| The Last Wave of Summer | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by Cold Chisel | |
| Released | 1998 |
| Genre | Rock |
The Last Wave of Summer is the 1998 reunion album for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. It reached number-one in Australia for one week in October 1998.
The album covers topics ranging from the serious, including the Australian Aboriginal stolen generation in the Ian Moss penned Red Sand and judicial inequity in Don Walker's Mr. Crown Prosecutor, to the flippant, such as the pub adventure Yakuza Girls.
Over a hundred songs were considered for the album over a 3 month rehearsal period.[1] When Don Walker was asked how the band decided which songs to work on next, he replied, "Psychological manipulation, sullen looks, petulance, tantrums, insane rages both faked and real, sexual coquettishness and pathological violence. Sometimes the last two together."[2]
The cover photo, by Adrienne Overall, of the band seated at a service station in Wyong, New South Wales, references Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.
A rockabilly version of "Yakuza Girls" appreared on Don Walker's 2006 solo album Cutting Back.
The album was nominated for "best rock album" in the 1999 Aria Awards.[3]
All tracks written by Don Walker, except as noted.
In addition to these, the album has a hidden track written by Phil Small & Jim Barnes entitled:
Subsequent re-issues expanded the album to twenty tracks, including the following in addition to the original 14 tracks, and re-ordered the original tracklisting.
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Australian ARIA Albums Chart | 1[5] |
| 1998 | New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart | 13[5] |
| Preceded by Songs from Ally McBeal by Vonda Shepard |
Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album October 18–24, 1998 |
Succeeded by The Living End by The Living End |
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