Freight Train Heart

Jimmy Barnes’ third solo album since the original 1983 breakup of Sydney pub-rockers Cold Chisel was also his first since sharing a worldwide hit with his mates in INXS on their 1986 cover of The Easybeats’ “Good Times”. Barnes capitalised on the momentum with 1987’s <i>Freight Train Heart</i>, a big-league effort that included contributions by Huey Lewis, David Lindley and the Journey team of guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain. Even with all of the album’s high-profile guests and high-impact production, songs such as the spirited opener, “Driving Wheels”, and the bluesy “I Wanna Get Started With You” maintained the rawness and authenticity that had long been hallmarks of Barnes’ music. The beefed-up sound elicits some of his most impassioned solo performances, with Barnes demonstrating the same gritty bravado when tackling the sultry soul-pop of “Too Much Ain’t Enough Love” (his first solo No. 1 single in Australia), the heartland-rock balladry of “Waitin’ For the Heartache” and the wilder likes of “Lessons In Love”. One of the most exhilarating and enduring albums of his career, <i>Freight Train Heart</i> established Barnes as a superstar rocker in his own right.