With a career that is closing in on half a century, Jimmy Barnes has never shied away from change, whether it is from his early years with Cold Chisel to his successful solo works, which has seen him travel between out and out rock to his more soulful releases. May 31 sees (and hears) Barnes at his very best with the fantastic new album My Criminal Record which is released through Bloodlines and comprises of thirteen incredible tracks, including two fantastic covers.
My Criminal Record sees Barnes back to his rock roots for the first time since 2010’s Rage and Ruin and will surely become his tenth album to reach the #1 spot in the Australian Charts and continue to cement his position as one of the most successful solo artists in the country’s history. The quality of the song writing is immediately evident with long-time collaborator, Cold Chisel’s Don Walker writing six of the thirteen tracks. Other contributions come from close friends Troy Cassar-Daley, Mark Lizotte (aka Diesel) and The Living End’s Chris Cheney, as well as Benjamin Rodgers, Harley Webster and Jade MacRae.
The album starts with the first single and title track ‘My Criminal Record’, a piano-infused bluesy smouldering masterpiece with its moody shuffle and you think this is going to set the tone to the album – how mistaken we all are as we are taken on a roller-coaster ride of rock n roll wonders. ‘Shutting Down Our Town’ tells tales of working men on the brink of industrial hardships & poverty, something that Barnes visited in his documentary ‘Working Class Boy’, released last year. I had the pleasure of hearing ‘I’m in a Bad Mood’ played & sung live earlier in the year and it works just as well on stage, as it does from the studio and this is clearly Barnes’s intention with using him his live band on this release.
‘Stolen Car’ takes us on a different road with its chilled start, before picking up at midway to be a classic punchy Jimmy Barnes rock song, with wonderful guitar work midway through and the joy of this is that this song is found as a second part later in the album. Steel & slide guitars open ‘My Demon (God Help Me)’ as we stomp-blues our way through the opening bars, before crashing head first into another foot tapping rock n roll rippa, with humming harmonies and Barnes snarling his way through the verses & chorus. The first of the covers comes almost midway through, as Jimmy delivers a wonderful version of John Lennon’s ‘Working Class Hero’ which was so beautifully used in the documentary last year, with its military drummer boy percussion and lyrics that Barnes himself says he could have almost been written for & about him.
The album once again moves with diversity with ‘Belvedere and Cigarettes’, ‘I Won’t You Down’ and one of my favourites on this release, the easy laid-back ‘Stargazer’. ‘Money and Class’ again brings to the fore the very real problems of Jimmy’s self-doubt and lack of beliefs that have dogged his career, not that you would know with this gritty rock tune. The second part of ‘Stolen Car’ is a shorter, rockier rendition with quicker tempo to the first, before we bleed into ‘If Time Is On My Side’, another big tune full of catchy beats & rhythms with a chorus to sing at the top of your voices at shows for years to come. The album closes with an incredible cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Tougher Than The Rest’; a song that Barnes himself says is “a hymn of undying devotion to the love of his life, Jane, his wife of 38 years”.
This is one collection of songs that I would love to see performed live, from start to finish and have no doubt that every track would be a crowd pleaser. The album features Jimmy’s live band, who were spectacular at this year’s Red Hot Summer Tour at WA’s Sandalford Winery in January and comprise of Daniel Wayne Spencer and Davey Lane on guitars, son-in-law Benjamin Rodgers on bass, Clayton Doley on keyboards, with son Jackie Barnes and Warren Trout on drums and percussion.
MY CRIMINAL RECORD ALBUM OUT 31 MAY 2019 VIA BLOODLINES
Track Listing:
My Criminal Record
Shutting Down Our Town
I’m In A Bad Mood
Stolen Car (The Road’s on Fire) Pt.1
My Demon (God Help Me)
Working Class Hero
Belvedere and Cigarettes
I Won’t Let You Down
Stargazer
Money and Class
Stolen Car (The Road’s on Fire) Pt.2
If Time Is On My Side
Tougher Than The Rest