In Your Bright Ray | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1997 | |||
Recorded | Paradise Studios, Sydney, December 1996 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 50:06 | |||
Label | Cortex, Beggars Banquet [1] | |||
Producer | Wayne Connolly | |||
Grant McLennan chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Robert Christgau | [3] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [1] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [4] |
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [5] |
In Your Bright Ray is the fourth and final solo album, released in 1997, by Grant McLennan. [6] [7] [8]
The album features Brett Myers of Died Pretty and Wayne Connolly of Knievel on guitars, Maurice Argiro of Underground Lovers on bass, and Tim Powles of The Church on drums.
AllMusic wrote: "With a top-notch backing group teasing all the little subtleties that a fan of crafted, gilded, lovely pop could want and McLennan's increasingly wizened, becalmed vocals, the mix of sounds and McLennan's marvelously well-developed material radiates, sparkles, and snaps, crackles, and pops with all his strengths and then some." [2] Trouser Press called the album "pleasant and expertly executed," writing that it "offers little in the way of standouts." [9] CMJ New Music Monthly called the album "McLennan's least immediate offering," writing that "whatever additional concentration is required to appreciate its charms is amply rewarded with a deepened appreciation of his artistry." [10]
All words and music by Grant McLennan.
The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout its existence. Drummer Lindy Morrison joined the band in 1980, and its lineup would later expand to include bass guitarist Robert Vickers and multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown. Vickers was replaced by John Willsteed in 1987, and the quintet lineup remained in place until the band split two years later. Forster and McLennan reformed the band in 2000 with a new lineup that did not include any previous personnel aside from them. McLennan died on 6 May 2006 of a heart attack and the Go-Betweens disbanded again. In 2010, a toll bridge in their native Brisbane was renamed the Go Between Bridge after them.
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Grant William McLennan was an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist. He co-founded the Go-Betweens with Robert Forster in Brisbane in 1977. In addition to his work with the Go-Betweens, he issued four solo albums: Watershed (1991), Fireboy (1992), Horsebreaker Star (1994) and In Your Bright Ray (1997). He also undertook side-projects and collaborations with other artists. McLennan received a number of accolades recognising his achievements and contributions as songwriter and lyricist. In May 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association listed "Cattle and Cane" (1983), written by McLennan, as one of their top 30 Australian songs of all time. McLennan died of a heart attack at the age of 48 and was survived by his fiancée, Emma Pursey.
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Jack Frost were a short-term Australian rock band, a side project for Grant McLennan and Steve Kilbey. They released two albums, Jack Frost (1991) and Snow Job (1996). Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, determined their material, "ranged from romantic ballads to tough rock, with the two singers' voices fitting together well."
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