Disco de Men at Work: “Cargo”

Men At Work's second album was released in the Spring of 1983 when their debut album was still in the Top Ten. And while "Business As Usual" would prove to be a hard act to follow, the success of this album was enough for them to avoid the dreaded sophomore jinx.

"Cargo" yielded two huge hit singles: the creepy "Overkill" and the anti-nuclear anthem "It's A Mistake" along with the minor hit "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive". Other noteworthy tracks include "Settle Down My Boy" written and sung by Ron Strykert, "No Sign Of Yesterday", "Blue For You", and "High Wire". Unfortunately there are at least two tracks here worthy of being called filler: "Upstairs In My House" and "No Restrictions".

The bonus tracks are interesting at best. The humorous "Shintaro" and the mostly instrumental "Till The Money Runs Out" were B-sides while the last two live tracks, the reggae sounding "Fallin' Down" and "The Longest Night" haven't appeared previously on a Men At Work album until now.

Differences in songwriting & management took its effect on this album resulting in two members leaving a year later and eventually their breakup but this album proved that they could still make good music together. "Cargo" may not be quite as solid as "Business As Usual" but if you grew up in the eighties listening to MAW like I did, then I strongly suggest you add this to your collection. Because they may have been together for only a short time, but they accomplished so much in that short amount of time that they've become one of the most memorable bands of the eighties..maybe of all time.

Okay, maybe not.

If you branded men at work as one hit fools and overlooked their sophomore release CARGO, take a second look, this album rocks! It seems that CARGO sufficiently sunk the 80's band, but I think it's their strongest work. Songs like overkill, high wire, and it's a mistake play with tight rhythms, melodic hooks and soaring vocals. A recent remake of the song overkill by some indie band (colin hay actually makes a guest appearance in the final verse) reminded me of how awesome these guys were. If you're a fan of the regatta de blanc that the police pioneered, check out CARGO. You'll appreciate this album for it's lack of commercial success. When you pick up business as usual you'll be bored quickly with songs like down under and who can it be now, tracks you've heard thousands of times on your local 80s radio stations. On Cargo you'll hear songs you've never heard before that will became instant favorites. This album is definitely the jewel in Men At Work's crown. You won't be disappointed.

The Men at Work remasters are selling pretty fast. I saw them everywhere when they were first released, but now all the Borders and Best Buys in my area list them as unavaible, and they're also gone from both our Tower outlet and our awesome local store called Twist and Shout. I'm betting most of the people who like Men at Work got on board with them in the 80s, and while I really like them still, I get why some people think of them as forgettable. I just disagree with those people.

I actually love this album 5 stars worth, but I know it's not a 5 star album, not by a longshot. It is better than Business as Usual, though, with fewer songs that sound like pure novelty tunes. And heck, I really like Business as Usual. But Heckyll and Jive and Settle Down are typical Men at Work oddball songs, not really lyrical or universal, and High Wire and Blue for You are pretty forgettable. Still, Settle Down is decent as just music, offering a cool, kinetic pulse that Colin Hay's vocal bridges interrupt with nice modulations, and Blue for You has a quiet earnestness to it at first, though it probably took about 7 minutes to write. Ok, so that's 2 pretty bad songs and 2 pretty acceptable ones.

But the rest of the album hits a plateau and remains there. Overkill still stands as one of the great 80s radio tunes--ethereal picked guitar recorded over a nice groove of rhythm guitar and simple bass, plus that terrific guitar solo that segues into sax and then ends as a duet before Hay repeats the opening verse more intensely. Upstairs in My House threatens to decline into novelty, but ends up giving us a nice recollection of summer evenings in the neighborhood, and No Sign of Yesterday starts mild and eerie and ends in swirls of committed inwardness--another one of the group's best songs. It's a Mistake serves as the band's only song of social consciousness (not that that's required, or anything) and it works well as music, and I've aways loved both the manic oddness of I Like To and the gradual building up of No Restrictions.

The liner notes to the remastered Business as Usual make comparisons to the Police, and so do the notes to the Police's box set Message in a Box (unfavorably, hinting at Men at Work as formula copyists of the Police's pop-reggea). I like the Police a lot more than I do Men at Work, but I don't get the comparisons. Men at Work would never have recorded songs like Invisible Sun, Roxanne, Message in a Bottle, King of Pain, Don't Stand so Close To me, etc, etc, probably not even Every Breath You take. And these bands' sounds are only vaguely similar, vague in a way that could admit anyone from Duran Duran (think of Hungry Like the Wolf) or Huey Lewis (Heart and Soul, maybe?) into the debate. I think the more apt comparison is to English Beat and its follow up General Public--Colin Hay even sounds like these bands' vocalist (whose name escapes me now), and Tenderness and Sooner or Later would be right at home on a Men at Work album. And all of these are good bands, Men at Work obviously included, which is the only real point.

Yeah, the drums often sound machine-played, and even the remastering hasn't solved all of the recording's tinniness. But in the end Men at Work gives us a delighted, engaging music, the kind of music that offers a nice tonic to so much of the failed seriousness coming out now, as good as some of it occasionally is.

Front man Colin Hay revealed immediately what this album is truly about in this follow up to the bands debut with the first song: "Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Jive".

This album is a definite revelation to the insights of the creative soul of the group, where we go from light-hearted and whimsical to the more internal, dark and brooding of "The Man"; (Overkill, No Sign of Yesterday).

When 80's Pop was mostly make-up and bi-level hair cuts, this was an attempt to take the band to a more serious level of musicianship and lyrics that transcend the MTV offerings.

As the Beatles went from their early light-pop to Rubber Soul and beyond, so Men at Work began their transition on this album.

A fantastic CD from a wonderful group anchored by a much-overlooked and brilliant song writer, Colin Hay.

Men at work' was one of those mtv saturated bands that were very very good and were very misunderstood as a good rock band!they were simple intheir format--steady drums,bass and lead guitar sparsely put with saxophone/flute and well sung music. Cargo-mAW's second album was a prime example of a pop craft masterpiece. it had comedy/tragedy/fun and whatever else without being too commercial. "overkill" is definatly a highlight but songs like "no sign of yesturday" "its a mistake"clearly show the bands political views and also another side to this fantastic bands character. its too bad that they didnt have anything comparable afterwards...but we still have the bonus songs available now in its re-release! cheers!!