Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express

Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express, the fourth album by The Go-Betweens, was released in March 1986 in the UK on Beggars Banquet Records, the record label that would release the remainder of the original group's LPs through their break-up in 1989. The album was recorded at Berry Street Studios in London, England. The original release consisted of ten songs. The UK CD release in 1986 (BEGA 72) had the original ten tracks, plus two bonus tracks: "The Life At Hand" and "Little Joe". In 2004, LO-MAX Records released an expanded CD which included a second disc of eleven bonus tracks and music videos for the songs, "Spring Rain" and "Head Full of Steam" (Single Version).[1]

Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
Studio album by The Go-Betweens
Released	March 1986
Studio	Berry Street Studio, London WC1, England
Genre	Rock, alternative rock, indie rock
Length	36:53
Label	Beggars Banquet Records
Producer	Richard Preston
The Go-Betweens chronology
Spring Hill Fair (1984) Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express (1986) Tallulah (1987)
Singles from Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
"Spring Rain" Released: February 1986 "Head Full of Steam" Released: May 1986

Details

The band had signed a deal with an English branch of the label Elektra, which closed two weeks into the album's recording. Forster said, "Elektra pays for the record and doesn't even know it. We've got an album that's ours, we can sell it to anyone. Free album."[2] Soon after, they signed with Beggar's Banquet.

Drummer Morrison later said, "This is my favourite album. This is a really, really fabulous album. We produced this ourselves and it's got the best songs, and I think every single song is a classic. And if we had produced those songs the way radio demands – like, if we'd used drum machines and just had synthesisers do must the stuff – I think we could have got a hit."[3]

The band entered the studio determined to create the album they envisioned. Forster later wrote, "If this was to be our last shot, it had to be on our terms. There'd be no drum machines, no piecemeal recording, no acquiescence to higher authority. Our intention was to expand on the crisp, woody sound of Before Hollywood, to include a grander, more exotic range of instrumentation."[4]

Both McLennan and Forster praised the contributions of Dean B. Speedwell. McLennan said, "We used another person on that record, like we had on Before Hollywood, a kind of keyboard-y dude called Dean B. Speedwell, and he was such a musician that we could say 'Well, we want vibes like Lionel Hampton' and he could do it, or we wanted a bassoon part and he could play it."[5]

Later McLennan said, "There was quite a fundamental musical change in the band towards simplification. Something we've been accused of in the past, of being almost a pop band, almost an art band, you know, now we're simplifying. Thinking more of 4/4." Similarly. Forster claimed to have had a revelation in the wake of Spring Hill Fair. He said, "I'm writing a lot less complicated music, and it's giving me space to put myself in it."[6]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Blender	[8]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[9]
NME	10/10[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[11]
Select	5/5[12]
Uncut	[13]
The Village Voice	A−[14]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[15]

Robert Christgau claimed, "there are no popsters writing stronger personal love songs. I doubt there are any page poets envisioning more plangently, either."[14] The BBC said, "If you like lyrics, and rambling imagery, you'll love these songs. There are ten of them in thirty six minutes. Only the flat production lets them down; something they often had trouble with. But alongside Spring Hill Fair this is their best album."[16]

AllMusic noted, "Robert Forster's endearingly fey persona, equal parts Bryan Ferry and gangly bookstore clerk, reaches full flower on the Go-Betweens' fourth album, which tempers the angularity and occasional claustrophobia of the band's previous work with a new airiness and nervous romanticism. The lighter sound can be partly attributed to the growing influence of co-leader Grant McLennan."[7] Mojo said the album was, "organic, homespun, with echoes of Australian country in its classicist rock novellas".[17]

Track listing

All tracks are written by G. McLennan, R. Forster.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Spring Rain"	3:10
2.	"The Ghost and the Black Hat"	2:36
3.	"The Wrong Road"	4:57
4.	"To Reach Me"	3:37
5.	"Twin Layers of Lightning"	4:25
6.	"In the Core of the Flame"	2:57
7.	"Head Full of Steam"	3:36
8.	"Bow Down"	3:47
9.	"Palm Sunday (On Board the SS Within)"	3:19
10.	"Apology Accepted"	4:25
11.	"Spring Rain" (video on 2004 expanded CD)
12.	"Head Full of Steam" (single version - video on 2004 expanded CD)
Total length:		36:53

All tracks are written by G. McLennan, R. Forster, except where noted.

