''Translate Slowly'' is the 1985 debut
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
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
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...
s Austin Music Awards ranked it the third best album of 1985, and ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' critic
Robert Hilburn
Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As critic and music editor at the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays and profiles appeared in publications around the wor ...
included it on his year-end list of the best 100 records of the year. Ted Simons of ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' 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
Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band w ...
on their 2000 collection ''
Scattered, Smothered and Covered
''Scattered, Smothered and Covered'' is a covers album by American rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, released in 2000. The album was named in honor of Waffle House, a Southern restaurant chain. One of Waffle House's advertising campaigns used t ...
''.
Ryan Adams
David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown.
In 2000, Adams left ...
has named this album as a leading influence on his own musical style.
Ryan Adams
David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown.
In 2000, Adams left ...
"The Records That Changed My Life"
''Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'', August 2004.
Track listing
All songs written by the Reivers except where noted
# "Araby" – 2:38
# "Cowboys" – 2:39
# "Legendary Man" – 4:37
# "
Blue Eyes
Eye color is a polygene, polygenic phenotypic character determined by two distinct factors: the pigmentation of the eye's Iris (anatomy), iris and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light by the Turbidity, turbid medium in the Stro ...
" (
Fred Rose) – 2:57
# "She Digs Ornette" – 2:44
# "Things Don't Change" – 4:08
# "Translate Slowly" – 3:05
# "Sound and the Fury" – 2:43
# "Without My Sight" – 3:08
# "I Knew" – 4:40
# "Freight Train Rain" – 2:28
# "Hill Country Theme" (Glenn Paxton) – 2:35
# "Electra" – 3:04
# "Wherehaus Jamb" – 1:51
# "
Walking the Cow
"Walking the Cow" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston from his 1983 album '' Hi, How Are You''. The title was inspired by an illustration on a wrapper for Blue Bell ice cream depicting a young girl attempting to l ...
" (
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded a ...
) – 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
1985 debut albums
The Reivers (band) albums
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