****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Colin Hay, the ‘man at work’, was the singer and primary songwriter from ‘Men at Work’. Most of you probably already knew this. If not, you most likely would have figured it out by looking at the song titles on ‘Man @ Work’.I always enjoyed Men at Work and loved ‘Looking for Jack, the first solo release by Mr. Hay.I never followed up with his solo albums after ‘Looking’, but ‘Man @ Work’ remedies that a little bit.‘Man @Work’ is a combination of greatest hits from his days with Men at work, his solo work and unreleased recordings.I already own all things ‘Men at Work’ as well as ‘Looking for Jack’ but this recording is so awesome for me because it isn’t just another greatest hits package. The songs I know and love are acoustic and new recordings, and they are really good.I purchased this because I heard the acoustic version of ‘Overkill’. It was not my favorite song by ‘MAW’ at the time, but acoustic version sheds new light on the song and I love it. I’m not sure why, but it sounds so much better to me now. The arrangement is nice, Colin is in good voice and I think this version better shows his skill as a songwriter. Maybe that’s it?There are two versions of ‘Down Under’, one of which, the “bonus track”, is a new recording featuring Cecilia Noel and the Wild Clams.Both are somewhat different from the original, but the version with Cecilia Noel, who happens to be Colin’s wife, is more uptempo with more horns.Cecilia appears on many of the other tracks, but I have a hard time hearing her voice some of the times that she’s credited with backing vocals.One exception is ‘Who Can It Be Now’ where she harmonizes nicely with Colin. It is another stripped down version of a ‘MAW’ classic, and like ‘Overkill’ it is superior to the original.The other ‘MAW’ new versions are ‘Its a Mistake’ and Be Good Johnny’. I like them, and they are perfect in the context of this album, but I don’t think they are as good as the originals. ‘It’s a Mistake’ comes pretty close.The one ‘MAW’ hit absent is ‘Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive’.Colin chose to revisit the title song from ‘Looking for Jack’. ‘Jack’, ‘Hold Me’ and ‘Can I Hold You’ were all released as singles, but ‘Hold Me’ was the “hit”, peaking at #99.All three songs should have been hits, and would have fit on this album nicely.‘Looking for Jack’ was always my favorite track on the album. I loved the piano before, and this new version has a Bruce Hornsby vibe that I love.The acoustic and re-recorded versions of the old songs are great, but the new songs are every bit as good.‘Storm In My Heart’, ‘Beautiful World’ and ‘Waiting For My Real Life to Begin’ all connected with me lyrically and musically. They show that Colin is an older and wiser man. Occasionally he seems a bit weary of the world, but he also has the ability to look and still see the beauty of it all.More superb songwriting, and Colin sounds great, even if he does sound older from time to time. I think it improves the songs and matches his writing even better.It’s almost tempting to call this a ‘greatest hits’ of sorts, but at least half of the songs are previously unreleased, or at least never released as singles. Several of the songs were huge hits that have been re-recorded acoustic or stripped down, and three, maybe even four are better than the originals.I loved ‘Men at Work’ as a barely teenage boy. I enjoy Colin Hays even more as an adult.‘Man @ Work’ was released in 2003, and most, if not all of the songs were recorded at least a few years before that. It isn’t quite accurate to refer to anything here as “new”, but if you’re my age, you’ll understand that it’s all relative.I purchased the cd as soon as I found it and I’ve listened to it many, many times over the last 20+ years. Then tragedy struck and I lost the cd out of my case a few months ago. I immediately ordered a new copy, thus the review from 2025.Naturally, as soon as my new copy arrived, I found the old copy. But ‘Man @Work’ is such an incredible cd that I’m not kicking myself for buying it twice. My daughter gets a copy, lucky kid!Five Stars, not a fraction less.