2004 bonus disc

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Life at Hand"	3:34
2.	"Don't Let Him Come Back" (new version)	2:39
3.	"Apology Accepted" (radio session)	3:48
4.	"I Work in a Health Spa"	3:42
5.	"Bow Down" (early version)	4:09
6.	"Casanova's Last Words"	2:39
7.	"Head Full of Steam" (single version)	3:38
8.	"Little Joe"	3:28
9.	"Wrong Road" (early version)	3:18
10.	"Reunion Dinner"	4:49
11.	"I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door" (Aaron Schroeder and Sid Wayne)	1:53
Total length:		37:37

Release history

Year	Country	Label	Format	Catalogue No.
1986	UK	Beggars Banquet	LP	BEGA 72
			Cassette	BEGC 72
			CD	BEGA 72 CD
	AUS	True Tone	LP	826 714-1
			Cassette	826 714-4
	US	Big Time	LP	10030-1
	GER	Rebel Rec.		RE 0024
	CA	Vertigo		VOG-1-3369
	JP	Japan		25JAL-3059
1988	UK	Beggars Banquet		BBL 72
1996			CD	BBL 2004 CD
	AUS	Silk Sheen		SILK 005
2004	UK	LO-MAX		LO-MAX CD002
	AUS	EMI Australia		3696022
	US	Jetset		TWA70CD

Personnel

The Go-Betweens

• Robert Forster — vocals, rhythm guitar
• Grant McLennan — vocals, lead guitar, loops, treatments
• Lindy Morrison — drums
• Robert Vickers — bass guitar

Additional musicians

• Dean B. Speedwell — organ, piano, accordion, vibes, bassoon
• Audrey Riley — cello, string arrangements
• Chris Tomlin — 1st violin
• Sally Herbert — 2nd violin
• Sue Dench — viola
• Tracey Thorn — backing vocals ("Head Full of Steam", "Apology Accepted")
• Richard Preston — loops, treatments ("Reunion Dinner")

References

1. Mueller, Andrew, from the liner notes for the 2004 LO-MAX Compact Disc reissue of Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express. All track listing/production history/song writing credit information in this article is taken from these liner notes.
2. David Nichols (2005). The Go-Betweens. Verse Chorus Verse. p. 165. ISBN 9781891241161.
3. Tracee Hutchison (1992). Your Name's on the Door. Sydney: ABC Enterprises. p. 125. ISBN 0-7333-0115-0.
4. Robert Forster (2016). Grant & I. Penguin. pp. 157–158. ISBN 978-0-6700782-2-6.
5. Gavin Sawford (12 April 1996). "Gazing On A Sunny Afternoon". Rave. Stones Corner, QLD: Rave Magazine Pty Ltd: 7–8.
6. Clinton Walker (1996). Stranded: The Secret History of Australian Independent Music 1977–1991. Pan MacMillan. p. 177. ISBN 0-7329-0883-3.
7. Coulter, Kristi. "Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express – The Go-Betweens". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
8. Lim, Dennis. "The Go-Betweens: (various reissues)". Blender. Archived from the original on 5 April 2005. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
9. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
10. "The Go-Betweens: Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express". NME: 47. 13 April 1996.
11. Wolk, Douglas (2004). "The Go-Betweens". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 333–34. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
12. Male, Andrew (May 1996). "The Go-Betweens: Send Me a Lullaby / Before Hollywood / Spring Hill Fair / Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express / Tallulah / 16 Lovers Lane". Select (71): 102.
13. "The Go-Betweens: Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express". Uncut (86): 120. July 2004.
14. Christgau, Robert (31 March 1987). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
15. Considine, J.D. (1992). "The Go-Betweens". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (eds.). [The Rolling Stone Album Guide] (3rd ed.). Random House. pp. 284–85. ISBN 0-679-73729-4.
16. "The Go-Betweens Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express Review". BBC.
17. Ian Harrison. "The Go-Betweens". Mojo. No. 311.