Sleeper Catcher / Time Exposure

Although they may never get the credit they deserve for paving the long way to America for other Australian acts like Air Supply and Men At Work, The Little River Band did so with stellar musicianship, beautifully arranged vocal harmonies, and some incredibly versatile songcraft. Anyone who truly lends Sleeper Catcher the ear it so richly deserves would be hard-pressed to force it into any single conventional category. While generally regarded as soft rock or adult contemporary, in truth The Little River Band harnessed any number of progressive elements to make their particular brand of popular rock music far more intriguing than many of the groups with whom they typically get lumped. Shut Down Turn Off  opens Sleeper Catcher with a nicely progressive chord structure before "progressing" into the core of the song. It then ends in such a cleverly ambient manner that I cannot help but think that it would probably make Alan Parsons proud. It's the sort of album-oriented song that used to thrive in the 1970's and make the album experience unique to simply listening to the radio. But as much as I love  Shut Down Turn Off , I love the languidly jazzy and beautifully arranged "Light of Day" even more!The two big hits off Sleeper Catcher are  Reminiscing  and  Lady . While I like the former, I love  Lady  for its, again, more progressive arrangement which ebbs and flows whereas the arrangement of the former is much more straight-forward and conventional. That said, one cannot find fault with the chord progression in album's biggest hit. Other songs that really standout are "Fall From Paradise" and "Sanity's Side" which seems almost like a prelude to another fantastic LRB song  Cool Change .While Sleeper Catcher is a solid five-star achievement, Time Exposure is best rated with four stars. Good, but just not inspired in the same manner that Sleeper Catcher clearly was. But even with that said, there are several fantastic songs on Time Exposure like  Take It Easy On Me , Man On Your Mind , and, especially, the standout track on the album  The Night Owls ! The album-oriented songs on this album probably won't grab a newer listener immediately, but, given time, I think many will grow to appreciate Ballerina, Guiding Light, and We Two.

This combo album blends some of LRB's best stuff along with some of their less-noted but not less worthy material. Everything on the two albums is great and shows why they were one of the truly great bands of the '70s and '80s.

These are my 2 all-time favorite LRB albums. I have them on vinyl and I was happy to see that they came out on cd, which includes 2 extra tracks, You're Driving Me Out Of My Mind and We Two, which also happen to be my favorite LRB songs. These have been my favorites albums for over 25 yrs. Get it, you won't be disappointed.

Enjoyed the music very much.

I borrowed this album from the library when I was 15 and loved it since then. Why this and the other albums are not remastered on cd is a mystery to me. Meanwhile, I was lucky and greatful to find this lp in a pawn shop in great condition for only $1. Then, I recorded it onto cassette to preserve the lp. LADY is a good, but not my favorite song, but I love the radio classic REMANINCING and the other songs, especially the guiet acoustic ballad BEEB BIRTLES' LIGHT IF DAY that features DAVID BRIGGS' low volume guitar solo, excellent harmony vocals, electric piano solo, flute solos, and the orchestra. GLENN SHORROCK'S SHUT DOWN TURN OFF is a outstanding opening song his lead vocal, the guitar intro, and synthesizer, and RED HEADED WILD FLOWER and SO MANY PATHS keep the album in motion. FALL FROM PARADISE and SANITY'S SIDE are an excellent song featuring the piano, lead vocal by GLENN, lead and bass guitar riffs, and ONE FROM THE ROAD is a excellent closer with the synthesizer solo and the organ in the background. Meanwhile, my only complaint about some of their music is the sound of the fretless bass guitar that is occasionally used. Unfortunately, this is the last album that features the clear blasting bass guitar sound by GEORGE MCARDLE. I will never understand why those nutcase idiots at CAPITOL RECORDS won't rerelease, remastered, and repackage this and their other albums, since they were one of most popular bands of the 1970s that had recorded successful albums.

LRB were truly a world class band of singer songwriters and immensely talented.Sleeper Catcher is arguably the bands best album although I thought After Hours was hugely under rated.Reminiscing had indeed shaped the soundtrack of our lives as has songs like Lady , Shut Down Turn off , Night Owls , Take it easy on me etc etc.It is a shame that the founding members of the band sold the rights of their music because if they had not done so I am sure that they would still be recording great songs and touring the world today but alas that is the music industry for you.Great band who never released a bad record and icons of both Australian and world popular music.

While LRB broke through in the USA with 1977's country-tinged "Help Is On Its Way", this tremendous album took them a notch deeper. And it's filled with pop gems. "Reminscing" is a bittersweet country ballad, "Lady" is a slow blues ballad that flows beautifully, "Shut Down Turn Off" is a tightly played soft rock number and "Fall From Paradise" is a numbing call to faith. This band would produce two more solid albums before slipping from view in the USA; but they would never again produce as cohesive an album as "Sleeper Catcher". This is a top notch band that never got their due; this is an excellent place to start to get to know them.

Two albums together from this Brilliant Australian band. After seeing them live many years ago I hoped that they would keep on producing lots and lots of fabulous albums, but unfortunately they didn't. Great tunes, great musicians. If youi get a chance, obtain a copy of Diamantina Cocktail from them as well.

Tutto ok

No Problems

ナイトアウルは当時何度も聞きましたリトルリバーはタイムエクスポージャーが一番良いと思います

Disc 1は4作目(アナログ発売当時2作目と3作目が半分ずつセレクトされ3作目のタイトルで発売されていました。2作目をオーストラリアからの輸入盤で手にいれたことがあります。)この1978年のSLEEPER CATCHERはReminiscingという彼らの代表曲であり最もヒットした中の曲があります。このアルバムを聴く前に既にいくつかのヴァージョンを聴いていたためか、少し浮いたように個人的に思いました。プロデューサーがJohn Boylanで1曲目Shut Down Turn Offと聴いたところで、ああこれは、とうなずきました。こうした曲はSo Many Pathsという曲にも現れていますが、この3曲を除くと多分既存の作品の同じ音楽性であると思います。そう言ってもまだこれが彼らの楽曲だ、自信をもって言えないそんな感想です。Disc 2はオリジナルアルバムとしては6作目となるTIME EXPOSUREで、この間にベストアルバム、ライブアルバム、オリジナルアルバムそれぞれ1作品ずつがあります。この中の5作目のオリジナルアルバムであるFIRST UNDER THE WIRE（栄光のロング・ラン）があります。この作品もブロデューサーがJohn Boylanで、この人が作るとこのようなサウンド、このようなレコード、このような曲になるというものが無いようです。TIME EXPOSUREではプロデューサーが換わっていて実際に、1981年作という時に彼らが目指している音楽とは何であろうか？という疑問はそう考えること少しナンセンスなのかもしれません。ベーシストでありヴォーカリストのWayne Nelsonの加入という機会に出せる音、音楽性、歌を追求し、Glenn Shorrockというオリジナルメンバーのリードヴォーカリストが更に魅力を増していく、そして他に無いコーラスが美しくきまるというものです。ただやはりはじめに述べたヒット曲のなかに歌われているビックバンドジャズにはまだ勉強不足を感じてしまいます。このReminiscingとThe Night Owlsが全く違うタイプの曲でありながらヒットしているのも事実です。その他の楽曲もヒット曲も多く、この2枚のアルバムが手に入るという機会、彼らの最も充実した作品を聴けました。個人的に最も好きな曲はSanity's Sideです。