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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

16 Lovers Lane

The Go-Betweens

1988

16 Lovers Lane
Album Summary

16 Lovers Lane is the sixth album by Australian indie rock group The Go-Betweens, released in 1988 by Beggars Banquet Records. Prior to the recording of the album, longtime bassist Robert Vickers left the band when the other group members decided to return to Australia after having spent several years in London, England; he was replaced by John Willsteed. The album was recorded at Studios 301 in Sydney, between Christmas 1987 and Autumn 1988. 16 Lovers Lane was the final release from the original version of the band. The Go-Betweens broke up in 1989 and would produce no other material until Grant McLennan and Robert Forster reformed the band, with a completely different line-up of personnel, in 2000.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.95

Votes

10102
Genres
Rock
New Wave

Reviews

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Fri Sep 24 2021
4

It's a bit like listening to the Smiths but without having to think about what a piece of shit Morrissey is! I dig it.

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Tue Mar 09 2021
2

I know this record was at one point acclaimed but it just sounds like a less good version of other great things that came out in this style to me.

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Sat Apr 10 2021
2

Pleasant enough pop music, but ultimately relatively boring. There were a couple hints at interesting vocal lines early on. At least I've learned that string arrangements can't save any music for my ears.

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Fri Apr 16 2021
5

This album was the perfect accompaniment to walking to work in the April sun. There's something so summery about this album. I think the simplicity and acoustic textures highlight the strength of the songwriting on this record. It just hit so well for me today. I'm going to go ahead and round up that 4.5 this time. Favourite song: The Devil's Eye

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Tue Oct 27 2020
4

Really surprised me. Was expecting cheesy 80s pop, but has a sort of smiths like quality.

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Sat May 08 2021
5

The singles "Love Goes On" and "Streets of Your Town" were fantastic, I really enjoyed this, sort of like a proto-Australian The Cure.

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Fri Mar 05 2021
5

They sounded alot like The Smiths

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Fri Apr 16 2021
5

The songwriting duo of Forster and McLennan is at its best on this record. Half the tracks are upbeat, romantic and optimistic, and the other are sad and heartbreaking. The driving melodies and guitar work is some of the best I've heard, rivalling some of my favourite Smiths records. Fav Tracks: Love Goes On, Was There Anything I Could Do and Dive For Your Memory

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Mon Nov 15 2021
5

This album is sooo strong. The Go-Betweens mase such gorgeous music. Tasteful, tuneful, bright. Music you just want to sing along with. The best album from a band that released nothing but great albums. An easy 5 🌟 rating

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Fri Jun 25 2021
4

16 Lovers Lane is actually a crack den I used to frequent. Shit and blood up the walls and junkies everywhere. I was out of my mind for 2 years. Evil, evil stuff. Very few made it out alive.

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Wed Oct 13 2021
4

Quite pleasant for work background music.

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Wed Feb 02 2022
4

I had a great time listening to this album! Very chill but engaging at the same time. I had never heard of the Go-Betweens and did not recognize any of the songs on here, but after giving this one a go, I feel they are a very strong indie pop-rock band. There has been a couple times already going through this list where this genre and decade did not mesh well and caused the record to feel dated; however, I REALLY enjoyed the production on this album as every single instrument and vocal line was crystal clear. This was well needed given the band's acoustic elements they incorporated in every song. It really made me appreciate the finer details that the band put into their tracks and was probably the strongest part of the album overall. Love Goes On! is a great opener and probably my favorite song throughout the short track listing. I did like every track on this one, but they did start to blend together a bit towards the end (this issue might improve or worsen upon further listens). Besides that, I thought this was a great album and would throw this one on again. 3.5/5 (but close to a 4!).

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Fri Jun 25 2021
1

Wet Wet Wet, but wetter. struggled to keep awake for this prosaic dirge.

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Fri Oct 01 2021
5

Fuck yeah BRISBANE. Very tempted to give it a 5 based on that alone but I shall remain impartial. I initially thought it started a bit slow but it actually paces nicely up to a big crescendo from Streets of Your Town onward. Clouds and Was There Anything I Could Do are both very very strong songs. Can hear heeaaapps of Rolling Blackouts coming out of this. I've always loved listening to Streets and imagining it was written only with Brisbane in mind (which I doubt it was, but still nice to think about). Anyway FIVE STARS.

