Van Go (album)
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| Van Go | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1986 | |||
| Studio | Indigo Ranch, Malibu, CA | |||
| Genre | Rock, country rock | |||
| Label | Curb/MCA | |||
| Producer | Craig Leon | |||
| The Beat Farmers chronology | ||||
| ||||
Van Go is the second album by the American rock band the Beat Farmers, released in 1986.[1][2] It was the band's first album for Curb Records.[3]
The album peaked at No. 135 on the Billboard 200.[4]
The guitarist Buddy Blue left the band during the recording sessions for Van Go; he was replaced by Joey Harris.[5][6] The album was produced by Craig Leon.[7] Beat Farmers drummer Country Dick Montana later described the album as having "'more of an AOR sound.'"[8] Many of the songs are about cars and transportation.[9]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [10] |
| Robert Christgau | B[11] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [12] |
| The Evening Sun |  [9] |
| Houston Chronicle | [13] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [14] |
| The Philadelphia Inquirer | [15] |
The Washington Post wrote that the Beat Farmers "sing about the barroom world of retooled cars, busted marriages and dead-end jobs... The band is as capable of irony as [Lou] Reed or [Neil] Young, but the Beat Farmers never allow it to interfere with their back-to-back basics attack."[16] Robert Christgau thought that "except for the deadpan 'Gun Sale at the Church' and maybe the Johnny Cash impressions, their country-rock is now proudly generic."[11]
Trouser Press called the album "amiable but rather thin."[17] The Toronto Star opined that the "best thing about the Beat Farmers is that they make no outrageous claims for themselves; their music is honest and earthy, but it doesn't pretend to defend the dignity of the working man, free enterprise, the American Way."[18]
AllMusic praised the "amazing cover of Neil Young's 'Powderfinger', which sounds like it was written for the band."[10]