| Swingshift | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live album by Cold Chisel | ||||
| Released | April 1981 | |||
| Genre | Pub rock | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Producer | Mark Opitz | |||
| Cold Chisel chronology | ||||
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Swingshift is a live album released by Australian band Cold Chisel in 1981. It was their first album to reach No. 1 on the Australian chart, debuting there in its first week.[1]
Contents |
The performances on "Swingshift" were taken from concerts at Sydney's Capitol Theatre and Melbourne's Festival Hall from the "Youth in Asia" tour in the winter of 1980. Don Walker said compared to the studio versions of the songs, "Generally the feel's a lot better, and the band plays a lot better." [2] The songs are as recorded live, but studio remixing took 125 hours.[3]
Barnes said, "Most of the album was recorded at Sydney's Capitol Theatre on the last night of our Youth In Asia tour. It was a really hot night. Everything just happened, you know? Everyone fired."[4] The opening acts for this night were Mental as Anything and INXS.
Producer Mark Opitz said of the recording process, "I just turned up at gigs with recording equipment. Half the band didn’t know I was gonna do it. I didn’t want them to know too early because I didn’t wanna get them gun-shy."[5]
There are covers of "Knocking on Heaven's Door", Creedence Clear Water Revival's "Long as I Can See the Light", and Jesse Stone's "Don't Let Go" on the album. Barnes introduces the latter song by saying he prefers the version done by Jerry Lee.
The picture on the cover of the album is taken from a still of a video recording from when the band played the Manly Vale in April 1980.[6]
Adrian Zupp at allmusic gave the album a score of four and a half out of five, noting, "The band was at the peak of its powers and launching from all silos, and it shows."[7] He noted there are many highlights, including, "the band's signature number "Khe Sanh," the dark and frantic "Conversations," the beefed-up rockabilly of "Rising Sun," and the rock & roll meteor "Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)."[7] He went on to praise the performances of support players Billy Rodgers and David Blight, but questioned the inclusion of the cover of "Knocking on Heaven's Door".
Upon release, the album was also highly praised in RAM, one of the leading Australian music magazines of the time. Reviewer Greg Taylor said, "The result is four sides of high rock and roll, brilliantly played, well recorded, and definitely worth taking home - especially if you're finding Chisel gigs a bit crowded for comfort these days."[3] However, he does note, "The very fact that a live gig demands more up rockers than anything else precludes Swingshift from being a Very Best of Cold Chisel."[3]
Critic Toby Creswell said of Swingshift, "the amazing thing was the way they fitted together. Jimmy and Mossy deliver spade loads of emotion. As much as Jimmy has been criticised for screaming, if you listen to that record what he's doing vocally is really amazing."[8]
Disc: 1
Disc: 2
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart | 1 |
| Preceded by Greatest Hits by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album 13–26 April 1981 |
Succeeded by Corroboree by Split Enz |
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