Customer Reviews

Cargo

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Men At Work's second album was released in the Spring of 1983 when their debut album was still in the Top Ten. And while "Business As Usual" would prove to be a hard act to follow, the success of this album was enough for them to avoid the dreaded sophomore jinx.

"Cargo" yielded two huge hit singles: the creepy "Overkill" and the anti-nuclear anthem "It's A Mistake" along with the minor hit "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive". Other noteworthy tracks include "Settle Down My Boy" written and sung by Ron Strykert, "No Sign Of Yesterday", "Blue For You", and "High Wire". Unfortunately there are at least two tracks here worthy of being called filler: "Upstairs In My House" and "No Restrictions".

The bonus tracks are interesting at best. The humorous "Shintaro" and the mostly instrumental "Till The Money Runs Out" were B-sides while the last two live tracks, the reggae sounding "Fallin' Down" and "The Longest Night" haven't appeared previously on a Men At Work album until now.

Differences in songwriting & management took its effect on this album resulting in two members leaving a year later and eventually their breakup but this album proved that they could still make good music together. "Cargo" may not be quite as solid as "Business As Usual" but if you grew up in the eighties listening to MAW like I did, then I strongly suggest you add this to your collection. Because they may have been together for only a short time, but they accomplished so much in that short amount of time that they've become one of the most memorable bands of the eighties..maybe of all time.

Okay, maybe not.

The Men at Work remasters are selling pretty fast. I saw them everywhere when they were first released, but now all the Borders and Best Buys in my area list them as unavaible, and they're also gone from both our Tower outlet and our awesome local store called Twist and Shout. I'm betting most of the people who like Men at Work got on board with them in the 80s, and while I really like them still, I get why some people think of them as forgettable. I just disagree with those people.

I actually love this album 5 stars worth, but I know it's not a 5 star album, not by a longshot. It is better than Business as Usual, though, with fewer songs that sound like pure novelty tunes. And heck, I really like Business as Usual. But Heckyll and Jive and Settle Down are typical Men at Work oddball songs, not really lyrical or universal, and High Wire and Blue for You are pretty forgettable. Still, Settle Down is decent as just music, offering a cool, kinetic pulse that Colin Hay's vocal bridges interrupt with nice modulations, and Blue for You has a quiet earnestness to it at first, though it probably took about 7 minutes to write. Ok, so that's 2 pretty bad songs and 2 pretty acceptable ones.

But the rest of the album hits a plateau and remains there. Overkill still stands as one of the great 80s radio tunes--ethereal picked guitar recorded over a nice groove of rhythm guitar and simple bass, plus that terrific guitar solo that segues into sax and then ends as a duet before Hay repeats the opening verse more intensely. Upstairs in My House threatens to decline into novelty, but ends up giving us a nice recollection of summer evenings in the neighborhood, and No Sign of Yesterday starts mild and eerie and ends in swirls of committed inwardness--another one of the group's best songs. It's a Mistake serves as the band's only song of social consciousness (not that that's required, or anything) and it works well as music, and I've aways loved both the manic oddness of I Like To and the gradual building up of No Restrictions.

The liner notes to the remastered Business as Usual make comparisons to the Police, and so do the notes to the Police's box set Message in a Box (unfavorably, hinting at Men at Work as formula copyists of the Police's pop-reggea). I like the Police a lot more than I do Men at Work, but I don't get the comparisons. Men at Work would never have recorded songs like Invisible Sun, Roxanne, Message in a Bottle, King of Pain, Don't Stand so Close To me, etc, etc, probably not even Every Breath You take. And these bands' sounds are only vaguely similar, vague in a way that could admit anyone from Duran Duran (think of Hungry Like the Wolf) or Huey Lewis (Heart and Soul, maybe?) into the debate. I think the more apt comparison is to English Beat and its follow up General Public--Colin Hay even sounds like these bands' vocalist (whose name escapes me now), and Tenderness and Sooner or Later would be right at home on a Men at Work album. And all of these are good bands, Men at Work obviously included, which is the only real point.

