For thirty years Jimmy Barnes, the Scottish born, Australian rock singer-songwriter, has been impressing audiences world-wide with his powerful yet soulful voice. In celebration of such a lengthy career in one of the world’s most volatile and unforgiving industries, Jimmy has gathered together a list of guest stars so comprehensive it puts most charity events to shame and recorded ‘Hindsight’, a mix of fan favourites and personal selections that is surely one of the best rock albums of the year. Jimmy himself describes the music as “very modern takes on these songs. They sound fresh and they sound new and they sound alive. They sound aggressive, which I really like.” A veteran with more than his fair share of scars, Jimmy recently had seven operations on his back, Jimmy Barnes still successfully imbues his songs with a real sense of life and vitality and ‘Hindsight’ offers up fourteen blistering rock songs that perfectly show off his broad range.
Opening track ‘lay down your guns’ is a perfect case in point. Recorded on the fly (it took just three takes for Jimmy, alongside guests The Living end, to hammer out the track), ‘Lay down your guns’ is a great introduction to the album, kicking things off with a bang as Jimmy does his best Ian Gillan impression and the band lays down a tough, bluesy storm behind him. Perfectly capturing both the power and the sense of melody that has made Jimmy so popular, ‘lay own your guns’ is a brilliant rock song propelled by a powerful beat and some great guitar work. Next up are The Baby Animals who lay down a drum beat reminiscent of ‘when the Levee breaks’, a successful gambit which underpins the song with a taut groove and allows Jimmy and Suze DeMarchi to trade lines on the verse. It’s one of those songs that just captures the attention with its spirit and power whilst the chorus lodges itself firmly in the brain with its huge melody and effervescent vocals. Keith Urban appears next for the countrified ‘good times’, a beguiling slice of Americana which would be best served by being blasted out of an open-topped car pounding down the road at sixty. Similarly light of touch is Steven Van Zandt’s appearance on ‘ride the night away’, but what really gets the blood pumping is the high-octane rock ‘n’ roll of ‘Stand up’ which features Mahalia Barnes in full-on Tina Turner mode and The Soul Mates backing the pair. Father and daughter lock utterly into the groove and as they trade lines the sparks palpably fly – it’s an absolute delight and a highlight of the album. Another family piece, ‘I’d die to be with you tonight’ features Diesel (A.K.A Jimmy’s brother-in-law Mark Lizotte) also benefits from the closeness that comes from involving people so personal invested in the project and the result is a bluesy, melodic gem complete with massed vocals and elegant soloing that draws the first side of the record to a suitably ecstatic close.
The second half of the record opens late at night with Joe Bonamassa providing some beautifully understated guitar to ‘Stone Cold’, which also features Tina Arena and a horn section. A whiskey-soaked number, it is a slow-burning soul piece that simmers with emotion and which benefits enormously from Joe’s stunning guitar work.
‘Working class man’ (with Jonathan Cain and Ian Moss) sees the pace kick up a notch but it’s the brilliantly bluesy guitar of ‘going down alone’ that really sets side two ablaze. Boasting an appearance from Neil Schon and Jonathan Cane, it’s a bruised and brilliant slab of blues rock that marks yet another high point on the record. Marking the album’s heaviest point, ‘Love and hate’ with Shihad is a furious metallic stomp that comes blasting out of the midst of the second side with a power and fury that is as unexpected as it is exciting. It highlights the versatility on offer here and it is one hell of an adrenalin surge. ‘No second prize’ takes things down a notch but it’s a great heavy pop song with its wide-eyed and innocent chorus and gritty vocal and then ‘I’d rather be blind’ (the last of the album’s collaborations and featuring Jon Stevens) kicks off with its chuggy chorus and country bent reminiscent of the songs that so regularly tore across the charts in the eighties and which are so sorely missed in today’s world of digital intervention and artifice. The album closes with ‘when your love is gone’ and ‘the other kind’, both shorn of guests and both filled with the sense of joy that so clearly fills Jimmy with each creative endeavour. It marks a fitting and uplifting close to the album and it leaves the listener feeling strangely elated that there are artists out there still passionate enough to make music such as this.
Overall ‘Hindsight’ is a roaring success. The guest appearances beautifully augment the album but, crucially, never overshadow it and throughout it is Jimmy whose star shines brightest, his vocals wonderfully versatile, his song-writing varied and always interesting. Highlights are, without doubt, the wonderful duet with daughter Mahalia and the gloriously gritty ‘going down alone’ with Journey members Neil Schon and Jonathan Cain making a memorable appearance, but the album as a whole suffers no dip in quality and is a simple pleasure to listen to. If beautifully played and produced rock is your thing, then ‘hindsight’ must surely be at the top of your ‘to purchase’ list.
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