Search - Translator :: No Time Like Now

20 years later and it's still time

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 05/13/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The second album from Translator was a slicker, more pop oriented album than their debut. The band complained at the time that they didn't like David Kahne's production (it is much lighter than the work he did on "Heartbeats & Triggers"), but it still doesn't distract from the great songs here. This was the kind of acoustically powered rock that REM was on the brink of commercially perfecting - one can hear traces of "The One I Love" (1987) in Translator's "Un-Alone" (1983).



Which made Translator ahead of their time. The two lead vocalists, Steven Barton and Robert Darlington, traded songs but kept the feel pretty much the same. There was a lot of Beatles influence here, as well as Byrdsian psychedelia, like on "Simple Things." The band interpolated beauty (the title track) with the desperate, depressing sorrow of "End Of Their Love" like few others in the 80's. (Steve Berlin of Los Lobos drops an unearthly sax solo in that one.) The only thing missing was an outright political barn-burner, ala "Another American Night" or "Sleeping Snakes." Depending on your point of view, that is either a recommendation or not.



As for me, I have been waiting almost 15 years for this to arrive on CD. I've been fanatically holding on to my well worn LP's as my hope diminished that these would ever see the light of release. But now they're here, and the title to the second Translator album says it all.



There's no time like now.



PS - The bonus track/B-Side of The Beatles' "Cry for a Shadow:" in 1995, a rumor started that their old recording was a new track by the three surviving Beatles. The LA Times had to go as far as to print a retraction to a story they'd run claiming as much. It's that great a version."

Translator's Best

Phil (San Diego, CA) | San Diego, CA | 01/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For my money "No Time Like Now" was the best of Translator's first three albums (I have yet to hear the fourth apart from tracks on compilations). Although it didn't channel the dark recesses of the mind the way the debut album seemed to, song for song the sophomore effort was more consistent and accessible.



Compelling tunes like "Unalone", "Break Down Barriers" and the title track were among the best of 1983 and in a better world would have invaded the upper reaches of the top forty and album rock airplay. Not only does "No Time Like Now" achieve greater heights with its lead tracks but the bench is deeper as well with strong album tracks like "Simple Things", "Everything Is Falling", "Beyond Today", and "Circumstance Laughing".



An added bonus is the inclusion of all three tracks from the "Break Down Barriers" EP. While the minute-long "Eraser" is a throwaway punk screamer that should have been relegated to the last track on the CD, "Cry For A Shadow" is an enjoyable cover of the early Beatles instrumental, and the extended 12" version of "Break Down Barriers" should be received with open arms. I recall seeing Translator burn down the house with that one at the Palace in LA about the time this album was released and it's still one of my favorite Translator songs to this day.



If you've already got one of the Translator CD compilations and figure you've got them covered, think again. That would be like having a best of the Jefferson Airplane without also having "Surrealistic Pillow" or a best of the Dead without also having "American Beauty". If you enjoy Translator's style you'll be glad you picked this one up, easily one of the ten best albums of 1983.

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