''The Acoustic Chapel Sessions'' is a live album by Australian singer, John Farnham. It was released through Sony BMG, as a CD/DVD package in September 2011 and the album peaked at number 10 on the

ARIA Charts 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 offic ...

. The CD, recorded at Chapel off Chapel in July of that year, consists of eleven of Farnham's songs stripped back and in acoustic mode. The DVD package includes eight songs plus interviews with the artist and his backing band members, and behind-the-scenes footage.

Background

The release of ''The Acoustic Chapel Sessions'' coincides with the 25th anniversary of ''

Whispering Jack ''Whispering Jack'' is the twelfth studio album by Australian adult contemporary pop singer John Farnham. It was produced by Ross Fraser, and released on 20 October 1986, peaking at No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Album Charts. NOTE: ...

'', Australia's highest-selling and most successful album ever. John Farnham explained, "We wanted to rework some of the songs that we have been doing on stage for the last 25 years. It's always difficult to rework something that people are very used to, having said that we have had a lot of fun doing it'. Farnham's manager,

Glenn Wheatley Glenn Dawson Wheatley (23 January 1948 – 1 February 2022) was an Australian musician, talent manager and tour promoter. Career Wheatley began his career as a musician in Brisbane in the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s he became known national ...

, added, "This recording has just given me goose bumps; it's amazing seeing the songs stripped right back and all acoustic. I wonder why we didn't think about doing this earlier".

Tour and promotion

Farnham toured the album nationally in October and November 2011 in intimate venues with smaller audiences than his large stadium shows. Patrick McDonald of ''Adelaide Now'' said of the tour, "Magic was the right word. For all the flack he cops about endless comebacks, it would truly be a crime if 'The Voice' was ever silenced." A music video of "Pressure Down" was released to further promote the album.

Review

Jon O'Brien of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

gave the album 3 out of 5. He said that the majority of the album adheres to the "if it ain't broke.." approach but complimented the conviction on "Pressure Down" which abandons its synth-heavy AOR sound in favor of a subtle and soulful gospel vibe, and "

Two Strong Hearts "Two Strong Hearts" is a song written by Andy Hill and Bruce Woolley. Australian singer John Farnham recorded the song and released it as the second single from his 13th studio album, '' Age of Reason'' (1988). The song peaked at number six on ...

", which transforms the impassioned MOR staple into a seductive slice of lounge-pop. O'Brien did comment that the acoustic setting meant some of his bigger/bolder tracks lost their anthemic appeal, in particular " Age of Reason" and "

You're the Voice "You're the Voice" is a song written by Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson, and recorded by the Australian singer John Farnham and released as a single in September 1986 ahead of his album '' Whispering Jack''. "You're t ...

" which removes the bagpipe solo that made it so memorable.

Track listing

Disc 1 CD # Pressure Down - 4:11 #

Reasons In the most general terms, a reason is a consideration which justifies or explains an action, a belief, an attitude, or a fact. ''Normative reasons'' are what people appeal to when making arguments about what people should do or believe. For exa ...

- 3:55 #

Chain Reaction A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. Chain reactions are one way that sys ...

- 3:09 # Playing to Win - 3:01 #

- 4:00 #

That's Freedom "That's Freedom" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter, Tom Kimmel. It was taken from his debut studio album, ''5 to 1''. John Farnham version In 1990, Australian pop rock singer John Farnham recorded a version of "That ...

- 4:18 #

- 3:27 # Age Of Reason - 4:59 # Talk of the Town - 3:51 # A Simple Life - 4:04 # Heart's on Fire - 4:47 Disc 2 DVD # Talk of the Town # Chain Reaction # Two Strong Hearts # Pressure Down # Hearts on Fire # A Simple Life # Age of Reason # Playing to Win

Charts

''The Acoustic Chapel Sessions'' debuted and peaked on the week commencing 10 October 2011.

Weekly charts

Credits

* Acoustic Bass – Craig Newman * Acoustic Guitar –

Brett Garsed Brett Edward Garsed (born 20 April 1963) is an Australian musician and songwriter, best known for his work as a guitarist with John Farnham and T. J. Helmerich, as well as being a former member of the American band Nelson. Garsed was featu ...

, Stuart Fraser * Backing Vocals – Lindsay Field,

Lisa Edwards Lisa Anne Edwards (born 25 September 1958) is an Australian solo and session singer and musician. In July 1992 she had a top 5 hit on the ARIA Singles Chart with her cover version of Godley and Creme's "Cry". Edwards is primarily a backin ...

, Rod Davies, Susie Ahern * Banjo – Brett Garsed * Drums – Angus Burchall * Electric Bass – Craig Newman * Electric Piano –

Chong Lim Chong Voon Lim (born Ipoh, Malaysia) is a Malaysian-born Australian-based musical director, keyboardist, producer, and session musician. Lim attended St. Michael's Institution for secondary education. He relocated to Melbourne, Australia in 1977 ...

* Engineer – Doug Brady * Harmonica – Steve Williams * Mixed By – Doug Brady * Piano – Chong Lim * Producer – Ross Fraser * Soprano Saxophone – Steve Williams * Vocals – John Farnham

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acoustic Chapel Sessions John Farnham live albums 2011 live albums