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Translate Slowly

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1985 studio album by The Reivers
Translate Slowly
Original cover art
Studio album by The Reivers
Released1985
GenreRock
Length46:05
LabelDB
ProducerJohn Croslin and John Viehweg
The Reivers chronology
Translate Slowly
(1985) 		Saturday
(1987)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic
Robert ChristgauB−

Translate Slowly is the 1985 debut album by The Reivers. This album was originally released under the band's original name, Zeitgeist, but was remixed in 1988 and re-released under the band name The Reivers, after another band claimed rights to the name "Zeitgeist."

The album received positive attention from many critics. The Austin Chronicle's Austin Music Awards ranked it the third best album of 1985, and Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn included it on his year-end list of the best 100 records of the year. Ted Simons of Spin magazine called it "one of the better independent releases of the year", although he expressed reservations about what he found to be "heavy-handed" harmonies on some tracks.

The album's opening track, "Araby", was later covered by Hootie and the Blowfish on their 2000 collection Scattered, Smothered and Covered. Ryan Adams has named this album as a leading influence on his own musical style.

Track listing

All songs written by the Reivers except where noted

  1. "Araby" – 2:38
  2. "Cowboys" – 2:39
  3. "Legendary Man" – 4:37
  4. "Blue Eyes" (Fred Rose) – 2:57
  5. "She Digs Ornette" – 2:44
  6. "Things Don't Change" – 4:08
  7. "Translate Slowly" – 3:05
  8. "Sound and the Fury" – 2:43
  9. "Without My Sight" – 3:08
  10. "I Knew" – 4:40
  11. "Freight Train Rain" – 2:28
  12. "Hill Country Theme" (Glenn Paxton) – 2:35
  13. "Electra" – 3:04
  14. "Wherehaus Jamb" – 1:51
  15. "Walking the Cow" (Daniel Johnston) – 2:36

The last three tracks are "bonus" songs on the CD, which were not included on the original release of the album. Three tracks--"Wherehaus Jamb," "Freight Train Rain," and "Electra"—had been released previously on a 1984 EP entitled Zeitgeist, produced by John Croslin, recorded by John Viehweg, and released by DB Records.

References

  1. Translate Slowly at AllMusic
  2. Zeitgeist: "Translate Slowly" review, Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
  3. Austin Music Awards: Best Texas Music, 1985, The Austin Chronicle (accessed 2015-03-19).
  4. Robert Hilburn, "Hilburn's Best Lp's Of '85", Los Angeles Times, January 19, 1986.
  5. Ted Simons, "Zeitgeist, Translate Slowly" (review), Spin, October 1985.
  6. Michael Bertin, Pop Beloved: Revisiting the Reivers, Austin Chronicle, April 26, 2002.
  7. David Pyndus, "The Reivers", PopMatters, February 18, 2008.
  8. Ryan Adams, "The Records That Changed My Life", Spin, August 2004.
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