This album was recommended for this project by Neill Cunningham, who has been previously mentioned here. If you have any record suggestions for My Album Project, contact me at mediahobo@gmail.com
WHY I NEVER GOT AROUND TO LISTENING TO THIS ARTIST/ALBUM
- The tail-end of 2001 was a transition time for me. I was almost 30 and not very satisfied with my career in advertising; the aftermath of 9/11 had me determined not to rest on my laurels and made me want to go out and see more of the world. On the suggestion of Matthew Wiseman and Michelle Barnett, two Aussies I met in Toronto who were soon heading back home, I decided to get a Holiday work visa for Australia. With my buddy Jamie Gilbert already travelling down under, I figured it would be a good time for me to go. After landing in Sydney in January 2002, Jamie and I quickly moved to Melbourne, where I found a music scene that very much resembled Toronto's (albeit, on a much smaller scale). But unlike Toronto, where I knew people in bands, in Melbourne I was meeting DJs, like house DJ and fellow Filipino-Canadian Steve Javier. (For those of you who were Toronto in the late 1990s, Steve was one of the cats behind the MILK parties). While I did take in the occasional local indie rock band like Rocket Science and Jet (yup, that Jet), I pretty much spent most of my time in Australia listening to house and electronic music. I even attended a few raves, which, if you knew me and my tastes at the time, was rather unusual. Only later in my trip did I decide to research the history of Australian rock music, and in particular Australian punk rock. I eventually found a compilation CD set called Do the Pop! - The Australian Garage Rock Sound (1976-1987) with tracks from legendary bands like Radio Birdman, The Hard Ons, Hoodoo Gurus, The Hitmen, and The Saints. Due to all the travelling I was doing at the time, I either lost or sold the comp before I had any chance to really absorb the bands and songs, so The Saints pretty much fell off my radar.
- I'm pretty sure it was Stephen Winkley who told me that The Saints were one of the first punk bands to come out of Australia in the mid 1970s. What I didn't know was the significance they had internationally. I recently read that Bob Geldof apparently said that "rock music in the seventies was changed by three bands—the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and the Saints." That's pretty bad ass.
- Neill Cunningham has told me that Eternally Yours is a "massively under-appreciated masterpiece."
- Listening to Eternally Yours in a 2014 vacuum, I would not have guessed it was recorded in 1978. All at once, it seemed to be ahead of its time, of it's time, and passed it's time (although, come to think of it, don't most good recordings fulfill this criteria?) Along with the sleazy punk ditties like "Lost and Found", "I'm Misunderstood", "No. Your Product", "International Robots", "This Perfect Day", "Run Day" and "Do the Robot", the textures brought out by the guitar layers and horns section in "Know Your Product" and "Orstralia" definitely evokes Exile On Main Street-era Rolling Stones and early-1990s indie rock.
- I must say I have issues with straight-ahead rock and roll records with acoustic guitars on them, as this album does with "Untitled"and "Memories Are Made Of This." To add insult to injury, the song "A Minor Aversion" sounds more like a track from Wings' Band on the Run than a punk rock album.
- No doubt, the hyperbolic comments from Geldolf and Neill raised my expectations for this record sky-high before I even found a copy of it. Living up to the praise would be difficult for any album. Make no mistake about it, Eternally Yours is a good record, but as much as I listened the shit out of the album, it still left me hoping for more.
Previous Entries
Fearless (2008) by Taylor SwiftKorn (1994) by Korn
Millennium (1999) by Backstreet Boys
Mr. Bungle (1991) by Mr. Bungle
Selling England By the Pound (1973) by Genesis
Psychocandy (1985) by The Jesus and Mary Chain
Survivor (2001) by Destiny's Child
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968) by the Kinks
Me Against the World (1995) by 2Pac
Transatlanticism (2003) by Death Cab for Cutie
Reign in Blood (1986) by Slayer
Bandwagonesque (1991) by Teenage Fanclub
