Circus Animals - Reception

Reception

Circus Animals was listed at No. 4 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums, in October 2010. In 2011, it was voted the 75th greatest Australian album by industry pundits at Triple J.

Adrian Zupp gave the album a rating of four and a half out of five at allmusic. He described it as, "A ten-song stew of the band's signature guitar-and-piano-driven ballads and rockers further confirmed Chisel's depth and breadth as a creative unit." He went on to describe the highlights as, ""Houndog", a gripping, grueling riff-fest road song; the strip-club, tom-tom beat of the slinky "Numbers Fall"; the bent-halo ballad "When the War Is Over"; and the coup de grâce, the coke-frenzy-rock of the mini-epic "Letter To Alan"."

Critic Toby Creswell described Circus Animals as, "a really extraordinary piece of work, as though John Steinbeck, Henry Lawson, Manning Clarke and Jerry Lee Lewis formed a band." He went on to single out "Wild Colonial Boy", "because it so brilliantly encapsulated the Australian experience," and "Houndog", "because it has a completely mad structure but it too goes to the heart of the Australian wanderlust."

The Age also gave a positive review, saying, "I regarded Cold Chisel as over-rated when they first hit the scene with a splash, but they have established themselves as a consistent, powerful outfit, with strong instrumentals, vocals and writing. All these qualities have come together on Circus Animals, for the first time."

Given an "A" rating in the Windsor Star, the reviewer noted, "This is heavy metal at its painful best. Jim Barnes screams like other hard rockers, but never for shallow effect, he has real emotive strength. Guitarist Ian Moss shifts into overdrive with the grace of an Indy professional and Walker's insightful lyrics give the music weight."

Reviewed in Australian Rolling Stone at the time of its release, Circus Animals was described as, "a deeply flawed masterpiece, brilliant not so much in spite of the flaws but because of them." The reviewer went on to say, "from the hot, barren coastal highway to the sloping indifference of Kings Cross, these are Australian blues." Particular mention was made of the song "Wild Colonial Boy", which is said to be, "the most overtly political statement from an Australian rock artist in years."