Company of Strangers (Colin Hay album)

Company Of Strangers is the seventh solo album by Scottish-Australian singer Colin Hay. It was released in 2002 on Hay's independent record label, Lazy Eye.

Company Of Strangers
Studio album by
Released9 September 2002
RecordedIgloo Music, Burbank
Lookout Sound, Los Angeles
The Wash Room, Topanga
GenreRock, pop rock
Length47 min
LabelLazy Eye
Colin Hay chronology
Going Somewhere
(2001)
Company Of Strangers
(2002)
Man @ Work
(2003)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Reception

In Erelwine's Allmusic review he indicates that whilst the album was largely unnoticed in 2002, it did become a minor pivotal moment in Hay's career. "At this time, he had yet to become a regular on L.A.’s Largo-based singer-songwriter scene and was still struggling to shake off the stigma of being a new wave relic. While he was struggling to hit upon the right image, he had found the right sound, creating nicely crafted mature music that swayed between sunbleached strummed acoustics and clever little pop numbers."[1]

Other reviews of the album describe it as a powerful blend of acoustic guitars, rock and R&B styles, lush string arrangements, storytelling lyrics and distinctive vocal melodies, with highlights including the hard driving rocker, "I Got Woken Up", the delicate "Company of Strangers" and the colorful "Beautiful World".

Release

In 2010 the album was remastered, re-packaged in an Eco wallet and re-issued by Compass Records, with the inclusion of a bonus track, an acoustic re-working of "Company of Strangers".

Uses in other media

"Beautiful World" featured in the final episode, "My Last Day", of the first season of Scrubs, originally broadcast on 21 May 2002 on NBC; it also appeared on the 2002 Music from Scrubs soundtrack.

Track listing

All songs written by Colin Hay,[2] except where noted.

  1. "I Got Woken Up" – 3:40
  2. "Small Town Big Hell" – 4:24
  3. "Lucky Bastard" (Hay, Paul Kelly) – 4:02
  4. "Company of Strangers" – 4:47
  5. "No Win Situation" (Hay, Chad Fischer) – 3:00
  6. "Dear J" – 3:17
  7. "Small Price To Be Free" – 4:55
  8. "How Long Will It Last" (Hay, Fischer) – 3:38
  9. "Lifeline" (Hay, Fischer) – 3:51
  10. "Don't Wait Up" – 5:26
  11. "Beautiful World" – 3:40
  12. "And If You Only Knew" – 3:05

Personnel

  • Colin Hay – vocals, guitar
  • Toshi Yanagi – guitar
  • Albert Wing – saxophone
  • Chad Fischer – piano, drums, percussion, background vocals, engineer, mixing
  • Jeff Babko – keyboards
  • Larry Goldings – piano on "Small Price To Be Free" and "Don't Wait Up"

References

  1. Erelewine, Stephen Thomas. Company of Strangers at AllMusic
  2. "Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on May 17, 2007. Retrieved January 27, 2012. Note: requires user to input song title e.g. I GOT WOKEN UP
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