Customer Reviews

Standing on the Outside Looking In: Songs of Cold Chisel

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'Standing on the Outside' collects 18 Australian and New Zealand bands/singers to pay tribute to Cold Chisel, one of Australia's most famous and respected rock bands. The range of artists contributing here is broad, sometimes surprisingly so; hard rock bands, soft-rockers, alternative acts, folk and country singers. You wouldn't automatically think of Ben Lee, The Waifs, Evermore, Augie March, Pete Murray, Something For Kate, or George's Katie Noonan as being obvious selections for covering Chisel songs, but in fact the album generally does an excellent job of matching artist to song. The result is a collection of (mostly) inspired and interesting takes on Chisel favourites, ranging from fairly straightforward renditions to quite radical re-inventions.

Mostly, the album works really well. Punkabilly legends The Living End were a perfect choice for 'Rising Sun', country muso Troy Cassar-Daley is likewise a great fit for 'Bow River', rock bands like Dallas Crane and You Am I do good jobs with 'Standing On The Outside' and 'Houndog' respectively, while Australia's great storytelling singer-songwriter Paul Kelly was born to sing 'Khe Sanh'. Other highlights include Sarah Blasko's haunting 'Flame Trees' and Katie Noonan's take on 'Choir Girl'.

A couple of tracks, though, aren't so good. Grinspoon do an unimaginative bogan rock version of 'Saturday Night', Alex Lloyd boogies down 'You Got Nothing I Want' which robs the song of its passion and anger, and Something For Kate's alternative take on 'When The War Is Over' is a bit too "interesting" for its own good.

The Limited Edition collection also contains a second CD with the original Cold Chisel versions of each song, so fans can compare how well the covers stack up with the originals. It's definitely worth seeking out and paying a little extra for this 2 CD edition, especially for casual fans of the band, since the second CD is virtually a Cold Chisel Greatest Hits collection in its own right.

In all, this is a valuable collection for fans of Cold Chisel, the individual cover artists, and Australian music in general. For Chisel die-hards this is a no-brainer, and fans of the cover artists will be curious to see how their favourite singer/band handles such well-known tracks. Many Chisel tracks have attained legendary status in Australia, and most of the cover artists are well known, so the collection will also be interesting for anyone with even a passing interest in Australian rock and pop.

Four stars.