Man @ Work

{{Short description|2003 studio album by Colin Hay}}

{{about|the Colin Hay album|the Australian rock band|Men at Work|other uses|Men at Work (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Man @ Work

| type = studio

| artist = Colin Hay

| cover = Man_%40_Work.jpg|border=yes

| alt =

| released = 22 July 2003

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Rock, pop rock, acoustic rock

| length = 38:01

| label = Compass

| producer = Colin Hay

| prev_title = Company of Strangers

| prev_year = 2002

| next_title = Are You Lookin' at Me?

| next_year = 2007

}}

Man @ Work is the eighth studio album by Scottish Australian singer Colin Hay, released by Compass Records in July 2003.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rockandmetal.com/colinhay.html|title=Colin Hay to Play One-Man Theater Show |last=Breznican|first=Anthony|agency=Associated Press|date=4 January 2004|accessdate=25 January 2012}}

A second volume is scheduled for release on 18 July 2025.{{cite web|url=https://www.colinhay.com/2025/05/27/man-work-vol-2-coming-july-18th/|title= Man @ Work Vol. 2 Coming 18 July|website=Colin Hay|date=27 July 2025|access-date=8 June 2025}}

Overview

The album is a career-retrospective for Hay: he is best known as the lead singer for the 1980s Australian pop band Men at Work, and roughly half of the songs on this album are Hay's solo studio renderings of works from the Men at Work catalog, while several others are remixes or re-recordings of material from his solo albums. Some songs are almost identical to the original recordings (e.g. "Be Good Johnny") while others are complete reinterpretations (e.g. acoustic versions of "Down Under" and "Who Can It Be Now?").

The album concludes with a version of "Down Under" recorded with the group Wild Clams.

The album was re-released on vinyl in 2014 with different tracklisting replacing several tracks with new ones.

Reception

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r648008|last=Prato|first=Greg}}

| rev2 =

| rev2Score =

}}

AllMusic gave a mostly negative review of the album, saying of the Men at Work covers that "While such acoustic Men at Work tracks as "Overkill" and "Who Can It Be Now?" are quite charming and worth hearing, the pointless re-recordings of "Be Good Johnny" and "It's a Mistake" (which are almost identical to the originals) are pretty darn pointless." They summarized his solo reworkings as "worth hearing, but of course, they're not up to the high Business as Usual standards." They concluded that the album "will only be of interest to the hardest of hardcore Colin Hay fan."

The Associated Press wrote that, "In the best possible sense, Man @ Work is like Colin Hay's cover version of his own greatest hits album."{{citation needed|date=January 2012}}

Track listing

All tracks written by Colin Hay, except where noted.{{cite web|title=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) search engine |publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) |url=http://www.apra.com.au/cms/worksearch/worksearch.srvlt |accessdate=27 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070517150759/http://www.apra.com.au/cms/worksearch/worksearch.srvlt |archivedate=17 May 2007 }} Note: requires user to input song title e.g. BEAUTIFUL WORLD

{{Track listing

| headline = CD

| extra_column = Original release

| title1 = Beautiful World

| note1 = alternate mix

| extra1 = Company of Strangers

| length1 = 3:39

| title2 = Down Under

| note2 = acoustic version

| extra2 = Men at Work's Business as Usual

| writer2 = Hay, Ron Strykert

| length2 = 3:33

| title3 = Overkill

| note3 = acoustic version

| extra3 = Men at Work's Cargo

| length3 = 3:47

| title4 = Storm in My Heart

| note4 = new recording

| extra4 = Wayfaring Sons

| length4 = 3:09

| title5 = Looking for Jack

| note5 = new recording

| extra5 = Looking for Jack

| writer5 = Hay, Jeremy Alsop

| length5 = 4:07

| title6 = Don't Be Afraid

| extra6 = Previously unreleased

| length6 = 2:56

| title7 = It's a Mistake

| note7 = new recording

| extra7 = Cargo

| length7 = 4:46

| title8 = Waiting for My Real Life to Begin

| note8 = re-release

| extra8 = Going Somewhere

| writer8 = Hay, Thom Mooney

| length8 = 5:45

| title9 = To Have and to Hold

| extra9 = Previously unreleased

| length9 = 3:29

| title10 = Who Can It Be Now?

| note10 = acoustic version

| extra10 = Business as Usual

| length10 = 3:24

| title11 = Be Good Johnny

| note11 = new recording

| writer11 = Hay, Greg Ham

| extra11 = Business as Usual

| length11 = 3:35

| title12 = Love is Innocent

| extra12 = Previously unreleased

| length12 = 4:43

| title13 = Down Under

| note13 = new recording, featuring Cecilia Noël & the Wild Clams

| writer13 = Hay, Strykert

| extra13 = Business as Usual

| length13 = 4:48

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = LP Side One

| extra_column = Original release

| title1 = Beautiful World

| note1 = alternate mix

|extra1 = Company of Strangers

| length1 = 3:39

| title2 = Down Under

| note2 = acoustic version

| extra2 = Business as Usual

| writer2 = Hay, Strykert

| length2 = 3:33

| title3 = Love is Innocent

| extra3 = Previously unreleased

| note3 = re-release

| length3 = 4:43

| title4 = It's a Mistake

| note4 = acoustic version / new recording

| extra4 = Cargo

| length4 = 4:46

| title5 = Waiting for My Real Life to Begin

| note5 = re-release

| extra5 = Going Somewhere

| writer5 = Hay, Mooney

| length5 = 5:45

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side Two

| extra_column = Original release

| title6 = Who Can It Be Now?

| note6 = acoustic version

| extra6 = Business as Usual

| length6 = 3:24

| title7 = Overkill

| note7 = acoustic version

| extra7 = Cargo

| length7 = 3:47

| title8 = I Can See It in Your Eyes

| note8 = acoustic version / new recording

| extra8 = Business as Usual

| length8 = 4:30

| title9 = I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You

| note9 = radio edit

| extra9 = Transcendental Highway

| length9 = 4:24

| title10 = Down by the Sea

| note10 = acoustic version

| extra10 = Business as Usual

| writer10 = Hay, Strykert, Ham, Jerry Speiser

| length10 = 3:35

}}

Personnel

  • Colin Hay – acoustic guitar, bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals
  • Jeff Babko – organ, piano, keyboards
  • Luis Conte – percussion
  • Johnathon Dresel – drums
  • Jimmy Earl — bass
  • Bill Esparza – saxophone
  • Chad Fischer — percussion, drums, recorder, background vocals
  • Mario Gonzales – trumpet
  • Greg Ham – flute
  • Andrés "Dez" Hernandez – turntables
  • Eric Jorgensen – trombone
  • Cecilia Noël – piano, background vocals, vocal harmony
  • Lee Thornburg – trumpet
  • Guillermo Vadala – bass
  • Lyle Workman — guitar
  • Toshi Yanagi – guitar

Production

  • Producer: Colin Hay
  • Engineers: Dave Dale, Juan Pablo Fallucca, Chad Fischer, Colin Hay, Edwardo McKinley
  • Mixing: Juan Pablo Fallucca, Chad Fischer, Colin Hay, Edwardo McKinley
  • Loops: Chad Fischer
  • Drum programming: Chad Fischer
  • Design: Griffin Norman
  • Photography: Gregory Cannon, Cecilia Noël
  • Cover painting: Norval

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Colin Hay}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man at Work}}

Category:Colin Hay albums

Category:2003 albums