I dusted off this amazing CD and after 20 years am still impressed at how good it is. I know a lot of people hail "Freight Train Heart" as being JB's best album. I get that because it is a melodic rock CD but to me, it doesn't show the real JB. It is an americanized version of him, specially formated to break the US market (similar to what happened with Michael Bolton - including some of the same musicians). IMHO, "Two Fires" has no filler. It perfectly combines his hard rock, melodic and Motown roots. The album rocks and grooves. I can really hear a lot of Motown influences in several songs. To me, JB cannot do anything wrong. He had albums that were maybe more emotional (the first tow, "Flesh & Blood" which is brilliant) but "Two Fires" is the only one IMHO that has everything that makes JB one of the most brilliant singers ever.http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922559#msg-922559Sun, 26 May 2013 02:23:38 +1000 Phorum 5.2.16 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922994#msg-922994 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922994#msg-922994 juliocruz NoticeboardSat, 15 Dec 2012 00:46:15 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922879#msg-922879 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922879#msg-922879Tony and Dave were of course in Jimmy's band for years.
Paul is the only vocalist I can think of who is akin to Jimmy. Just never had material as strong... He can do pop, rock, heavy, soulful, bluesy... All with that rough edge. With material as strong as Jimmy's, he'd be on to a winner!
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardFri, 14 Dec 2012 04:52:13 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922878#msg-922878 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922878#msg-922878Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardFri, 14 Dec 2012 04:47:47 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922843#msg-922843 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922843#msg-922843-------------------------------------------------------
> Kevin, I never knew about this "Under The Southern
> Cross" DVD with Jimmy Barnes. I would love to get
> it, but it seems it's not available anymore. Do
> you know where I could still order it?


being in the US, I didn't even know it was out of print. It was only released in 2010. I guess you might be down to ebay since the obvious places (sanity, jbhifi) are out.

It's not the same, but almost all (if not all) of the Barnes concert is uploaded to youtube as "barnesy melbourne". That should get most of them. Otherwise, just search for combinations of Barnes, Melbourne, 1988.

Here's the tracklist...
http://www.jimmybarnesonline.info/dvds-southern.htm
Kevin]]> Kevin NoticeboardFri, 14 Dec 2012 02:39:34 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922804#msg-922804 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922804#msg-922804 juliocruz NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 23:13:57 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922778#msg-922778 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922778#msg-922778-------------------------------------------------------
> no, don't replace Last Frontier. Pick something
> else please. Out of the two, When the War Is Over
> is a better song, but don't replace one of the
> best songs on the album when there are others far
> more deserving of being replaced.
> Kevin

Agreed agreed and agreed! Ya know I actually didn't love Driving Wheels so much back in the day but having heard it constantly on radio and played live I eventually warmed to it, and when the album first dropped I personally thought The Last Frontier could have been a better opener. Now not so sure as it balances the second side nicely but tell you what it could have worked switching it and Wheels about!? Regardless, tremendous song easily my album fave too!]]> Wardy NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 20:44:57 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922777#msg-922777 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922777#msg-922777 Wardy NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 20:40:28 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922765#msg-922765 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922765#msg-922765
Neil Stubenhaus? I am with you on this one! :-) I will speak to him soon hopefully and will mention your suggestion! LOL]]> Laurent NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 18:50:08 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922763#msg-922763 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922763#msg-922763
No. Never heard the demos.]]> Laurent NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 18:48:06 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922740#msg-922740 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922740#msg-922740-------------------------------------------------------
> For fans (outside of Aus), I don't think he (nor
> many others) had a better run of albums than Jimmy
> Barnes, Freight Train Heart, Barnestorming, Two
> Fires and Soul Deep (one of the best covers albums
> going).

I'd also add the personal "best of" version of Heat to that list. The various official versions of the album always left something to be desired, but if you took the best of the best, you ended up with one heck of a rocking album.

try this on for size....
Wheels in Motion
Stand Up
Burn Baby Burn
A Little Bit of Love
Love Thing
Stone Cold
Wait for Me
Tears We Cry -- from the extended album...cool little ballad
Sitting in a Bar -- classic Don Walker and can't figure out how it got left off
I'd Rather Be Blind
Catch Your Shadow




> His last 2 albums were very good, and he's
> released some great stuff over the years...
> The guy is one of my absolute faves. It was
> fucking immense travelling up to Newcastle last
> year to see him!

lucky you. East coast of the USA is pretty much out of luck to ever see him perform live.

