Translate Slowly
Translate Slowly is the 1985 debut album 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."
| Translate Slowly | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Original cover art  | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1985 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 46:05 | |||
| Label | DB | |||
| Producer | John Croslin and John Viehweg | |||
| The Reivers chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating | 
| Allmusic | |
| Robert Christgau | B-[2] | 
The album received positive attention from many critics. The Austin Chronicle's Austin Music Awards ranked it the third best album of 1985,[3] and Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn included it on his year-end list of the best 100 records of the year.[4] Ted Simons of Spin 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.[5]
The album's opening track, "Araby", was later covered by Hootie and the Blowfish on their 2000 collection Scattered, Smothered and Covered.[6][7] Ryan Adams has named this album as a leading influence on his own musical style.[8]
Track listing
    
All songs written by the Reivers except where noted
- "Araby" – 2:38
 - "Cowboys" – 2:39
 - "Legendary Man" – 4:37
 - "Blue Eyes" (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" (Daniel Johnston) – 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
    
- Translate Slowly at AllMusic
 - Zeitgeist: "Translate Slowly" review, Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
 - Austin Music Awards: Best Texas Music, 1985, The Austin Chronicle (accessed 2015-03-19).
 - Robert Hilburn, "Hilburn's Best Lp's Of '85", Los Angeles Times, January 19, 1986.
 - Ted Simons, "Zeitgeist, Translate Slowly" (review), Spin, October 1985.
 - Michael Bertin, Pop Beloved: Revisiting the Reivers, Austin Chronicle, April 26, 2002.
 - David Pyndus, "The Reivers", PopMatters, February 18, 2008.
 - Ryan Adams, "The Records That Changed My Life", Spin, August 2004.
 
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