If AC/DC lays claim to being Australia's top international hard-rock band, then The Church represent the country's more eclectic side. The group was formed in Sydney in 1980 by British-born singer/songwriter Steve Kilbey and guitarist Peter Koppes. Their influences were predominantly British glam-rock (T Rex, Cockney Rebel) and American folk rock (Dylan, Big Star, The Byrds).

Signing to Parlophone, the Church's second single, 'The Unguarded Moment', reached the Australian Top 10 in 1981 and ensured debut album, "Of Skins And Hearts", went gold. Having honed their stagecraft on a Stateside tour with Echo and the Bunnymen, the US breakthrough came in 1988 with chart album "Starfish" on a new label, Arista, and comparisons were made with the similarly up and coming REM.

Their ninth album, 1994's "Sometime Anywhere", is important as it was first to be recorded without founding guitarist Koppes. Whilst his spacious, reverb-laden style was definitely missed, a different guitar vibe prevailed. "I was able to play as beautifully as him," Willson-Piper would later admit, "but he wasn't able to play as ugly as I can! Among the highlights here are the opener, 'Day Of The Dead', with its quintessentially Church-y sound and its successor, 'Lost My Touch'.

Day Of The Dead / Lost My Touch / Loveblind / My Little Problem / The Maven / Angelica / Lullaby / Eastern / Two Places At Once / Business Woman / Authority / Fly Home / The Dead Man's Dream

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