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Fri Sep 09 2022
5

The Go-Betweens are high on my list of most underrated artists. To me there are two types of Go-Between discs - very good and great. This is the later. Lyrical, lush, literate pop music. There are very few bands post 1980 that were able to do this and this is one of the best. How is it possible that Streets of Your Town and Quiet Heart were not hits in the US?

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Tue May 11 2021
4

Very easy listening and I would totally listen to this again. Super fun listening to it while I deliver groceries around my home town. I could see myself falling in love with this album given another couple listens through

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Thu Apr 15 2021
3

Don't really have a lot to say about this one. It's very alright I guess.

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Tue Jan 26 2021
3

This was really good. I love Aussie rock.

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Sun Jan 16 2022
3

If you Google "meh" it starts to play this album.

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Wed Jul 14 2021
2

was listening along and wondering who this band is that I never heard of. I'm thinking I don't know too many Aussie bands and they're at least as good as Men At Work. Not sure this is enough to float north of a 2 rating. Then Streets of Your Town comes on and it's like: " Hey! I know this song!" Not sure I like it but I know it. "Was There Anything I Could Do?" is quite enjoyable. The violin on that tune is a nice touch. It's pretty cool to have acoustic music where the violin player is playing the violin rather than the fiddle. Unfortunately, the cool violin playing starts and stops here. For the rest of the songs, the violin is relegated to the background and really doesn't need to be there. It's like OK we have a violin player in the studio so I suppose she can play something as long as it's not too interruptive. So if I were a betting man, and I am, I'd bet $2 that the singer / songwriter met a cute, very good violin player and asked her to join (or they formed?) the band, planning to figure out how to work the violin in the music in due course. They figured it out on Was There Anything . . . but did not on the rest of the album.

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Fri Apr 30 2021
2

Never heard of this before. Intrigued after reading the Wikipedia entry. Ok only

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Thu Nov 17 2022
1

‘Streets of Your Town’ is such a great song, so the rest of the record is disappointing by comparison. Quite dull overall.

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Sun Jul 04 2021
5

One of my fav bands, but not my fav record of theirs

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Sun Jun 06 2021
5

Hadn't listened before and I loved it!

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Mon May 10 2021
5

Awesome and Nic loved it too

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Wed Jan 19 2022
5

I relate to some of these songs I would deffo rate this 5/5 or 4.5/5 Indie rock is lit

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Wed Apr 06 2022
5

I love this band, I love this album

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Fri May 20 2022
5

loved it then love it now, so lucky to see F&M perform most of this live. Just excellent, so many good memories soundtracked by this

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Thu Jul 14 2022
5

One of my most cherished albums. The bittersweet emotions you feel when you're going through a nasty breakup are perfectly balanced on this album, linking it to Dylan's Blood on the Tracks in some ways. The Go-Betweens were one of the greatest jangle pop bands to come out of Australia, and people like Courtney Barnett clearly owes to them. I'm glad this album was included in this book because it's a perfect case of a somewhat less known album that actually deserves attention.

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Wed Aug 17 2022
5

Loved this, just my cup of tea

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Thu Sep 15 2022
5

This album has particular resonance for me - both from it being a part of my youth, but also because it captures something about being Australian.

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Thu Sep 15 2022
5

Already knew a couple of songs - Streets of Your Town and Was There Anything I Could Do (both brilliant songs) and have always meant to check the album out. They sound a bit like a more acoustic Smiths with Tom Verlaine from Television on vocals. The album is fantastic - not a skippable track on first listen and I think I'll only come to like each one more on future listens. Highly recommended.

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Mon Dec 05 2022
5

Never heard of this band before but this hit right in the sweet spot of music I love. It hits my indie rock soul hard and I can't wait to listen to more albums from them.

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Wed Dec 21 2022
5

I loved this album! It was like The Smith’s, but without Morrissey, who just ruins everything he touches!

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Fri Mar 10 2023
5

One of the major 1001 surprises: I love everything about it.

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Fri Mar 10 2023
5

Hard to say but this might be my favourite Go-Betweens album (only know their first six albums). It has no Cattle and Cane, but lots of other really strong songs. I can also strongly recommend Robert Foster's book Grant and I (from 2018 or so).

