Boom Crash Opera (album)

In 1986 Boom Crash Opera signed with Dirty Pool Management and WEA Records. The band recorded their first two singles in 1986 with English producer Steve Brown (ABC, The Cult and Wham!) at Platinum Studios in Melbourne. Their debut single, "Great Wall", which was released in May 1986 reached No. 5 on the (Australian) national chart. and went on to achieve Gold record status. It spawned a further three singles, "City Flat" (June 1987), "Her Charity" (September 1987) and "Love Me to Death" (March 1988). ==Recording==

In an interview, Farnan said "The whole idea of the album was to capture a live band feel, rather than a meticulously layered, constructed studio artist sound. We just wanted to capture a fairly live feel and wanted people feeling there were musicians playing and performing, rather than, you know, machines." Elsewhere, Farnan said he was initially unsure of producer Sadkin. He said, "He just seemed like a strange, quiet, remote guy with no sense of humour. He didn't touch knobs and he didn't play an instrument. He just sat there and said 'It's good when you do that.' Gradually we realised he was just the sweetest guy. No ego at all." Farnan also praised Sadkin's ability to the keep the band away from label pressure. Pleasance later said, "I think we overshot it. The album to me just sounds like it was overthought. I think if we had worked with someone locally it would have been a closer representation of us." == Track listing ==

• Peter Maslen – drums, vocals • Greg O'Connor – keyboards • Dale Ryder – lead vocals • Richard Pleasance – guitar, bass, vocals • Peter Farnan – guitar, vocals Additional musicians • Frank Riccotti – percussion Production • Art Direction – Jeri Heiden • Engineer – Chris Corr • Cover Design – Greg O'Connor • Mastering – Ted Jensen • Photography – Carrie Branovan • Producer, Mixing – Alex Sadkin (tracks: "Gap That Opened", "Love Me to Death", "City Flat", "Her Charity", "Sleeping Time", "Bombshell", "Caught Between Two Towns", "Too Hot to Think") • Producer – Steve Brown (tracks: "Hands up in the Air", "Great Wall") • Associate Producer – Richard Pleasance (tracks: "Gap That Opened", "Love Me to Death", "City Flat", "Her Charity", "Sleeping Time", "Bombshell", "Caught Between Two Towns", "Too Hot to Think") • Associate Producer – Peter Farnan (tracks: "Gap That Opened", "Love Me to Death", "City Flat", "Her Charity", "Sleeping Time", "Bombshell", "Caught Between Two Towns", "Too Hot to Think") • Recording – Roy Spong (tracks: "Gap That Opened", "Love Me to Death", "City Flat", "Her Charity", "Sleeping Time", "Bombshell", "Caught Between Two Towns", "Too Hot to Think") • Recording, Mixing – Will Gosling (tracks: "Gap That Opened", "Love Me to Death", "City Flat", "Her Charity", "Sleeping Time", "Bombshell", "Caught Between Two Towns", "Too Hot to Think") == Charts ==