Customer Reviews

In Your Bright Ray

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just when I thought McLennan had hit a creative peak with his previous outing "Horsebreaker Star" he returns home to Sydney and records this masterpiece! This is definitely one of the best albums of 1997 and you, dear reader, are a very very lucky person. You won't regret stumbling onto this album, I promise.

"In Your Bright Ray" is packed with mesmerisingly tuneful melodies and McLennan's gorgeously crushed vocals. "Sea Breeze," "Room For Skin" and the immaculate, shimmering title track alone are worth the price of admission. But on further listening, you discover hidden treasures everywhere. Wonderful album. McLennan's best since the Go-Betweens.

This is Grant's fourth solo release and while all of his CD's miss the natural tension formed by sharing songwriting duties with Robert Forster in their band the Go-Betweens, he can still fill a CD with melody driven, acoustic pop ditties. These songs also differ from his work with The Church's Steve Kilbey in their spin-off duo Jack Frost by being less abstract. The songs here still mine the darker side of emotions but the musical accompaniment is snappy. "Sea Breeze" skips along like a child on a sunny day while "Room For Skin" adds some angst-lite to McLennan's uncanny knack for writing unforgettable hooks. All in all, another fine collection of tunes from Mr. McLennan.

Grant McLennan (see also G.W. McLennan) -- half (with Robert Forster) of the songwriting team of the defunct Go-Betweens -- has four 5-star albums that virtually NO one has heard of. What a shame! There isn't a bad track on any of his albums, and this one shows a great range from humorous to serious. His tunes ring true, and his rhymes and lyrics never fail to amuse (and, occasionally, confuse). Buy the entire set!

This beautiful, spiritually edifying CD cannot be raved about highly enough...just gorgeous and uplifting, every cut, with choruses that manage to kick your sorry, but happy, arse all the way through the goalposts....GM, as has been previously noted, probably is the McCartney of the GM/RF songwriting partnership. He certainly has the gift for melody. I would rate this as probably the best GM solo disc, with "Horsebreaker" running and extremely close 2nd...

This is one more great cd from the little known known former member of the Go-Betweens. If you like power pop with a folky feel this cd is for you. But if you just simply like music with nice melodies buy this cd.

A brilliant, beautiful solo album from Grant McClennan. No-one should be surprised.
I've always had a tiny suspicion that he had a slight edge in the Go-Betweens writing dept or rather - that the songs that appealed to me the most - were his.
'Dusty in Here', 'Bye Bye Pride', 'Quiet Heart' and the indescribably excellent 'Cattle and Cane' all struck me as typical GM efforts, as opposed to the slightly harsher Robert Forster moments. This thinking is emphatically confirmed by 'In Your Bright Ray'; an album that does indeed SHINE with immaculate songs and deep, layered arrangements.

Grant McLennan (unapologetically) specializes in beauty - that's pretty obvious - but he knows where the boundary is; he never oversteps the mark, never descends into the realm of the embarrassing cheese.
His words are forever up-lifting, his melodies ever celebratory, and his commendable determination to stick to his ethereal guns are what mark him out, set him apart from the rabble.

What I specially like about 'IYBR' is the cohesion across its 13 songs (I refuse to call them 'tracks' - Grant McClennan never wrote a 'track' in his life!).
It seems much more than just booking a studio, then plonking the results on a cd.
They're presented almost concept-album like. Care was taken in the writing, recording and running order, and this attention to aesthetics is a major reason why 'IYBR' works.

This is one of the things I didn't like about the recent View album; it was too all over the place, like they were afraid of themselves.
No such problems for GM, he stays very much in one place, he's confident enough to know his own strengths and weaknesses, and tho he will strive, he knows what he's good at. Like a football player, playing in his own position. He still want's to achieve, to be the best he can, but realizes he must stay where he is to do it. At his strongest point.
McClennan was 40+ when he recorded this album, ie; its aimed at me! And that feels good.
Great pop is rarely aimed at the over 25's; Dylan perhaps, Hall and Oates, Jackson Browne - there's a few, but doesn't it just feel great when you've got some-one on your side? Some-one talking to you. Somebody (gulp!) who cares.

More importantly, he's not just going through the motions. He's creating something positive and lasting and in that (excellent) sense, 'IYBR' is that brilliant and beautiful and RARE thing.
MY music.

I'm sorry I waited 'til Grant's passing to weigh in on this exquisite record. Taken in the context of the Go Betweens' canon of work, or in McLennan's quartet of solo works or, better yet, entirely on its own terms this is a magical recording full of mytho-poetic splendor and sometimes gorgeous, sometimes rockin' music.
It holds an important place in the latter era of Grant's career, easily rivalling the Go Betweens third act: the final 3 records before Grant's death. This is a strong, timeless work. HIGHLY RECOMMENDEDOceans Apart

Can't rate this album as it's the one solo McLennan album I missed. Would love to own a copy but, lo and behold, the man's ashes are barely cold and the one (2nd hand) copy available is asking nearly 5 times the old list price for a new copy... Might wait for the record company to re-release this genius's back catalogue: at least his partner will get the royalties.