''Matchbook'' is the debut solo studio album by Australian singer-guitarist,

Ian Moss Ian Richard Moss (born 20 March 1955) is an Australian rock musician from Alice Springs. He is the founding mainstay guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial eleven year phase from 1973 to 1984, Moss was recorded ...

, a member of pub rockers,

Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at the ...

. Six of its ten tracks were written by fellow Cold Chisel bandmate, Don Walker, and three were co-written by Moss and Walker. The album was released in August 1989 and peaked at number 1 on the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

; it remained in the Top 10 for 14 weeks and shipped more than 200,000 copies. It also reached the Top 20 on the

Official New Zealand Music Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Musi ...

. Moss described the album's sound to Beryl Cook of ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', "it's definitely fairly R&B with a white soul edge to it, with a hint of rock and roll and plenty of big guitar over the top." ''Matchbook'' provided four singles, " Tucker's Daughter" (November 1988, which reached No. 2 on the ARIA Singles Chart), "

Telephone Booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...

" (June 1989, No. 7), " Out of the Fire" (September, No. 29) and "Mr. Rain" (December). "Tucker's Daughter" also peaked at No. 6 in New Zealand, where "Telephone Booth" got to No. 29. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 1990 The Fourth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 26 March 1990 at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney. Australian host Glenn Shorrock of L ...

the album was nominated for and won three categories:

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

, Best Male Artist and Breakthrough Artist – Album for Moss. At the same ceremony, for "Tucker's Daughter", Moss won Breakthrough Artist – Single and Song of the Year (shared with Walker), as well as nominated for Single of the Year. A limited edition white vinyl version of ''Matchbook'' was released on 1 June 2018. A 30th Anniversary edition was released in August 2019.

Reception

Australian musicologist,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalis ...

, found the album displayed Moss' "exemplary, controlled guitar technique, but also highlighted his soulful voice ... ehandled all lead vocals with considerable style and authority".McFarlane, ''The Canberra Times'' Penelope Layland opined, "It is faultless at what it does... The music on the album is mainly blues-influenced rock, although some tracks, such as the funky 'Mr Rain', break away from the mould."

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1989 debut albums ARIA Award-winning albums Ian Moss albums Albums produced by Chris Lord-Alge Mushroom Records albums