Cold Chisel’s new definitive compilation, 50 Years – The Best Of, has debuted at number 1 on the ARIA Album Chart giving the legendary rock band their sixth chart topper together.
50 Years – The Best of lands just 7 weeks before Cold Chisel’s sold-out The Big Five-0 national tour finally kicks off. A few months ago, well over 200,000 people snapped up tickets to see this iconic band celebrate their golden anniversary in circus tents, arenas and outdoor venues across Australia and New Zealand.
“I’m so grateful to all the Doctors, Nurses and Physiotherapists who have helped me get back on my feet after some recent hip surgery”, said the band’s legendary singer, Jimmy Barnes. “I can’t wait to be on stage again with Cold Chisel and play these songs for everyone who has followed us for all these years plus some people who might be seeing us for the very first time.”
“If someone told me back in 1974 that we’d be having a number 1 album in 50 years, I would never have believed it”, said guitarist Ian Moss. “It’s been an incredible journey and we’re all looking forward to playing together again on the Big Five-0 Tour.”
This is Cold Chisel’s fourth ARIA #1 joining The Last Wave of Summer (1998) and Blood Moon (2019). The band also had three more chart topping albums before the ARIA Charts began – Twentieth Century (1984), Circus Animals (1982) and Swingshift (1981) – plus they hit #2 with East (1980), The Best Of Cold Chisel: All For You (2011), No Plans (2012) and The Perfect Crime (2015). With this latest chart achievement Cold Chisel has broken their own record for most time between their first #1 and their latest – 43 years from 1981 until 2024.
The new album features classics like Khe Sanh, Standing On The Outside, You Got Nothing I Want, Flame Trees, Cheap Wine, Forever Now, When The War Is Over, Bow River, Rising Sun, My Baby, The Things I Love In You, Saturday Night, All For You, Lost, Choirgirl, Breakfast At Sweethearts, Getting The Band Back Together – as well as a brand new song, You’ve Got To Move, which is currently the most played song on the Triple M Network. This brand new collection also includes two incredible live performances – Shipping Steel (from The Live Tapes Vol 2 – Live At Bombay Rock) and Goodbye (Astrid, Goodbye) which appeared on Swingshift – which are arguably the definitive versions of these two Breakfast At Sweethearts classics.
Trent Dalton’s liner notes speak eloquently about the impact Cold Chisel and their songs have had on him and, more broadly, on this country: “After 50 staggering years of making music, and still burning bright (as their blistering new track, You’ve Got To Move, so powerfully evidences here) Cold Chisel remains the defining rock ‘n’ roll sound of Australia. Modern Australia was raised by this band. Chippies built to their sound; men shipped steel to their sound; teenagers danced to their sound; children played to their sound; brawlers brawled to their sound; students studied to their sound; lovers said goodbye to their sound.”
Happy 50th, Cold Chisel!
50 Years – The Best Of tracklisting:
Album / Disc One
1. Standing On The Outside
2. Cheap Wine
3. When The War Is Over
4. All For You
5. My Baby
6. Breakfast At Sweethearts
7. You Got Nothing I Want
8. Getting The Band Back Together
9. Choirgirl
10. Star Hotel
11. Yakuza Girls
12. The Things I Love In You
13. Merry-Go-Round
Album / Disc Two
1. Khe Sanh
2. Rising Sun
3. Flame Trees
4. No Sense
5. Saturday Night
6. Bow River
7. Forever Now
8. You’ve Got To Move
9. Four Walls
10. Lost
11. Shipping Steel – Live
12. Goodbye (Astrid, Goodbye) – Live
