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The Evangelist isn’t a Go-Betweens album, but it’s more cohesive than any of Forster’s other solo albums, and more moving.
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It's not fair to Forster, of course, who rose to the occasion with his warmest and most welcoming solo album. But even beyond the imherant emotional baggage, songs such as 'Did She Overtake You' or the slightly bombastic 'Don't Touch Anything' still sound like they could have used a pass through someone else's filter.
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Bittersweet and poignant, The Evangelist is Robert Forster's most fully realized, seamless, and masterfully articulated solo record yet.
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The album impresses as much for its craft as for the way it allows Forster to honor McLennan's passing even as it advances his own work.
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With his unassuming voice--like a more agreeable Lou Reed--and spare folk-rock tunes, he's got a gift for importing cosmic subjects like mortality ('Demon Days') and transcendence ('If It Rains') into vivid everyday vignettes, minus any cheesy melodrama.
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Although Forster's characterful, Australian waver gets under your skin, the sentiments of these songs won't do the same.
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As on most Go-Betweens records, the melodies take time to sink in, though not the Grant McLennan legacy retrofitted with a Robert lyric about Grant's affinity for melody.
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It’s good to know he’s still in fine form and is going to keep on keepin’ on, but for now I’m more left waiting for the next Robert Forster album than able to really love this one.
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BlenderConjuring doubts and tenderness, Forster's writing has never been surer. [May 2008, p.76]
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Q MagazineThere could be no finer tribute to a departed friend. [May 2008, p.135]
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MojoThe Evangelist is tinged with the voyeur's illicit thrill a Forster spies on his neighbours and loved ones, but these are slso some of the most direct songs he's written. [June 2008, p.114]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 8 out of 9
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Mixed: 0 out of 9
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Negative: 1 out of 9
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ChadS.May 29, 2008
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BrandonM.May 20, 2008
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HughM.May 19, 2008