Provogue (label)
27 October 2014 (released)
17 October 2014
Damn it’s good to hear a proper rock singer again – welcome back Jimmy Barnes!
Considering the line up of superstars on this album – Joe Bonamassa, Keith Urban, Little Steven Van Zandt, Neal Schon and Jonathon Cain- he could be overshadowed but his vocals are so strong, so powerful and so right that the superstars are just textures on his album.
Jimmy Barnes is the kind of singer that gave Rock a good name back in the day. The bellow of Meatloaf at his peak coupled with the raw edge of Brian Johnstone or Bon Scott but he’s also got the soul of Springsteen and the sheer balls of Southside Johnny – he even has the swagger and chutzpah of Jagger in there. Altogether one hell of a package.
He was the voice of Cold Chisel and he has been doing his thing for 30 years – this is his 15th studio album and 10 of those have been Aussie #1’s.
There are 14 tracks here and just about every one is a gem. The monstrous blast of ‘Ride The Night Away’ featuring Little Steven with muted horns powering the song like it’s title suggests or opener ‘Lay Down Your Guns’ laden with funk and a heavy, heavy bass line and Barnes vocals growling and angry. He can slow it down too and on ‘Stone Cold’ you hear a totally different side to Jimmy Barnes; the strength and soul of his voice on a pure R&B classic.
Everything on this album reeks of quality and shows off all the music that Jimmy Barnes has in him – a rare thing and an absolute joy from beginning to end.
