Fundamental (Mental As Anything album)

Fundamental (As Anything)
Studio album by
Mental As Anything
Released1 March 1985
Recorded1984
StudioRhinoceros Studios, Sydney, Australia
GenrePop, new wave
Length39:24
LabelRegular Records
ProducerRichard Gottehrer
Mental As Anything chronology
Creatures of Leisure
(1983) 		Fundamental (As Anything)
(1985) 		Greatest Hits Vol. 1
(1986)
Singles from Fundamental
  1. "You're So Strong"
    Released: March 1985
  2. "Live It Up"
    Released: 31 May 1985
  3. "Date with Destiny"
    Released: September 1985
  4. "Big Wheel"
    Released: November 1985
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Fundamental or Fundamental As Anything is the fifth studio album released by Australian rock/pop group, Mental As Anything.[2][3] The album was produced by Richard Gottehrer and was released on Regular Records in March 1985.[2][3][4] It peaked at No. 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report albums charts.

Recording

The band had intended to use Gary Langan as producer as they admired his work with Art of Noise and were happy with the "wild" album he had planned. O'Doherty said, "He took on too much at the time and he got zonked out at all the stress and he pulled out something like five days before he was meant to be on the plane." The replacement was Richard Gottehrer, but they had to wait for a gap in his schedule, delaying the recording. O'Doherty said, "It’s too long because we’ve got four songwriters in the band and we ended up with over 30 songs demoed for Fundamental, more than enough for two albums."[5]

Gottehrer thought "Live it Up" was the strongest single, adding, "It was pretty obvious. I loved that song. "You're So Strong" and "Date with Destiny" I thought were also singles." All three songs were written by Smith, and other writers in the band felt their songs received less attention.[6]

Reception

Cash Box magazine said "Another strong album from this powerhouse Australian band. Variety is the key here, as the music runs the gamut from the gritty sensualism of "Hold On" to the depth and richness of "Date with Destiny"'."[7]

Track listing

Fundamental (As Anything)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You're So Strong"Andrew "Greedy" Smith[8]3:29
2."Big Wheel"Martin Plaza[9]4:46
3."Live It Up"Smith[10]4:14
4."Surf & Mull & Sex & Fun"Peter O'Doherty[11]3:39
5."Good Friday"Plaza[12]4:29
6."Date with Destiny"Smith[13]3:04
7."Hold On"O'Doherty[14]3:02
8."Stones of the Heart"Reg Mombassa[15]3:22
9."I Just Wanna Be Happy"Mombassa[16]3:28
10."Splashing"Mombassa[17]3:20
11."Bus Ride"Plaza[18]3:02

Personnel

Musicians

Additional personnel

Recording details

Art work

  • Art direction — Jana Hartig, Ken Smith, Sue Woollard
  • Design — Martin Plaza, Greedy Smith (and cover design)
  • Photography — Paula Clarke (cover photo), Paul Clarke, Hugh Hamilton, Frank Lindner (and sleeve photo), Francine McDougall

Charts

Weekly chart

Chart (1985) Peak
position
Australian (Kent Music Report)[19] 3
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[20] 22

Year-end chart

Chart (1985) Rank
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[21] 11

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[22] 2× Platinum 140,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalogue
Australia / New Zealand March 1985 Regular Records LP, Cassette RRLP1212
12 May 1986 Festival CD D20208
United States February 1986 Columbia LP BFC 40299
Netherlands 1987 Epic LP, Cassette EPC 450641
Australia September 1989 Festival CD D20208

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ a b McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Mental as Anything'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 13 August 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  3. ^ a b Nimmervoll, Ed. "Mental As Anything". Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music. White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd (Ed Nimmervoll). Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  4. ^ Holmgren, Magnus; Johns, Shane; Warnqvist, Stefan. "Mental As Anything". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  5. ^ George Kay (1 September 1985). "Method In Their Mentalness". Rip It Up. No. 98.
  6. ^ Jane Gazzo (2024). I Hear Motion. Melbourne Books. p. 28. ISBN 9781922779267.
  7. ^ "Album Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 22 February 1986. p. 8. Retrieved 8 December 2021 – via World Radio History.
  8. ^ ""You're So Strong" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  9. ^ ""Big Wheel" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  10. ^ ""Live it Up" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  11. ^ ""Surf and Mull" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  12. ^ ""Good Friday" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  13. ^ ""Date with Destiny" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  14. ^ "APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  15. ^ ""Stones of the Heart" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  16. ^ ""Drunk at a Party" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  17. ^ ""Splashing" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  18. ^ ""Bus Ride" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  19. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p. 198. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  20. ^ "Charts.nz – Mental as Anything – Fundamental". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  21. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p. 437. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  22. ^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Mental as Anything'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86508-072-7. Archived from the original on 13 August 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.