Forster's solo studio albums are Danger in the Past (1990), Calling from a Country Phone (1993), I Had a New York Girlfriend (1995), Warm Nights (1996), The Evangelist (2008), Songs To Play (2015), Inferno (2019) and The Candle and the Flame (2023).

Allmusic's Stewart Mason described him, as having "a knack for crafty pop songs along with the brooding ballads he contributed to the Go-Betweens' albums, and his solo career has shown a healthy mix of the two styles".

In 2008, 16 Lovers Lane (1988) was highlighted on Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) TV's The Great Australian Albums series as a classic example of 1980s rock music.

Forster began writing as a music critic in 2005 for national current affairs magazine The Monthly and a columnist for its sister publication The Saturday Paper in 2014.

For his debut solo album, Danger in the Past, Forster was backed on vocals by Karin Bäumler of German pop group, Baby You Know.

[5] In 1976 Forster met Grant McLennan in drama classes in his second year at the University of Queensland, they were both fans of Bob Dylan and the New York music scene.

[11] According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, both singles were "sparsely produced, poorly played yet passionately performed folksy, post-punk pop songs.

[7] In November 1979 The Go-Betweens relocated to London, they re-released their early material and followed with another single on the Scottish label Postcard Records entitled "I Need Two Heads" which was also written by Forster.

Back in 1982, The Go-Betweens' Forster, McLennan and Morrison had recorded, "After the Fireworks", as a collaboration with The Birthday Party's Nick Cave on vocals, Mick Harvey on piano and Rowland S. Howard on guitar.

[5][16] Allmusic's Ned Raggett found the album showed "literate, understated rock & roll" with his "gently cracked, high vocals" and "setting and maintaining a variety of moods from sudden energy to soft rumination".

[6][19] By 1993 Forster had returned to Brisbane to record his second solo album, Calling from a Country Phone, at Sunshine Studios with members of local pop group, Custard.

[24] The album's lead single, "Cryin' Love", included a music video which McFarlane states is "one of the most entertaining film clips for the year".

[5][13][26] It was issued in September with Bäumler credited for string arrangements, and production duties shared by Coomes, Forster, McLennan and Weiss.

[27] Allmusic's Hal Horowitz praised their "[p]oetic, languid, spoken/sung vocals similar to Lou Reed weave between lovely melodies whose appeal unfolds with repeated listens";[26] however it "sounds more like a combination of two solo albums rather than one from a cohesive unit".

[28] The Go-Betweens line-up of Forster, McLennan, Pickvance and Thompson (he had rejoined in 2001) issued two more studio albums, Bright Yellow Bright Orange (2003) and Oceans Apart (2005),[13] Allmusic's Stewart Mason described Forster as having "a knack for crafty pop songs along with the brooding ballads he contributed to the Go-Betweens' albums, and his solo career has shown a healthy mix of the two styles".

Allmusic's Thom Jurek noted that Forster "has never been this direct before, so unadorned and honest, and yes, vulnerable without the mask of his gift to weave a story, even in first person, and make himself seem a narrator".

[33] Since May 2005, Forster has had a parallel career as a music critic, he began writing for the Australian magazine, The Monthly and its sister publication The Saturday Paper in 2014.

[36] In 2009 he collated some of his critiques, written from 2005 to 2009, on international artists The Rolling Stones, Nana Mouskouri, Neil Diamond and Cat Power as well as Australian acts Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Mark Seymour and Paul Kelly.

[37] In May 2001, "Cattle and Cane", co-written by Forster and McLennan,[38] from The Go-Between's Before Hollywood (1983), was selected by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.

[39] In 2008, 16 Lovers Lane (1988) was highlighted on Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) TV's The Great Australian Albums series as a classic example of 1980s rock music.

[40] On 25 June 2010, the Brisbane City Council celebrated the opening of the Go Between Bridge with a concert featuring performances by Forster, Angus & Julia Stone, Josh Pyke and Bob Evans.