Honey Steel's Gold is the fifth solo album by Australian guitarist and songwriter Ed Kuepper recorded in 1991 and released on the Hot label.[1] The album was re-released in 2000 with six bonus tracks: four from Kuepper's No Wonder EP, and early recordings of "The Way I Made You Feel" and "Everything I've Got Belongs to You".
| Honey Steel's Gold | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1991 | |||
| Recorded | 1991 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 43:48 74:43 (2000 re-release) | |||
| Label | Hot | |||
| Producer | Ed Kuepper | |||
| Ed Kuepper chronology | ||||
| ||||
Details edit
The songs recorded for the album had been written at different times over the previous decade. Kuepper said, "Something like "King Of Vice", was originally written for Laughing Clowns. I just never liked the way we played it particularly, so it never got recorded. And it was only by the time I got to Honey Steel's Gold that it sort of dawned on me that what I had as a saxophone intro would actually sound really beautiful and much better if it was played on a piano. There were little revelations like that."[2]
Critical reception edit
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Rolling Stone Australia |  [4] |
Reviewing the album in Rolling Stone Australia at the time of release, John Encarnacao said "Much of this album seems to be about the conjuring of mood rather than unfolding songs in a narrative manner." Encarnacao noted the contribution of Chris Abrahams, and predicted the song "Everything I've Got Belongs to You" would be a hit if released as a single.[4]
The AllMusic review by Ned Raggett awarded the album 4½ stars and states "Honey Steel's Gold is Kuepper in many ways at his most dramatic and expansive".[3] In October 2010, it was listed in the top 50 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.[5]
A 331⁄3 book written by John Encarnação analysing the album is to be released on 2 November 2023.[6]
Commercial performance edit
The album spent 12 weeks in the Australian charts in 1992 peaking at number 28.[7] Honey Steel's Gold was nominated for an ARIA for the Best Independent Release at the ARIA Music Awards of 1992.[8]
Track listing edit
All writing by Ed Kuepper, except where indicated.
- "King of Vice" – 9:53
- "Everything I've Got Belongs to You" – 4:15
- "Friday's Blue Cheer/Libertines of Oxley" – 8:03
- "Honey Steel's Gold" – 5:23
- "The Way I Made You Feel" – 5:20
- "Not Too Soon" – 3:12
- "Closer" – 4:16
- "Summerfield" – 3:41
- "Indian Reservation" (John D. Loudermilk) – 3:10 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Steamtrain" (Ray Davies) – 7:40 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "No Wonder Medley: No Wonder/Built for Comfort/Cypress Grove Blues" (Kuepper, Mark Dawson/Willie Dixon/Skip James) – 8:06 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Milk Cow Blues" (Sleepy John Estes) – 2:08 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "The Way I Made You Feel 2" – 5:21 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Everything I've Got Belongs to You 2" – 4:16 Bonus track on CD reissue
- Recorded at Electric Avenue, Sydney, Australia in mid-1991.
Personnel edit
- Ed Kuepper – vocals, guitar
- Mark Dawson – drums, percussion
- Sir Alfonso – bass guitar
- Chris Abrahams – piano
Charts edit
| Chart (1992) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[9] | 28 |
References edit
- ^ The Kuepper Files: Discography Retrieved 4 July 2010
- ^ Bob Gordon. "Everything Ed's got belongs to you". XPress Mag.
- ^ a b Raggett, N. Allmusic Review Retrieved 4 July 2010
- ^ a b Encarnacao, John (March 1992). "Honey Steel's Gold Ed Kuepper". Rolling Stone Australia. No. 468. Sydney, NSW: Tilmond Pty Ltd. p. 84.
- ^ O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
- ^ "New music book series, 33 1/3 Oceania, celebrates influential albums from Australia and New Zealand". Home. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ Australian Charts entry Retrieved 4 July 2010
- ^ 6th Annual ARIA Awards Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 8 July 2010.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Ed Kuepper – Honey Steel's Gold". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2023.