Jimmy Barnes needs no introduction. He’s Australian Rock Royalty. On this album he writes songs with Rick Nowels (who has written songs with Lana Del Rey, Adele, Stevie Nicks, Belinda Carlisle, Madonna, etc etc etc.) and also with Desmond Child (you name them he’s written with them… Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, Kiss etc) and Diane Warren (nine number-one songs and 32 top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.)
So, do you think he was looking for hits? No need to answer that. When you work with those song writers that’s definitely what you’re aiming for. Was it successful? On balance I’d have to say no. This album was always going to be successful in Australia, but it never even got a second glance in the US market (when you hire the above-mentioned songwriters, that’s the market you’re going for).
How about the album itself? It sounds like you’d expect. A bit of pub-rock, but a bit more polished. I guess that’s its biggest weakness. I think the main appeal with Jimmy Barnes is his rawness. That expression of unfiltered emotion. Calling in the hired guns resulted in him losing his rough edges rather than enhancing his uniqueness
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