JIMMY BARNES: For the Working Class Man

Produced by Mark Opitz, Jimmy Barnes, Jonathon Cain, Chas Sandford and Gary Gersh.

Released: 1985

When Jimmy Barnes released Bodyswerve the beast that was Cold Chisel was barely dead in the ground and their former singer could have recorded almost anything and seen it go to #1 in Australia, which is precisely what did happen. But American conquest was always on Barnes' mind and the ragged bunch of garage rockers with their raw production from his first solo outing simply weren't going to cut it on the world's largest music market. For the Working Class Man was apparently the answer, half new material penned by professional songwriters and half of the previous album's songs given a fresh coat of paint.

Originally released in Australia as a double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve to compensate his domestic audience for the fact that this was, in effect, only half an album, For the Working Class Man replaced Bodyswerve's rough and ready blues with slick American-style radio rock. It made next to no impact on that market, but smashed into the top of the chart in Australia, where Barnesy's legions of fans simply didn't care that most of its songs were written for him by (and for) a bunch of Yanks. "Working Class Man", the histrionic blue-collar anthem that sealed Jimmy's reputation as a screamer of seemingly unlimited power was quickly adopted as some kind of unofficial nation anthem, the irony of it having been written by an American AOR guitarist completely lost on the Aussie masses blasting it out at every opportunity. While it subsequently captivated a generation, "Working Class Man" wasn't even the album's best song, an honour that lies with "Ride the Night Away", a scorching rocker written by Springsteen's right hand man Stevie van Zandt complete with Charlie Sexton on guitar and Mick Fleetwood nailing down the beats. Unlike "Working Class Man" where Jimmy's objective seems to be to blow his larynx out, the other songs feature a more controlled performance. The album also introduces the power ballad to Barnes' oeuvre in the shape of "Without Your Love". The only one of the new tracks to feature the singer's writing credit, it was a hint of what was to come from the man over his next couple of blockbusters.

The balance of For the Working Class Man was made up of seven of the twelve songs from Bodyswerve, giving a makeover by Bob Clearmountain in New York. Most noticable was that of "No Second Prize", where, for some reason, extra tracks of Barnes bellowing the chorus to the fade were dropped over Mal Eastick's guitar solo. The other songs were similarly dicked with, although not to same extent, but it really doesn't seem at all necessary and from a local perspective they were just stuck on to make it releasable as an album.

For the Working Class Man helped to establish Jimmy Barnes as Australia's top male rock singer, but it probably succeeded more because of his reputation than due to its songs. As good as the new songs were (well, except the US radio dross that is "American Heartbeat"), this was essentially just Bodyswerve with a handful of different tracks and is really just a stopgap between that album and the triumph of Freight Train Heart to come.

1. I'd Die to be With You Tonight
2. Ride the Night Away
3. American Heartbeat
4. Working Class Man
5. Without Your Love
6. No Second Prize
7. Vision
8. Promise Me You'll Call
9. Boys Cry Out for War
10. Daylight
11. Thickskinned
12. Paradise

Rating: 65%