Cold Chisel - Circus Animals (10 tracks) +Album Reviews

American's Don't Know What They're Missing

Eric R. Last | San Bruno, CA United States | 10/31/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I know of only a few people who have even heard of Cold Chisel, but I'd venture to guess that virtually any American fan of classic rock ranging from Steely Dan to Bob Seger to Blue Oyster Cult to Bruce Springsteen would love this Australian band if they ever got a chance to hear them. "Circus Animals", their 4th studio album, shows them moving in a slightly pop direction with great songs like "Forever Now", and "No Good For You". Of course they still rock like crazy on "Bow River", "Wild Colonial Boy", etc. Cold Chisel have got the musical chops, the great guitar leads from Ian Moss, the great singing of Jimmy Barnes, and most important, the great songs of Don Walker, who writes the kind of lyrics that would fit right in on an album by Dylan or Jackson Browne and are so seldom heard on music that rocks this hard. The complete package!"

Definitive Oz-Rock

Richard Kenna | Blue Mountains, Australia | 11/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You want Oz-Rock at it's finest? Just listen to Bow River. Hear Ian Moss' amazing voice (and he ain't even the lead singer). Hear the band kick in for the second verse. Hear it lift when Jim Barnes joins in for the chorus. Experience the intensity in Mossy's crunching guitar solo and then, when you think it can't scale any new peaks, feel your hairs stand on end when Barnes comes in for the final screaming verse. It all finishes with Moss bringing it back down to earth. I'm always breathless by the end of this song. As for the rest of the disc, all I'll say is there's not a dud song on there, esp Wild Colonial Boy, No Good For You, Hound Dog (love the bridge), and the classic, classic pop of Forever Now. Stunning music."

COLD CHISEL AT THE PREMIUM BEST!

michael bissett | east gosford, nsw Australia | 07/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"BY FAR THE BEST ALBUM BY THE BAND.AFTER THEIR HUGE ALBUM EAST WHICH LAUNCHED THEM INTERNATIONALLY AND PROVED TO THE WORLD HOW GOOD THEY WERE AT PRODUCING PUMPING ROCK AND ROLL.CIRCUS ANIMALS WAS A MORE REFINED ALBUM AND CONTAINED SONGS WHICH WERE NOT ONLY CLOSE TO THE BANDS HEART BUT ALSO SONGS WHICH REMAIN POPULAR ALMOST 20 YEARS AFTER ITS RELEASE. A MUST HAVE FOR ANYONES MUSIC COLLECTION........"

Under-appreciated beauty

Eric Saderholm | Elko, NV United States | 08/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is a gem...a must for any rock collection. in the early 80s when the American "hair bands" (Journey/REO etc) had degenerated into shlock like "Lovin', touchin' squeezin'" and "High Infidelity" these Aussies were rockin'. This album is a fine mix of balls-out rockers to ballads and every song is great. This is Cold Chisel at their best. The original version of "Bow River" found on this album, which appears in many forms on all live Chisel albums, is the best of all....possibly one of the coolest, catchiest rock songs ever written....a virtual rollercoaster of fantastic vocals and crunchy guitar hooks...great stuff. The bonus tracks are neat but the original more than stands up by itself. Cold Chisel was an honest, straight-forward band with no need for hype or pretense. It is too bad they had such a short life together....more records like this would be very welcome indeed. I could write a lot about this relatively unknown album (at least unknown in the US) but suffice it to say it always satisfies. Buy it and enjoy it, I know you will."

Their Finest Moment

Charlie | Wagga Wagga, New South Wales Australia | 12/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is not as intantly gratifying as "East", as it does not, in my opinion contain as much radio friendly, poppy stuff as that album.

This is a much better album because of the songs that did not make radio play. All the Don Walker stuff such as "Wild Colonial Boy", "Houndog", "Taipan" and "Letter To Alan" make this a great album. Songs that are personal and direct, they are gems that shine in a mine of great material.

The pop is not left completely behind with "Forever Now" and the classic "When The War Is Over" as well as the biting Barnes classic "You Got Nothing I Want" about Elektra records.

Recorded in 1981, but still sounding as fresh now as it ever did it is an Australian classic and these blokes should have been huge overseas if given the right promotion. Unfortunately, they weren't big and didn't get the right promotion from Elektra.

Such a pity as they were truly great"

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