Fundamental or Fundamental As Anything is the fifth studio album released by Australian rock/pop group, Mental As Anything. The album was produced by Richard Gottehrer and was released on Regular Records in March 1985. 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."

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.

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"'."

Trouser Press said, "As produced by Richard Gottehrer, the Mental's music has hit a certain stride that discourages zaniness (a shame), but their sound — still an Australian answer to Nick Lowe — is never less than bouncily appealing."

Track listing

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 Chart (1985)PeakpositionAustralian (Kent Music Report) 3

Year-end chart Chart (1985)RankAustralian Albums (Kent Music Report) 11

Certifications and sales

Release history Region Date Label Format CatalogueAustralia / New Zealand March 1985Regular RecordsLP, Cassette RRLP1212 12 May 1986 FestivalCDD20208United StatesFebruary 1986ColumbiaLPBFC 40299 Netherlands1987EpicLP, CassetteEPC 450641 Australia September 1989 Festival CD D20208

References