Published on Dec 22, 1998
Remember Colin Hay? If you were a fan of ’80s pop kings Men At
Work, then you will remember Hay as the distinctive voice behind
such hits as “Down Under” and “Overkill”. But what you might not
remember is that Hay has had a pretty solid solo career since the
late ’80s, scoring some minor hits in the United States. Although
he’s had more success outside of America in recent years, he
appears ready to re-claim some stake in pop music royalty.
His latest disc,
Transcendental Highway, shows that Hay has not lost any of
his pop sensibility over the years, and remains a powerful
songwriter in his own right. While this disc occasionally drifts
into areas that aren’t his forte, Hay seems ready to give some acts
a run for their money.
The one thing that strikes me as being out of sorts on this
album is the use of drum programming. Chad Fischer is a very
competent drummer, and proves so on several occasions in the course
of
Transcendental Highway – so why Hay and Dave Dale would
resort to synthesized drums on occasion is beyond me. (I’ve always
said that acoustic drums sound the best.)
And Hay does make an effort to break into new territory with his
style of pop music. While I can’t say that I like the spoken-word
approach on the title track, the scaled-back cuts featuring only
Hay and his acoustic guitar (“Death Row Conversation”, “I Just
Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You”) are incredibly powerful.
Granted, numbers like these won’t win him radio play, but they
should earn him high praise from true fans of music.
Through a good portion of
Transcendental Highway, Hay shows why his songwriting is one
of his strongest suites – followed closely by the execution of the
songs. Tracks like “My Brilliant Feat”, “I’ll Leave The Light On”
and “I’m Doing Fine” (the latter of the group a story of a man
talking to an ex he’s still in contact with) ring out in Hay’s own
unique voice, without relying on the style he set up with Men At
Work. Granted, I would have picked a track like “Goodbye My Red
Rose” over “Don’t Believe You Anymore” as the first single – but
I’m not the one making the calls here.
The only negative of this whole album is that it takes a few
songs for things to really start rolling. Once you hit “My
Brilliant Feat,” the picture then begins to develop. (Also worthy
of note is “Cactus” – though I could have sworn that this was an
instrumental track.)
It woud be nice to see people – radio or consumers – take a
chance on
Transcendental Highway and give Hay the chance to succeed or
fail on his own. While it’s not quite as strong as some of the
music he’s known for with his older group, it’s still a very
pleasant album that’s worth your attention.