Robert Forster's solo debut saw him reinvented a touch as the classic traditionalist -- certainly the cover photo, black and white with him dressed in a neat suit, looks like it could have been taken somewhere in rural America circa 1920. For all that,
Forster himself wasn't sounding like an unearthed wax cylinder recording from the back of beyond --
Danger in the Past, if anything, continues from where
the Go-Betweens left off, with literate, understated rock & roll still the driving focus. Away from the group and the songs of co-leader Grant McLennan, a full album of
Forster's gently cracked, high vocals succeeds better than might be thought, setting and maintaining a variety of moods from sudden energy to soft rumination, especially evident on the death-haunted title track. Perhaps the secret to the album's success partly lies in his collaborators -- fellow Australian music legend
Mick Harvey took some time off from working with
Nick Cave to produce and play, bringing fellow Bad Seeds vets
Thomas Wydler and
Hugo Race with him - and the speedy, stripped-dwon fashion in hich they worked. Wisely, nobody tries to sound like Cave or the Bad Seeds, least of all
Forster himself -- this is his own reflective, quietly energetic vision and style through and through, and his fellow performers play to his strengths. There's a strong element of country & western in
Danger in the Past, avoiding brawling honky tonk swagger in favor of an elegant, almost studied high and lonesome approach not far off from
Bob Dylan's own experiments in the field. Certainly the roiling Hammond organ background behind the acoustic guitar on the lovely "The River People" hints at something
the Band could have done, and why not?
Forster's wry sense of humor is clearly evident as well, as on this line from the stop-start shuffle "Dear Black Dream": "Wondering who sings better in the dark/Is it
Townes Van Zandt or
Guy Clark?" The album is a fine first step away from the constraints of
the Go-Betweens and proves that
Forster is more than able to go his own way.~ Ned Raggett