Did you see the Cold Chisel show on the couple of UK dates during the summer? After years of neglecting the UK, it seems Barnes is trying to get back and play there again.




> (I've always wanted to hear Paul Shortino make an
> album like Freight Train Heart... in some moments
> I think i'd love to hear him record that album
> himself with Tony Brock, Neil Stubenhaus and Dave
> Amato (maybe replacing The Last Frontier with When
> The War Is Over),

no, don't replace Last Frontier. Pick something else please. Out of the two, When the War Is Over is a better song, but don't replace one of the best songs on the album when there are others far more deserving of being replaced.
Kevin]]> Kevin NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 11:21:46 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922737#msg-922737 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922737#msg-922737
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZovvOL0JgW4


ADORE Last Frontier. My favourite song by far from FTH.]]> Idiosyncrasy NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 10:45:53 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922736#msg-922736 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922736#msg-922736His last 2 albums were very good, and he's released some great stuff over the years...
The guy is one of my absolute faves. It was fucking immense travelling up to Newcastle last year to see him!
(I've always wanted to hear Paul Shortino make an album like Freight Train Heart... in some moments I think i'd love to hear him record that album himself with Tony Brock, Neil Stubenhaus and Dave Amato (maybe replacing The Last Frontier with When The War Is Over), so that fans of that album outside of Australia might get a chance of hearing it performed live!
Oh if I had the money, I'd have a label full of weird shit! lol!)
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 10:40:49 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922635#msg-922635 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922635#msg-922635-------------------------------------------------------
> I love Freight Train Heart, but it does sound -
> for obvious reasons - like Journey with Jimmy
> Barnes singing.

I'd say a 60/40 mix of Barnes solo and Journey. I do believe the world would stop turning if Steve Perry decided to record Do or Die. Just don't really see him trying that one, even though it's a Barnes/Cain co-write.

Take a lot of the Barnes solo compositions up to that point (Rising Sun and You Got Nothing I Want from Chisel, and the Barnestorming songs before they got re-recorded/remixed for the Working Class Man album) and put a fair amount of Cain/Schon on it, and you are pretty close.

There's some stuff that Journey could get away with for sure, but even replacing the Barnes vocal style with the Perry vocal style, I hear very little "pure Journey" in that album. Influences, yes, but that's it.
Kevin]]> Kevin NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 02:48:25 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922633#msg-922633 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922633#msg-922633-------------------------------------------------------
> I dusted off this amazing CD and after 20 years am
> still impressed at how good it is.
>
> I know a lot of people hail "Freight Train Heart"
> as being JB's best album. I get that because it is
> a melodic rock CD but to me, it doesn't show the
> real JB. It is an americanized version of him,
> specially formated to break the US market (similar
> to what happened with Michael Bolton - including
> some of the same musicians).
>

I prefer FTH, but the Barnestorming versions by far over the studio cuts.

If you never picked up a copy of the "Under the Southern Cross" dvd that came out a year or two ago, you need to. Almost full version of the concert that a lot of Barnestorming was recorded at, including a bunch that never made the cd.

I'd love to hear a Barnestorming version of Two Fires, as I thought that album was just as overproduced as FTH. Just a bit too.....sparkly, for lack of a better word.





> IMHO, "Two Fires" has no filler. It perfectly
> combines his hard rock, melodic and Motown roots.
> The album rocks and grooves. I can really hear a
> lot of Motown influences in several songs.

The two I'm not so fond of are Let's Make it Last All Night, and One of a Kind (boring). Other than those, the album is very solid.

btw Laurent, have you ever heard the Two Fires demos? There's a bunch of songs out there, and a fair amount that were even played live in the 1989-90ish timeframe. For me, some of the songs that didn't make it are better than what made the album.
Kevin]]> Kevin NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 02:39:41 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922629#msg-922629 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922629#msg-922629-------------------------------------------------------
> After that album, JB songs were not as inspired.
> Although I must say that his singing was always
> great to my ears. I LOVE his "Flesh & Blood"
> album. Absolutely brilliant from A to Z.

brilliant album, but a terrible tracklisting with no flow whatsoever. If you rearrange everything to what the dvd was (which has added songs), things flow much, MUCH better.



>
> His most recent albums are quite good again. I
> don't think he ever released a real turd.

