along to the little dive where he held court into the morning. You can still remember the past, bittersweet, but if Robert Forster has gone back out on the road, come home to rock 'n' roll, I'm putting away my sadness, too, excited to be singing his songs again, ready to continue tagging along.