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.
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, "ItâÂÂs too long because weâÂÂve 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.
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"'."