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Fri Apr 14 2023
5

I actually didn't have the time to get to this again, but this is just such a great album to me. It seems to be the phase where they took the post-punk (in very loose terms) thing they had going and put more of a singer-songwriter spin on it. Grant McLennan seemed to write (what should have been) hit after hit with infectious melodies and Robert Forster wrote these slower (but not meandering) songs just so rich with atmosphere. Maybe not my fav of theirs but I love it a lot.

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Sat Jul 08 2023
5

This was a real positive surprise, great runtime, couple of standout songs that I saved and overall just a very happy, go lucky mood in the songs

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Sat Jul 08 2023
5

Fantastic album. Along the lines of REM, but in their own way. A strong rhythmic acoustic with electric licks over it, topped with perfect male and female vocals, produced well with each song providing something different.

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Mon Aug 28 2023
5

Good to be back listening to music, and this was a great re-entrance! It sounded like a lot of stuff I’ve heard already from this list, but upbeat. “I’m All Right” was the standout track for me, but I plan to keep this on my phone.

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Mon Oct 23 2023
5

PNW, driving a motorcycle, diners, first love,

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Thu Jan 18 2024
5

Nice. I really enjoyed this album. 5/5

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Wed Jan 24 2024
5

I never really got the go betweens. I know they are an iconic Queensland band but they were always just off my ‘taste’ radar. They’re really good. Great playing and strong songs and they deserved their success but I missed the appeal. 5 because I know too many people who’d give this at least 4.

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Fri Mar 01 2024
5

"16 Lovers Lane" is the sixth album and the final release from the original version of Australian indie band the Go-Betweens. The album is nicknamed their "Rumours" since their guitarist and vocalist Robert Forster had just broken up with drummer Lindy Morrison, lead singer Grant McLennan had started a relationship with violinist and vocalist Amanda Brown and bassist Robert Vickers left the band to be replaced with John Willsteed. The band had also just moved back to Syndey after five years in London. All these events affected and are part of the lyrics. Commercially, the album hit #81 in the UK and had wide-spread critical acclaim. The album kicks off with "Love Goes On." Acoustic guitar and catchy vocals. Strings and a Spanish-sounding guitar comes in. The song keep building musically. It's about the transitory nature of love. "Quiet Heart" is slower with a clicking beat. McLennan whispering vocals are more emotional. An electric guitar and harmonica are added at the end. I'm really liking the layering of the music here. The pace picks up in the first single "Streets of Your Town." A pop drum beat and some more catchy lyrics in the chorus. Very easy listening and I believe about the town of Brisbane. The culmination of this album just might be "Was There Anyhthing I Could Do?" It begins with a faster strumming guitar similar to the Smiths' "Big Mouth Strikes Again." There's an edge and urgency to McLennan voice. There's a rolling violin and eventually layered guitars. Tremendous. The album ends appropriately with the melancholic "Dive for Your Memory." A love that couldn't be. The lyrics, vocals and music fit perfectly together. There is a lot to like about this album; it well-orchestrated and constructed pop music. Dramatic. Cathartic. Changes pace. The music is expertly layered with the strings, guitars and harmonica. At times, it reminded of a cross between the Smiths and Crowded House. It doesn't sound dated at all and well worth going back to.

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Mon Sep 14 2020
4

I thought it was pretty good. Sounded like something from a 1990 movie or something. Soft/acoustic/alternative rock with a lot of grand love ballads. I enjoyed it, but can't really see myself coming back to it over and over again.

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Thu Jan 14 2021
4

very relaxing. nice and catchy

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Thu Oct 15 2020
4

Lyrics are brilliant Love, Regret, melancholia, not an ounce of fat on them... musically a combo of velvet underground & love. Great album. Will be listening again

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Thu Nov 05 2020
4

det hÀr albumet har nÄgot alltsÄ. riktigt gött hÀng

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Tue Mar 30 2021
4

Aussie pop! This was interesting. Fit the mold but definitely unique.

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Thu Jul 08 2021
4

I had never heard of this band or album before, but this was quite nice! Twee indie rock that's quite a bit ahead of its time. Good stuff.

