16 Lovers Lane

McLennan and Forster wrote intensively from late 1987 to early 1988 and demoed everything; sixteen acoustic demos went to Mark Wallis before he arrived. Drum machines replaced Morrison on five songs, and Morrison and Brown were unhappy that pre-production limited their contributions. McLennan plays lead guitars, Brown violin and oboe, Forster rhythm guitars and harmonica, and Willsteed bass, Spanish guitar, organ and piano. Forster had trouble with the album for years and later saw it as a pop record. Christgau gave an A-minus, calling it the straightest and catchiest bunch of love songs; Record Mirror gave 5 of 5; Rolling Stone's Michael Azerrad gave 3, praising a depth of emotion and a height of intellect rarely found in pop; Spin criticized Wallis's tendency to over-embellish. It ranked 12th in 100 Best Australian Albums in 2010, and 15th in Rolling Stone Australia's 2021 list. The Conversation called it a bit of a sleeper on release.

Wikipedia gives recording as April and May 1988 in the infobox and between Christmas 1987 and autumn 1988 in the text. A 2004 expanded CD adds both videos for "Streets of Your Town", and a Beggars Banquet-label reissue is listed for 2026.