Yeah, the drums often sound machine-played, and even the remastering hasn't solved all of the recording's tinniness. But in the end Men at Work gives us a delighted, engaging music, the kind of music that offers a nice tonic to so much of the failed seriousness coming out now, as good as some of it occasionally is.

Before I start, I wish that Colin Hay and his band Men At Work would have been at 10 albums or so or have just as many hits as Usher, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, or other artists have now. They were on such a roll after two albums (including Cargo), and then what happened? Maybe couldn't handle fame, the floods of fan letters or the multi platinum sales or the pandemonium of fans. But they tore it up in 1982 and 1983! Cargo doesn't match the greatness of Business at Work, but it is a solid album, with adventurous songs like Overkill, It's A Mistake, Settle Down My Boy and others. One standout is the fast paced Restriction Zone and its strumming guitars. Colin and his band make solid pop rock on every song, and the songs are hooked in your head after several listens. These fellows need to get past their bickerings, get a new album out, talk with their managers, and tear up stages once again like they did in their '80s peak. If Prince could sell out shows in 2004, why can't Men at Work? Show the public once again what made the '80s so great with the music! Maybe they won't do it now, but someday. I think that Cargo was one of the band's finest moments.

Front man Colin Hay revealed immediately what this album is truly about in this follow up to the bands debut with the first song: "Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Jive".
This album is a definite revelation to the insights of the creative soul of the group, where we go from light-hearted and whimsical to the more internal, dark and brooding of "The Man"; (Overkill, No Sign of Yesterday).
When 80's Pop was mostly make-up and bi-level hair cuts, this was an attempt to take the band to a more serious level of musicianship and lyrics that transcend the MTV offerings.
As the Beatles went from their early light-pop to Rubber Soul and beyond, so Men at Work began their transition on this album.
A fantastic CD from a wonderful group anchored by a much-overlooked and brilliant song writer, Colin Hay.

Australian based rockers Men At Work's second album entitled Cargo was was released in May of 1983.
At the time of its release, Men at Work had just won a Best New Artist Grammy and their debut album Business as Usual was still in the US Top Ten and selling very well.
With lightning success, guitarist/singer/songwriter Colin Hay, guitarist Ron Strykert, bass player John Rees, sax player/keyboard player Greg Ham and drummer Jerry Speiser had to deliver an album that was either as good as its predecessor or better. Would this album be great as their phenomenal debut or crummy, read on and find out (as I did when I first got this album on cassette in July of 1983 when I was 7).
The sound effects and bells lead into the whimsical opening Top 30 hit "Dr Heckyll and Mr Jive". This new wave rocker is a funny song about a nutty professor who turns into a casanova after drinking a potion but is a classic. Next is the album's first single, the creepy US Top 10 hit "Overkill". The track is a classic song and a great rocker which included Ham's classic soprano sax solo and Strykert's great guitar solo. Next, Ron Strykert steps out with his vocal debut on "Settle Down My Boy" which is a great number. On this remaster, this song is extended to have its full ending which prematurely faded on the original record and cassette versions. The rocker "Upstairs in My House" is next and is another great rocker. The first half closes with the 6 minute epic entitled "No Sign Of Yesterday" which is possibly Men at Work's greatest song ever. This epic is hard to put into words, awesome. The ending is extended on this remaster where it prematurely faded on the original album to be 5 minutes and 50 seconds, it is extended by 30 plus seconds here as CDs can hold more music than vinyl could.
The album's second half kicks off with the album's second US Top 10 hit and the anti-nuclear anthem "It's A Mistake" which is a great number. This track is a classic and is also extended on this remaster. Next is the album's third single "High Wire" which unfortunately tanked and there was video for this track but is a great song. The laid-back "Blue For You" is next and is a little breather before the last two frantic paced closing tracks. "I Like To" is next and has Greg Ham on lead vocals and is a great fast-paced new wave rocker with great guitar work from Strykert(who penned the track). We end the album with the classic entitled "No Restrictions" which is another great song and unfortunately turned out to be the swan song of the original lineup.
Cargo when originally released reached #4 on the Billboard album charts and sold another FOUR MILLION COPIES here Stateside (which was close to the debut's SIX MILLION in US sales).
In 2003, the album was re-released in digitally remastered form with FIVE BONUS TRACKS which were the humorous Shintaro and the mostly instrumental Till The Money Runs Out plus a live reading of Upstairs in My House and two further live tracks, the reggae sounding Fallin' Down and The Longest Night which were on a long out of print Men at Work concert video.
Cargo is recommended!

