Men at Work Albums Ranked

Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in 1979 and best known for hits such as “Who Can It Be Now?” and “Down Under”. Its founding member was Colin Hay on lead vocals and guitar. After playing as an acoustic duo with Ron Strykert during 1978–79, he formed the group with Strykert playing bass guitar, and Jerry Speiser on drums. They were soon joined by Greg Ham on flute, saxophone, and keyboards and John Rees on bass guitar, with Strykert, then switching to lead guitar. The group was managed by Russell Depeller, a friend of Hay, whom he met at Latrobe University. This line-up achieved national and international success in the early 1980s. In January 1983, they were the first Australian artists to have a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single in the United States Billboard charts: Business as Usual (released on 9 November 1981) and “Down Under” (1981), respectively. With the same works, they achieved the distinction of a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single on the Australian, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom charts. Their second album Cargo (2 May 1983) was also No. 1 in Australia, No. 2 in New Zealand, No. 3 in the US, and No. 8 in the UK. Their third album Two Hearts (3 April 1985) reached the top 20 in Australia and the top 50 in the US. Here are all of the Men at Work’s albums ranked.

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7. The Best Of (1988)

‘I always remember Down under but did realize they made some fantastic music. This is a great compilation with only a couple of tracks that I’m not keen on. Stand out tracks are; Overkill, Down under, it’s a mistake, Still life, Upstairs in my house etc. Colin hay’s voice is fantastic and very underrated. His singing on Overkill, especially when he goes an octave higher on the 3rd verse is outstanding. Their fusing of reggae and new wave is very much in the vain of the Police. Just buy it you wont be disappointed .+

6. The Works (1992)

“This import Greatest Hits package is well worth the $ for two tracks that don’t appear on any of the three Men studio albums: Shintaro and The Longest Night. The two remixes at the end of the disc aren’t very good, and this collection is light on the 3rd album (no man with two hearts or snakes and ladders or maria) and it doesn’t have the best Men song of all “Down by the Sea.” A good collection overall, though the sound quality isn’t as good as the american released “Contraband” album. Enjoy.”

5. This Is Men At Work – The Greatest Hits (2012)

“I truly love many of the tracks on this disc, but all of them come from Business As Usual and Cargo. As a result, this disc is pretty redundant in my collection. If you like what you’ve heard from these guys, get the first two albums, pretend the third never existed, and you’ll be in good shape.”

4. Two Hearts (1985)

“After dropping to a three piece and leaving a few years in between Cargo and Two Hearts really hurt Men at Work,not many people where interested in them anymore thinking that they had given up altogether. This Album has some great tunes,Man With Two hearts,Maria which was the 2nd single and a great pounding drum beat on Hard Luck Story,it also has some dross, Still Life is well shite and Giving Up the usual we will give Greg a song to sing is well just rubbish.”

3. Contraband: The Best Of (1996)

“They knock you out right from the start with the two big hits,Who Can It Be Now with its mega horn noise, and the quirky brilliance of Down Under, a song now firmly entrenched in the national psyche. Some lesser work definitely fills the middle of the album until you get to Be Good Johnny, and two more very strong tracks follow that, including Overkill, which could be slotted into the same pop genre as the Crawl’s Reckless or Downhearted.  This is a track I have always enjoyed, again having their excellent horn music on there. The album finishes with some of the last work, that is fairly mediocre.”

2. Cargo (1983)

“No sooner had Men At Work hit the big time here in Britain with the unofficial Aussie national anthem, and Business as Usual was still riding high in the album charts then Cargo appeared,I was delighted! To have not one great album but TWO to bug my girlfriend(now wife)with was great. For me Cargo is a better album as it just seems to flow better IMHO,Dr Heckyll and It`s a Mistake ,Overkill where all great singles but I`ve always had a soft spot for Blue For You. One of my favorite albums of all time.”

1. Business As Usual (1981)

“A good album stands on its own, and that’s precisely what Business As Usual is. It’s a timeless classic, a record I’ve been in love with since it appeared in 1981. There’s only two songs here you could call filler, and realistically, the other eight were easily viable singles. I Can See It In Your Eyes (album highlight) and People Just Play With Words could easily have sat next to Down Under and Who Can It Be Now? on the charts. Same with Helpless Automaton. Catch A Star and Touching the Untouchables are this record’s filler and even so, they’d stand up and take notice on most other artist’s albums. Let’s face it, the whole record is brilliant. They never did something this good ever again. Cargo has its moments, but few like you’ll find on this LP, and Two Hearts is an acquired listen, which is putting it charitably.”