The Go-Betweens – Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express

The Go-Betweens' Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express arrived in 1986 as the Brisbane group's fourth album and a defining statement from their London years. Self-produced and made on their own terms, it pushed back against mid-80s studio fashion: Robert Forster later described a determination to avoid drum machines, piecemeal recording, and outside interference, while building on the crisp sound of Before Hollywood with a broader, more exotic instrumental palette.

That approach helps explain why this record still feels so balanced. Grant McLennan's melodic, pop-minded writing and Forster's darker, more angular songs meet in especially sharp form here, with Amanda Brown's violin, oboe, and vocals expanding the band's sound without blunting its intimacy. Songs like “Spring Rain,” “Head Full of Steam,” and “Apology Accepted” show how naturally the Go-Betweens could move between jangling immediacy and something more slyly literary.

This edition also matters because it restores a key Beggars Banquet-era album to standalone vinyl for the first time since 1988. The audio uses the 2019 remaster first prepared for Domino's G Stands for Go-Betweens anthology, making this a welcome return for an album often treated as one of the band's most admired records.

Features

• 2019 remastered audio
• First standalone vinyl issue since 1988