Men at work' was one of those mtv saturated bands that were very very good and were very misunderstood as a good rock band!they were simple intheir format--steady drums,bass and lead guitar sparsely put with saxophone/flute and well sung music. Cargo-mAW's second album was a prime example of a pop craft masterpiece. it had comedy/tragedy/fun and whatever else without being too commercial. "overkill" is definatly a highlight but songs like "no sign of yesturday" "its a mistake"clearly show the bands political views and also another side to this fantastic bands character. its too bad that they didnt have anything comparable afterwards...but we still have the bonus songs available now in its re-release! cheers!!

This album is the classic example of the term SOPHOMORE SUCCESS.Cargo is a great sophomore album from the talented new wave rockers from Australia and proving that they were not merely one hit wonders.very highly recommended.Get this but avoid all albums from the awful Kylie minogue.

This album was hit and miss, but contained some of Men At Works best songs. "Dr. Heckyll and Mr. Jive", and "Highwire" are two non hits that are to me the two finest songs they have ever done. Also included is "Overkill" a classic and a couple other decent songs like "Blue For You" and "I Like Too". If you liked the first album this one adds some other fine music. Too bad they faded so quickly.

"Cargo" came rapidly on the heels of "Business As Usual", due to, among other things, the amazing staying power and deserved popularity of that first album.
As a complete piece, "Cargo" really can't compare, but it completely avoids the dreaded "sophomore slump" afflicting most new bands.
"Overkill" still stands a great single from the '80's, and there are a number of other equally engaging tracks on the disc, "No Restrictions", "High Wire", "It's A Mistake".

But to be fair, there are other songs that are just a bit boring...made more so if you listen to their first two albums back to back.
Here's the thing: you'll NEED this record if you buy the first one. They're sort of two pieces of a better whole. And there's enough here to make your purchase worthy.
One last thing - I loved Colin Hay's voice. It was one of the better ones on the radio at the time...and you always knew immediately who it was...

I have never been so bowled-over by a band as I was with Men At Work, back in the early eighties. I was 12-years-old when Business As Usual came out, but I didn't get a Men At Work album until Cargo was released. At the time, both Cargo and Business As Usual were in the "Top Sellers" area in the local dept. store's music section. My mother told me I could have one of the two albums...such a hard decision, but I went with Cargo. I cannot TELL you how many hours I spent enjoying this album, and Business As Usual, which I obtained immediately after being blown away by this one. I spent many an afternoon air-drumming along with Jerry Speiser, their incredibly-underrated drummer. The songwriting is amazing. The guitar work by Ron Strykert-inspired and haunting. The keyboards are magnificent. Greg Ham's saxophone playing-also inspired, and magnificently-performed. Colin Hay's vocals-incredible.
There are only two tracks on these two albums that I consider sub-par: "I Like To" and "Helpless Automaton." The latter is actually kind of fun though. These albums mean so much to me. Not only are they solid, but they bring me back to my youth...sitting on the living room floor with big headphones on, air-drumming like crazy...my father coming downstairs telling me to go outside, as it was 'nice out.' haha
The third album "Two Hearts" was a major letdown. Jerry Speiser's incredible drumming was replaced by an electronic drum machine. The bassist, John Rees, had also left the band. The album/cd completely lacks the quirky, intelligent feel of its predecessors, and, for that reason, I don't even consider it a Men At Work album, per se. Their first two, my favorite two albums of the eighties. Cannot go wrong with these.