At Home with Bobby and Tim
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = At Home with Bobby and Tim
| type = studio
| artist = the Windbreakers
| cover = At Home with Bobby and Tim.jpg|border=yes
| alt =
| released = 1989
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio = Terminal Records
| genre = Power pop
| length =
| label = DB{{cite news |last1=Blackstock |first1=Peter |title=There's music in the air with diverse SXSW showcases |work=Austin American-Statesman |date=16 Mar 1990 |page=G5}}
| producer = The Windbreakers
| prev_title = A Different Sort...
| prev_year = 1987
| next_title = Electric Landlady
| next_year = 1991
}}
At Home with Bobby and Tim is an album by the American power pop duo the Windbreakers, released in 1989.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-windbreakers-mn0000578218/biography|title=The Windbreakers Biography & History|website=AllMusic}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2MaFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20|title=Americana Music: Voices, Visionaries, and Pioneers of an Honest Sound|first=Lee|last=Zimmerman|date=January 23, 2019|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=9781623497019|via=Google Books}} The album marked a reunion for Tim Lee and Bobby Sutliff, who had spent a few years working on solo projects. The band supported the album with North American tour.{{cite news |last1=Fisher |first1=Harry |title=The Windbreakers At Home with Bobby and Tim |work=The Morning Call |date=9 Dec 1989 |page=A76}}
Production
At Home with Bobby and Tim was recorded at Terminal Records, in Pearl, Mississippi.{{cite news |last1=Lucas |first1=Sherry |title=Back to Lee and... |work=The Clarion-Ledger |date=19 Oct 1989 |page=12E}} Although a reunion album of sorts, Lee and Sutliff often worked separately, even listing in the liner notes which member played which guitar solo.{{cite news |last1=Rogers |first1=Forrest |title=Reviews |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=December 23, 1989 |page=L25}} Mitch Easter contributed production work to some songs.{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Record Producers |date=1999 |publisher=Billboard Books |page=211}} The initial CD version of At Home with Bobby and Tim included the pair's critically-praised album Terminal.
Critical reception
{{music ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/at-home-with-bobby-tim-mw0000207724|title=At Home with Bobby & Tim |website=AllMusic}}
|rev2 = Chicago Sun-Times
|rev2score = {{rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |last1=McLeese |first1=Don |title=The Windbreakers 'At Home with Bobby & Tim' |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=February 5, 1990 |department=Features |page=25}}
|rev3 = Chicago Tribune
|rev3score = {{rating|3|4}}{{cite news |last1=Caro |first1=Mark |title=Windbreakers At Home with Bobby and Tim |work=Chicago Tribune |date=12 Apr 1990 |page=19C}}
|rev4 = Orlando Sentinel
|rev4score = {{rating|4|5}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1990-01-12-9001115038-story.html|title=The Windbreakers|first=Parry |last=Gettelman|work=Orlando Sentinel}}
}}
Trouser Press called the album "confident-sounding [and] smoothly crafted," writing that "the pair sounds as strong as ever on bittersweet originals like Lee’s 'Just Fine', Sutliff’s 'On the Wire' and a cover of Russ Tolman’s 'Portrait of Blue'."{{cite web |title=Windbreakers |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/windbreakers/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=9 August 2021}} The Orlando Sentinel wrote that there is "an occasional touch of Tom Petty in the vocals and Alex Chilton in the no-frills execution, but the band has a low-key charm of its own on songs such as 'Just Fine' and 'On the Wire'." The Rocket considered it "a near-perfect pop album."{{cite magazine |last1=McCaughey |first1=Scott |title=Earachin' |magazine=The Rocket |date=Feb 1990 |page=33}}
The Chicago Tribune opined that "Lee gives Sutliff's love-lost tunes a kick in the pants, and Sutliff's melodicism and concision have rubbed off on the ragged-voiced Lee." The Washington Post called At Home with Bobby and Tim the band's best album, writing that "every song boasts an attention- grabbing pop melody sustained by ringing guitar harmonies, yet the vocals are driven by the urgent sense of a personal crisis."{{cite news |title=Post-Punk Paradox and Beatles Go On |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/02/09/post-punk-paradox-and-beatles-go-on/46856432-dfb0-4920-95b2-c42918fd1537/ |work=The Washington Post |access-date=9 August 2021}}
AllMusic wrote that "the pair turn out a brace of capable songs, some of which refine old styles and others of which explore new ground."
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| title1 = Just Fine
| length1 =
| title2 = I Thought You Knew
| length2 =
| title3 = On the Wire
| length3 =
| title4 = Down to It
| length4 =
| title5 = Ill at Ease
| length5 =
| title6 = Cold, Cold Rain
| length6 =
| title7 = Our Little War
| length7 =
| title8 = Portrait of Blue
| length8 =
| title9 = Saw You Again
| length9 =
| title10 = Give Me a Reason
| length10 =
| title11 = Closer to Home
| length11 =
| total_length =
}}
Personnel
- Tim Lee - vocals, guitars
- Bobby Sutliff - vocals, guitars