Before REM had even released an album, Translator pioneered the American guitar rock renaissance with their wistful-but-jaunty hit single, Everywhere That I’m Not. The San Franciscan quartet is mostly remembered for that oftcompiled track, but their four neglected albums (originally on Columbia/415) will be a treasure trove for fans of melodic pop-rock. These reissues mark the CD�release for each LP and collect the B-sides and remixes as bonuses.
The first two albums marry folk rock structures with David Kahne’s glossy new wave production. Singer-guitarists Steve Barton and Robert Darlington may be overly sincere and sentimental at times, but that hardly matters when you get snared by the hook-filled choruses of Everything You See and Un-Alone. Success was not forthcoming, though, so for their final two albums they enlisted producer Ed Stasium (Ramones, Replacements) and rocked out a bit more. The self-titled third album offered the college rock favourites Gravity and O Lazarus, but suffered from a sameness of texture. Frustrated by audience indifference, they turned their amps up to 11 for 1986’s Evening Of The Harvest, and replaced Beatles leanings with influences ranging from Neil Young to raga rock. The muscular guitars predicted grunge, while the eclecticism and in-your-face soloing pointed towards the jam band scene.
