''Speedboats for Breakfast'' is the sixth solo
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n singer/songwriter
James Reyne released on 19 April 2004. The album is Reyne's first studio album since ''
Design for Living
''Design for Living'' is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Cowa ...
'' in 1999 and features a cover of
Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...
's "
Have You Ever Been Mellow".
On the lead single "Bug" Reyne said: "I wanted to create a song out of playing the same four chords going round and round, building and growing all the time, with things coming in and dropping out. The listener knows there's transition but there's no real point where the change is obvious."
In a 2013 interview, when asked if there is a song he likes playing live, Reyne responded with "Oh usually some of the newer ones, there’s a song of mine called "Rainbow’s Dead End" that I like playing."
Review
Tomas Mureika of
All Music said the album was a grungier, heavier sound, unlike anything Reyne had ever done before. "Working with collaborator Scott Kingman, Reyne concocted a terrifying album that includes tracks with titles like "Nail," "Hangman's Wages," and "Pusherman." It all culminates in the album's final track, a remake of
Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...
's "
Have You Ever Been Mellow" that does an almost punk run-through of the original. From the half-submerged clown's head on the album's original cover to the dense lyrics and production within, Reyne made the most frightening album of his career. At least he proved he could still push the envelope with the best of them".
Track listing
;CD/DD
# "Bug" - 4:05
# "The Rainbow's Dead End" - 4:34
# "Stagefright" - 2:42
# "Glamourpuss" - 3:06
# "Pusherman" - 3:29
# "Nail" - 3:31
# "Love in a Strange Strange Land" - 4:41
# "Hangman's Wages" - 3:58
# "Hooray and Hallelujah" - 4:25
# "Lustre" - 6:05
# "
Mellow" - 2:52
Credits
* Bass – Mark Gray, Rex Fernandez
* Drums – John Watson, Max Waugh
* Engineer – Scott Kingman
* Guitar, Bass, Strings, Programmed By – Scott Kingman
* Guitar, Bass, Vocals – Brett Kingman
* Keyboards – Dan Knight
* Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Strings – James Reyne
Charts
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2004 albums
Liberation Records albums
James Reyne albums