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Sat Jan 23 2021
4

Fun album! Very “Fleetwood Mac” if Fleetwood Mac were a bit later on. Some good tunes though

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Thu Mar 04 2021
4

Quite a nice surprise, I’ve been hating all the 80’s records so far. Good one

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Tue Jun 22 2021
4

Pues un disco agradable. No estoy seguro de por qué sería un GRAN disco, pero me puso contento. Lo que sí es que suena a lo que luego muchos dirían que suena "indie". Quizå por eso me gusta. Mis favs "Streets of Your Town" y "Was There Anything I Could Do?". 7.5/10

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Thu Jul 01 2021
4

7/10. I quite like this, just a super chill, straightforward brand of rock, the lyrics are hit or miss and the singing is decent. Honestly, my main complaint is that they really like to delay rhymes from when you expect to hear them, which always irritates me

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Mon Jul 19 2021
4

Oké albums, geen hoogvlieger maar wel van genoten op de achtergrond

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Fri Jun 25 2021
4

uhhhh.... where has this lil gem been??!!

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Thu Jun 24 2021
4

I enjoyed this album. Pretty folksy. Streets of your town is the standout track. Gave me nostalgia because it was used for an ad about a decade ago for my home town.

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Mon May 17 2021
4

typical of the alt style i've always loved - acoustic guitars, jingle-jangle clear guitar, melodic leads.

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Wed Sep 01 2021
4

Haven't heard this before, rather enjoyed it. Felt quite a bit ahead of its time. I heard some 90s, some 00s, some 2010s. Fun album.

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Sat Sep 11 2021
4

80 90lar londrasina donebilsem keske artik havasindan midir suyundan midir nasi bi memleketsin

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Thu Oct 21 2021
4

Such a beautiful album...probably my favourite Go-Betweens album. Lush and subtle with poignant lyrics. Close to 5 stars, but ultimately 4 for me because it's not a style that I turn to often

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Wed Oct 27 2021
4

Contains one of my favourite songs of all time - 'Streets of Your Town'. Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't quite match up.

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Thu Oct 28 2021
4

4 stars for Streets Of Your Town

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Thu Jan 27 2022
4

Real neat, like a folky version of the Smiths.

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Wed Feb 16 2022
4

I am a fan of such albums, 10 songs, not too long, weak tracks are out, no bullshit, just good music. My note would be 4 stars with a minus, nice vocals and guitars, clean remaster, but nothing actually special

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Sun Mar 06 2022
4

Solid. Not too slow, not too fast. Anyone can enjoy this album.

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Wed Apr 13 2022
4

This is good - really good. Well-crafted songs delivered with some unashamed pop confidence. The late 80's production doesn't surrender to the trends of the time. It brings out the best in the song writing. How Streets of Your Town wasn't a massive hit I don't know.

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Fri Apr 22 2022
4

I really enjoyed this... was made in '88, but felt like a mid 90s indy-pop band. Definitely ahead of its time.

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Thu May 12 2022
4

Sounds like The Smiths met LegiĂŁo Urbana.

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Sun May 22 2022
4

Need to revisit this asap. Pop sensibility steering well wide of sentimentality, spacious production values. Late 80s sophistopop minus the pretentiousness.

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Wed Jun 08 2022
4

I’ve never heard of this band, but they kind if remind me of 10,000 Maniacs. I like the acoustic driven songs.

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Sun Jun 12 2022
4

Production sounds dated but still some really catchy tunes and some fine storytelling..

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Sun Jun 19 2022
4

I like “Love Goes On” and “Was There Anything I Could Do?”. The rest is pretty solid as well.

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Mon Jun 27 2022
4

Very solid music. Nothing really distinctive but well crafted.

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Thu Jul 14 2022
4

Nice one, Ill definitively will listen again. Love the vibe

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Fri Jul 29 2022
4

Vibing with this one for sure

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Mon Aug 01 2022
4

Couple good songs, better than I expected

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Thu Aug 18 2022
4

À discovery for me, and a very pleasant one at that! A style of music that I relate to easily, done with freshness and style. Surprised I had not heard of them before. Perhaps they weren’t big in Canada


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Mon Sep 26 2022
4

I was not aware of this album in 1988, but I really would have liked it then. I really enjoyed its sound, especially the first two songs.

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Thu Sep 29 2022
4

Prijetna glasba. Spominja me malo na The Cardigans.

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Fri Oct 07 2022
4

The accompaniment is actually good and the vocals are ok. "Streets of your Town", "I'm alright" are my favourites

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Thu Oct 13 2022
4

Nice record to listen too. Truly reflects its era.

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Wed Nov 23 2022
4

Pretty enjoyable music, album was all good

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Sun Dec 18 2022
4

Perfectly pleasant. Has it changed me as a person? No. But this album is a beautiful example of pretty, likable 80's music.

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