Little River Band ‎– Time Exposure (1981)

A1		The Night Owls	5:16
A2		Man On Your Mind	4:14
A3		Take It Easy On Me	3:45
A4		Ballerina	Lead Vocals – Beeb Birtles	4:02
A5		Love Will Survive	4:38
A6		Full Circle	1:54

B1		Just Say That You Love Me	3:59
B2		Suicide Boulevard	3:23
B3		Orbit Zero	4:27
B4		Don't Let The Needle Win	5:55
B5		Guiding Light	3:36
B6		The Other Guy	2:49

Bass, Vocals – Wayne Nelson
Drums, Percussion – Derek Pellicci
Guitar [Lead, Acoustic] – David Briggs
Guitar, Vocals – Beeb Birtles, Graham Goble
Piano [Acoustic, Electric], Organ [Hammond] – Peter Jones
Synthesizer [Prophet], Clavinet, Organ [Hammond] – Bill Cuomo
Vocals – Glenn Shorrock

My road to discovering Little River Band was a rather unusual and somewhat circuitous one involving a cop in Boston who shared many of the same musical tastes that I had. In one of our many email exchanges he recommended that I check out Australian vocalist, John Farnham and his work with Little River Band. I didn't act on his recommendation initially. But I tucked away his advice in the cobwebby filing cabinet of my mind.

A year or so later, I finally got around to picking up their greatest hits album. Other than It's a Long Way There, Night Owls, and Lady it didn't really grab me at first. But I listened to that CD again and again. Eventually I was hooked.

I've often thought of Little River Band as an Australian answer to the Eagles. Their country-rock stylings and tight vocal harmonies bore more than a passing resemblence to their more successful American counterparts.

That being said, Little River Band, were an excellent band in their own right. They spawned a string of hits including It's a Long Way There, Happy Anniversary (peaked @ #16 in 1977), Help Is On Its Way (peaked @ #14 in 1977), Lady (peaked @ #10 in 1979), Cool Change (peaked @ #10 in 1979), and Reminiscing (peaked @ #3 in 1978) which even John Lennon commented was one of his favorites.

Time Exposure was the last album recorded with lead singer Glenn Shorrock before he was replaced with John Farnham. Incidentally, Shorrock would later return and record a few more albums with LRB. But Time Exposure marks the end of an era.

The album opens with the Wayne Nelson sung Night Owls (peaked @ #6 in 1981) and follows with two more hit singles-- Man On Your Mind (peaked @ #14 in 1982), and Take It Easy On Me (peaked @ #10 in 1981). And while none of the other songs on the album were released as singles, many of them including Full Circle and Just Say That You Love Me easily could have been released as singles. In addition to Shorrock's lead vocals the vocal tandem of David Briggs, Beeb Birtles, and Graeham Goble provide harmonies so tight they sing as one. Where the Eagles were likely better musicians, I'd argue that Little River Band's vocal harmonies were superior to those of the Eagles. There was a tightness, a cohesiveness that was pure vocal magic.

What likely prevented this album from matching the success of the 2 previous LRB albums (1978's Sleeper Catcher and 1979's First Under the Wire both went platinum) was the disparity between the stronger and weaker songs on this album. While the strong material is as good as their best tracks on their previous albums, their weaker material on Time Exposure feels uninspired and some might argue "phoned in."

Over twenty-five years after its release, the stronger material still holds up as well as any of Little River Band's other material (not to mention their better material holds up as well as some of the better material of the Eagles as well). The weaker material sounds sadly dated.

A 1996 re-issue featured the John Farnham sung The Other Guy (peaked @ #11 in 1982) as a bonus track. An enjoyable yet curious inclusion considering that song was recorded after Time Exposure was released.

All in all, while not essential this album is certainly a worthy inclusion into any classic rock collection. If you're new to Little River Band, I'd start with either their greatest hits album, Sleeper Catcher or First Under the Wire before picking up Time Exposure. ---perplexio76.blogspot.com

Zespół powstał w 1975 roku w Australii, ale jego niektórzy członkowie - Glenn Shorrock, Glenn Wheatley, Beeb Birtles, Graham Goble byli znani rodzimej publiczność już wcześniej - związani byli m.in. z takimi formacjami jak Twilights, Zoot czy Masters Apprentices. Wkrótce do kolegów dołączył perkusista Derek Pellici. Panowie zapoczątkowali działalność coverem nagrania Everly Brothers "When Will I Be Loved". Pierwszy album pod taką samą nazwą jak nazwa grupy zespół wydał w 1975 roku. Ważnym momentem w życiu grupy był występ jako support przed koncertem Queen i Average White Band.

Kolejne albumy grupy cieszyły się dużą popularnością i zapewniły im trwałe miejsce w historii australijskiej muzyki, jednak dopiero nagranie utworu "Help Is On Its Way" zapewniło im ogromny sukces. Niestety potem drogi muzyków rozeszły się - nie tylko nagrywali osobno, ale także w trasę koncertową udawali się każdy we własnym zakresie, pokazując się razem tylko na scenie. Za namową Grahama Goble'a wymieniono wokalistę - Shorrocka zastąpił nieznany John Farnham, później z zespołu odszedł Birtles. Z Farnhamem grupa nie odniosła już takich sukcesów jak z jego poprzednikiem i po nagraniu kilku wspólnych albumów muzycy rozstali się.

Na początku lat 90. Shorrock i Pellici nawiązali ponownie współpracę z Grahamem Goble'em. Dołączyli do nich nowi muzycy - Wayne Nelson i John Housden, co zaowocowało ostatnim albumem w karierze zespołu - "Monsoon". Muzycy na dobre rozstali się w 1991 roku. ---m.rmf.fm

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