Fundamental (Mental As Anything album)

{{Infobox album

| name = Fundamental (As Anything)

| type = Album

| artist = Mental As Anything

| cover = Fundamental as Anything.jpg

| alt =

| released = 1 March 1985

| recorded = 1984

| venue =

| studio = Rhinoceros Studios, Sydney, Australia

| genre = Pop, new wave

| length = 39:24

| label = Regular Records

| producer = Richard Gottehrer

| prev_title = Creatures of Leisure

| prev_year = 1983

| next_title = Greatest Hits Vol. 1

| next_year = 1986

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Fundamental

| type = studio

| single1 = You're So Strong

| single1date = March 1985

| single2 = Live It Up

| single2date = 31 May 1985

| single3 = Date with Destiny

| single3date = September 1985

| single4 = Big Wheel

| single4date = November 1985

}}

{{Album ratings

|rev1 = Allmusic

|rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r58784|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]

}}

Fundamental or Fundamental As Anything is the fifth studio album released by Australian rock/pop group, Mental As Anything.{{cite encyclopedia|last=McFarlane |first=Ian |authorlink=Ian McFarlane |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop |title=Encyclopedia entry for 'Mental as Anything' |url=http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=483 |accessdate=17 July 2009 |year=1999 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=St Leonards, NSW |isbn=1-86508-072-1 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040813100933/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=483 |archivedate=13 August 2004 }}{{cite web|archiveurl=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20120726191200/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/14231/20120727-0512/www.howlspace.com.au/en2/mentalasanything/mentalasanything.htm|url=http://www.howlspace.com.au/en2/mentalasanything/mentalasanything.htm|title=Mental As Anything|last=Nimmervoll|first=Ed|author-link=Ed Nimmervoll|publisher=Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music. White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd (Ed Nimmervoll)|archivedate=26 July 2012|accessdate=7 February 2014}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The album was produced by Richard Gottehrer and was released on Regular Records in March 1985.{{cite web | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120929074329/http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/m/mentalasanything.html | url = http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/m/mentalasanything.html | title = Mental As Anything | last1 = Holmgren | first1 = Magnus | first2 = Shane | last2 = Johns | first3 = Stefan | last3 = Warnqvist | publisher = Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren) | archivedate = 29 September 2012 | url-status = usurped | accessdate = 9 March 2014 }} It peaked at No. 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report albums charts.

Recording

The band had intended to use Gary Langan as producer as they admired his work with Art of Noise and were happy with the "wild" album he had planned. O'Doherty said, "He took on too much at the time and he got zonked out at all the stress and he pulled out something like five days before he was meant to be on the plane." The replacement was Richard Gottehrer, but they had to wait for a gap in his schedule, delaying the recording. O'Doherty said, "It’s too long because we’ve got four songwriters in the band and we ended up with over 30 songs demoed for Fundamental, more than enough for two albums."{{cite magazine| magazine= Rip It Up | title=Method In Their Mentalness|author=George Kay|issue=98|date=1 September 1985| url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/RIU19850901.2.32?items_per_page=10&page=7&phrase=2&query=mental+as+anything&snippet=true}}

Gottehrer thought "Live it Up" was the strongest single, adding, "It was pretty obvious. I loved that song. "You're So Strong" and "Date with Destiny" I thought were also singles." All three songs were written by Smith, and other writers in the band felt their songs received less attention.{{cite book | author= Jane Gazzo |title=I Hear Motion|year=2024|page=28|publisher=Melbourne Books|isbn=9781922779267}}

Reception

Cash Box magazine said "Another strong album from this powerhouse Australian band. Variety is the key here, as the music runs the gamut from the gritty sensualism of "Hold On" to the depth and richness of "Date with Destiny"'."{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1986/CB-1986-02-22.pdf|title=Album Reviews|magazine=Cash Box|via=World Radio History|page=8|date=22 February 1986|access-date=8 December 2021}}

