Swingshift (Remastered)

iTunes Review

By mid-1980, Cold Chisel were wielding considerable power as a live act and the stage was set for the group’s biggest national tour, Youth in Asia. Producer Mark Opitz set up the mobile recording gear in Sydney’s Capitol Theatre and captured the group with all guns blazing. The subsequent double live album, Swingshift, hit #1 and provided unadulterated documentation of the sheer intensity and honesty to be found in the Cold Chisel blend of hard-edged blues, earth-shaking rockabilly, and heartfelt ballads. All the early live favourites are present and correct: “Conversations,” “Shipping Steel,” “Rising Sun,” “Breakfast at Sweethearts,” “Khe Sanh” (which eclipses its oft-heard studio counterpart), “One Long Day,” and the group’s showstopper “Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye).” The covers are prime fare: John Fogerty’s “Long as I can See the Light,” Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” — one of the best versions you’ll ever hear — and the blazing “Don’t Let Go,” based on the Jerry Lee Lewis version. There are also tremendous renditions of “Choirgirl,” “My Turn to Cry,” “Four Walls,” “My Baby,” “Star Hotel,” and “Cheap Wine” from East.