Audio CD review:
Colin Hay - Man at Work

Colin Hay - Man at Work

Band: Colin Hay Title: Man at Work Rating: Release Date: 2003-07-22 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Beautiful World (Alternate mix) 2: Down Under (acoustic version) 3: Overkill (acoustic version) 4: Storm In My Heart (new recording) 5: Looking For Jack (new recording) 6: Don't Be Afraid (previously unreleased) 7: It's A Mistake (new recording) 8: Waiting For My Real Life To Begin (re-release) 9: To Have and to Hold ( previously unreleased) 10: Who Can It Be Now?(acoustic version) 11: Be Good Johnny (new recording) 12: Love Is Innocent (previously unreleased) 13: Down Under (new recording featuring Cecilia Nokl & the Wild Clams)

Finally - unlocked the songs Colin Hay's remake of a lot of these songs would seem "ho hum" on the surface. Enough has been written that I will keep this brief. That would be a poor oversight of what amounts to his taking the time to finally unlock some depths and soul in them. A lot of of us liked the fun sound from "down under" and their zany persona. It seems we overlooked something that Colin had in mind all the time and that was for music with a little more soulfulness in it, and his voice and acoustic restyle of the music makes it worth forgetting the older versions. I was amazed at how he achieved this very simply and purposefully. I hope we will hear him release other work as he really did something neat with this body of music. Great Solo Album Nice remix on "Overkill". This is a great solo album by Colin Hay. I prefer these song versions over the original Men at Work versions. Dark and melodic - Men at Work songs revisited The guitar playing is captivating. I absolutely love this CD. If you loved the little appearance Colin made on the TV show "scrubs", then u need to buy this album! . This Album Really Highlights Colin Hay's Talent Lyric Writing Wise If you've ever heard Bon Jovi's This Left Feels Right: Greatest Hits With a Twist album, this is a similar sort of project. Man @ Work is a collection of Hay's best songs as a solo artist and member of Men at Work rerecorded with different sounds and as mostly acoustic versions or at least versions where the lyrics are highlighted. Some of these versions have become more popular than their original version and are even for example with Overkill due to his appearance Scrubs the only version they know. It's hard not to picture the scenes in that episode when listening to Overkill of Colin Hay following JD and the others around constantly singing Overkill and with the conclusion of Dr Cox grabbing his guitar from him and smashing it to bits. Classic episode enhanced so much by Hay's classic song and performance. That version of Overkill is what's on Man @ Work. Those who only know of Hay through Scrubs will no doubt listen to Man @ Work and want to track down the original mostly 80's version of these songs on his and Men at Work's previous album. Be Good Johnny one of the few faster songs to maintain the fast speed it had its 1981 release is I think even better on this album. He makes that catchy tune part of that song's chorus simply by singing the words Be Good Johnny over and over again. A lot of the songs the lyrics are more clear on this album's versions such as Down Under with the lines like "where women glow and men plunder" which have been argued over what the actual lyrics are, its made clear here. Plus the cover insert has all the lyrics printed anyway. A great album that you sit back and listen to the lyrics or just have playing in the background while your working or doing something else. . Extensive talent I heard some of his single stuff when I was in Western Oz in the early 80's along with MAW material and was astonded by how really creative he is. His performances are fantastic. If you do like MAW then you will like this. You can see a complete list of all Colin Hay discography, or go back to the Colin Hay tabs