Track listing

{{tracklist

| collapsed =

| headline = Fundamental (As Anything)

| title1 = You're So Strong

| note1 =

| writer1 = Andrew "Greedy" Smith{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)|title="You're So Strong" at APRA search engine|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Youre%20So%20Strong|accessdate=22 July 2009}}

| length1 = 3:29

| title2 = Big Wheel

| note2 =

| writer2 = Martin Plaza{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)|title="Big Wheel" at APRA search engine|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Big%20Wheel|accessdate=22 July 2009}}

| length2 = 4:46

| title3 = Live It Up

| note3 =

| writer3 = Smith{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)|title="Live it Up" at APRA search engine|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Live%20it%20Up|accessdate=22 July 2009}}

| length3 = 4:14

| title4 = Surf & Mull & Sex & Fun

| writer4 = Peter O'Doherty{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)|title="Surf and Mull" at APRA search engine|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Surf%20and%20Mull|accessdate=22 July 2009}}

| length4 = 3:39

| title5 = Good Friday

| note5 =

| writer5 = Plaza{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)|title="Good Friday" at APRA search engine|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Good%20Friday|accessdate=22 July 2009}}

| length5 = 4:29

| title6 = Date with Destiny

| note6 =

| writer6 = Smith{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)|title="Date with Destiny" at APRA search engine|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Date%20with%20Destiny|accessdate=22 July 2009}}

| length6 = 3:04

| title7 = Hold On

| note7 =

| writer7 = O'Doherty{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) |title=APRA search engine |url=http://www.apra.com.au/cms/worksearch/worksearch.srvlt?action=workSearch |accessdate=16 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205184453/http://www.apra.com.au/cms/worksearch/worksearch.srvlt?action=workSearch |archivedate=5 December 2007 |df=dmy }}

| length7 = 3:02

| title8 = Stones of the Heart

| note8 =

| writer8 = Reg Mombassa{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)|title="Stones of the Heart" at APRA search engine|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Stones%20of%20the%20Heart|accessdate=22 July 2009}}

| length8 = 3:22

| title9 = I Just Wanna Be Happy

| note9 =

| writer9 = Mombassa{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)|title="Drunk at a Party" at APRA search engine|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Drunk%20at%20a%20Party|accessdate=22 July 2009}}

| length9 = 3:28

| title10 = Splashing

| note10 =

| writer10 = Mombassa{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)|title="Splashing" at APRA search engine|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Splashing|accessdate=22 July 2009}}

| length10 = 3:20

| title11 = Bus Ride

| note11 =

| writer11 = Plaza{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)|title="Bus Ride" at APRA search engine|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Bus%20Ride|accessdate=22 July 2009}}

| length11 = 3:02

}}

Personnel

=Musicians=

Martin Plaza — lead vocals, guitar
Greedy Smith — lead vocals, keyboards, harmonica
Reg Mombassa — guitar, vocals
Peter O'Doherty — bass, guitar, vocals
Wayne de Lisle — drums

=Additional personnel=

Martin Armiger — guitar
Mary Bradfield-Taylor — vocals
Rick Chadwick — keyboards
Sandi Chick — vocals
Andrew Farriss — keyboards
Mark Kennedy — percussion

=Recording details=

Producer — Richard Gottehrer
Engineer, mixing — Thom Panunzio
Assistant — Allan Wright

=Art work=

Art direction — Jana Hartig, Ken Smith, Sue Woollard
Design — Martin Plaza, Greedy Smith (and cover design)
Photography — Paula Clarke (cover photo), Paul Clarke, Hugh Hamilton, Frank Lindner (and sleeve photo), Francine McDougall

Charts

=Weekly chart=

class="wikitable"

!Chart (1985)

!Peak
position

Australian (Kent Music Report){{cite book |title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |last=Kent |first=David |authorlink= David Kent (historian) |publisher=Australian Chart Book |location=St Ives, NSW |year=1993 |isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=198 }}

|align="center"| 3

{{album chart|New Zealand|22|artist=Mental as Anything|album=Fundamental|access-date=3 December 2021}}

=Year-end chart=

class="wikitable"

!Chart (1985)

!Rank

|align="center"| 11

Certifications and sales

{{certification Table Entry|title=Fundamentally|artist=Mental as Anything|type=album|region=Australia|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1985|certyear=1985|certref={{cite encyclopedia|last=McFarlane |first=Ian |author-link=Ian McFarlane |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop |title=Encyclopedia entry for 'Mental as Anything' |url=http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=483 |access-date=17 July 2009 |year=1999 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=St Leonards, NSW |isbn=978-1-86508-072-7 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040813100933/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=483 |archive-date=13 August 2004 }}}}