Forget Yourself

The Church | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 3, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Cooking Vinyl
• ASIN: B00015HV74
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,526 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Sealine

2. Song In Space

3. The Theatre And It's Double

4. Telepath

5. See Your Lights

6. Lay Low

7. Maya

8. Appalatia

9. June

10. Don't You Fall

11. I Kept Everything

12. Nothing Seeker

13. Reversal

14. Summer

Editorial Reviews

Formed in Sydney, Australia in 1980, The Church scored one of the most enduring alternative hits with "Under the Milky Way" from their record "Starfish." Remaining true to their musical vision while evolving with time, "Forget Yourself" is the 17th release by the Church. The band’s 1960s inspired psych-pop has echoed and inspired bands for over two decades, but "Forget Yourself" reminds the world how vital the writing and playing of the Church still is.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Power in Simplicity, February 6, 2004

By 

WrtnWrd "Hankman" (Northridge, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forget Yourself (Audio CD)

One of the spacier bands to have survived the 80's, the Church continues to grow and experiment twenty years into their career. For all their atmospheric affectations, they really dig deep into some primitive material on Forget Yourself. After the beautifully progressive After Everything Now This, the biggest surprise of Forget Yourself is how much power they find in simplicity. Standouts are many, particularly "Song in Space", which always keeps its rocking feet on the ground, and their best song in ages, "Telepath".

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars After everything now this fine album, February 28, 2004

By 

WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Forget Yourself (Audio CD)

Any band stetching into the quarter century mark would be happy to rest on their laurels. Not The Church. While "Forget Yourself" doesn't rank with their finest albums, it's another formidable stab at creating something new and interesting. Most of the time the album succeeds. Kilbey's elusive lyrics and his warm, mellow voice gain additional depth as time goes on.

Wilson-Piper and Koppes' distinctive guitar interplay and their unique solos give even the weakest cuts on the album something memorable. The songwriting is, for the most part, top notch. The opening track of the album grows from the sound of an ominous chord (almost like the reverse of the final chord of "A Day in the Life")gradually growing and blooming into a full blown song.

The stand out cuts include the opener "Sealine", "Appaltia" and "Telepath". Each cut goes in its own, unique and interesting sonic direction. For the band's 17th album, "Forget Yourself" The Church continue to challenge both themselves and their audience. It may not be perfection but it's close enough.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Is this the band's last hurrah?, August 9, 2005

By 

trainreader (Montclair, N.J.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forget Yourself (Audio CD)

In answer to my above question above, I hope not. The Church has much more to offer. "Forget Yourself" is a fine cohesive effort, although I find much of the album somewhat elusive, in that it's not exactly easy to carry the tunes in your head. Because of the album's sheer length (which includes a second disc of basically what amount to three long Church-like soundscapes), I initially compared "Forget Yourself," to "Sometime Anywhere" which, in my opinion, also merited four stars. However, that's where the similarity ends. "Sometime" had more identifiable songs, which radically changed styles from one to another in a random and unpredicable way. "Forget Yourself" is much more uniform, and, really, not one track takes the listener by surprise, which is to say that the evoked mood remains fairly consistent.

That being said, there are some tracks that I really stand out for me. The opener, "Sealine," pretty much tells you what you're going to hear and serves nicely as a prelude to the remainder of CD One. "Telepath" and "Appalatia" rock a little harder than the others, and stand out (check out the Beach Boys-like beginning on "Telepath." I don't know if anyone remembers the band "Adorable" - they had a minor progressive radio hit called "Sunshine Smile" - but parts of "Telepath" and other bits and pieces on this album sounds alot like that obscure, out-of-print band). I adore the song "Maya," but I could be biased here - that's my daughter's name.

On CD Two, the fourteen minute instrumental "Serpent Easy," and the ten minute long "Cantilever" (which is reminiscent of past Church songs), have a distinctive meditative transcendent quality.

Until they release another album, I've now completed my reviews of all the studio Church albums of original material. Since I like lists, here are the Church albums that I've reviewed, from my most, to my least, favorite:

1a. Heyday
1b. Starfish
3. Hologram of Baal
4. The Blurred Crusade
5. Seance
6. Sometime Anywhere
7. Of Skins and Hearts
8. Forget Yourself
9. Remote Luxury
10. After Everything Now This
11. Priest=Aura
12. Gold Afternoon Fix
13. Magician Among the Spirits

I would be surprised if any other Church fan even comes close to agreeing with this list, because, after all, music is very subjective. But if you're reading this in the first place, I'm sure we can agree that The Church is an incredible, underrated band.