Personally, I'd nominate Love & Fear, Double Happiness and Soul Deeper for that distinction. In other words, anything released during the really bad drug days where he just about destroyed his voice. There are a few good moments on each album, but some really lousy ones also.
Kevin]]> Kevin NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 02:28:05 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922612#msg-922612 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922612#msg-922612
Does anyone know if there was another album planned album after FTH, that eventually became TF ? There's a gig on youtube with a quite few unreleased tracks that seem to be from around that time.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jimmy+barnes+live+1989&oq=jimmy+barnes+live+1989&gs_l=youtube-reduced.3...889.2438.0.3440.5.3.0.2.2.0.371.712.3-2.2.0...0.0...1ac.1.9-_Om5R9RDI

Two Fires had charlie Sexton on guitar on a few tracks, and he's the touring gutarist on this gig, so presume there were more tracks recorded for the sessions ...?

One ended up on the Fiona Squeeze album (Just Like Love).]]> Ayup NoticeboardThu, 13 Dec 2012 01:18:44 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922595#msg-922595 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922595#msg-922595
4 killer albums and one of the best live records ever - Bodyswerve, Working Class Man, Freight Train Heart, Barnstorming (Live) & Two Fires.]]> Andrew NoticeboardWed, 12 Dec 2012 22:41:44 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922594#msg-922594 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922594#msg-922594 RAMSAY NoticeboardWed, 12 Dec 2012 22:22:30 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922591#msg-922591 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922591#msg-922591-------------------------------------------------------
>
> ... I don't think he ever released a real turd.

Err, that would be the Tin Lids thing ;)]]> Wardy NoticeboardWed, 12 Dec 2012 22:10:27 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922582#msg-922582 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922582#msg-922582
It was kind of a return to his roots. I think it has all the elements that made FTH, Barnestorming and Soul Deep great.

After that album, JB songs were not as inspired. Although I must say that his singing was always great to my ears. I LOVE his "Flesh & Blood" album. Absolutely brilliant from A to Z.

His most recent albums are quite good again. I don't think he ever released a real turd.]]> Laurent NoticeboardWed, 12 Dec 2012 21:20:28 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922581#msg-922581 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922581#msg-922581 Laurent NoticeboardWed, 12 Dec 2012 21:16:47 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922580#msg-922580 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922580#msg-922580
BUT, have to agree Two Fires was one of Barnes' best albums. I honestly preferred the rawness (not sure if that's the word that best describes it, actually referring more to the material than the production if that makes sense?) of For The Working Class Man, but I'd happily say Two Fires was indeed his next best. Freight Train was great but like you said, too polished but gotta say The Last Frontier was and remains one of my personal favorites.

When Lay Down Your Guns was released as a single pre album release the departure from the previous albums was immense but it worked so well! The only song I still don't care so much for is the Dianne Warren co-write Let's Make It Last All Night LOL. But the rest is like you said, top notch... Little Darling (brilliant), Fade To Black, Between Two Fires, super album and honestly while he still had plenty left in the tank, t'was the last of the 'classic' Barnes albums (for a time at least)

That's tomorrow's listening sorted then thanks ;)]]> Wardy NoticeboardWed, 12 Dec 2012 21:14:21 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922579#msg-922579 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922579#msg-922579 Big Al NoticeboardWed, 12 Dec 2012 21:09:19 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922562#msg-922562 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922562#msg-922562
I was working CD store retail when it first came out and unfortunately we opened way early for the occasion and played the album non stop all freeking day.

I was so utterly sick of it after that first week I never bought it and never played it again.

Might be able to get past that now :)]]> Andrew NoticeboardWed, 12 Dec 2012 18:20:21 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922559#msg-922559 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,922559,922559#msg-922559
I know a lot of people hail "Freight Train Heart" as being JB's best album. I get that because it is a melodic rock CD but to me, it doesn't show the real JB. It is an americanized version of him, specially formated to break the US market (similar to what happened with Michael Bolton - including some of the same musicians).

IMHO, "Two Fires" has no filler. It perfectly combines his hard rock, melodic and Motown roots. The album rocks and grooves. I can really hear a lot of Motown influences in several songs.

To me, JB cannot do anything wrong. He had albums that were maybe more emotional (the first tow, "Flesh & Blood" which is brilliant) but "Two Fires" is the only one IMHO that has everything that makes JB one of the most brilliant singers ever.]]> Laurent NoticeboardWed, 12 Dec 2012 17:38:03 +1100