Robert Forster - Danger In The Past (1990)

Robert Forster is best known as the tall one from the Go-Betweens, rather than for his solo work, and this may not even count for much as so many folk are still unaware that the Go-Betweens ever existed.

Robert Forster should really be more famous.From the Go-Betweens late 70s beginnings to the sad end of the band's career following the tragic death of Grant Mclennan in May 2006, Forster was a tall, dark, charismatic presence. He can pose like the best of him, raise an eyebrow like nobody else, he dresses like a debonair old dandy. You have to wonder why people don't say his name is the same breath as the use to mention a certain Steven Patrick Morrissey, but why the Go-Betweens never entered public consciousness on any grand scale will just have to remain a mystery.

Danger in the Past was the first solo record Forster made, in 1990, after the break-up of the band the previous year, and it was the first real chance for him to showcase his own songwriting on such a large scale.

This is a beautiful record. No Go-Betweens fan should be without it. I was a little waty, myself, being a true Go B's devotee, that it would be a bit tedious, a bit of a growing-old record, but listening to it quickly puts any fears aside.

It isn't the Go Betweens in any way. It's rather a wistful, soft collection of songs. At times forceful, but in general, it's the slowness, the intimacy and above all, the grace of the whole affair that draws you in.

Danger in the past, the title track, is a dark, thrilling little song, with all of Forster's grand knack for the melancholic and dramatic. Baby Stones, the album's lead-off single is a gorgeous, wry song where Forster plays the cuckolded narrator. Is this What You Call Change and I've Been Looking for Somebody are both beautiful songs, the former being a song of sadness and anger at events in the past, the latter a delicately hopeful ballad.

The only fault I'd pick with this record is that though the delicate, country style that Forster has grown into is lovely, you do find yourself pining for the preening, nervy, film noir star Forster of the mid 80s....but it is a beautiful, wise melodic collection of songs to live with...a good choice for fans of Leonard Cohen, Richard Hawley, and of course, the go betweens....lovely!