Is The Live Tapes Vol. 5 a good place to start with Cold Chisel?

Yes, The Live Tapes Vol. 5 is recommended as a starting point for new Cold Chisel listeners. Cold Chisel turn a Bondi club into a pressure cooker of hard-driving rock and bruised piano balladry. Released in 2020, this fifth volume of Cold Chisel’s Live Tapes series looks back to a 1980 performance at Sydney’s Bondi Lifesaver. The recording catches the band around the release of their third studio album, East, as they were building their national reputation through relentless touring.

Who is The Live Tapes Vol. 5 for?

The Live Tapes Vol. 5 works well if you're into vibrant live performance energy, heartfelt storytelling through songs and dynamic flow with wave-like pacing.

How many songs are on The Live Tapes Vol. 5?

The Live Tapes Vol. 5 has 24 tracks, running approximately 95 minutes.

The Live Tapes Vol. 5

Cold Chisel · 2020

95 min · 24 tracks · hard rock

Cold Chisel turn a Bondi club into a pressure cooker of hard-driving rock and bruised piano balladry.

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Top tracks — play these first

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Juliet Start here — opening track establishes the live sound early
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Standing on the Outside — Its clipped momentum brings the punch of East into the room, showing how sharply the band could drive a song without stretching it out.
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One Long Day — At more than seven minutes, this gives the band space to work through the tension of Don Walker’s slow-burning song rather than relying on a quick payoff.
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Khe Sanh — The story of a dislocated Vietnam veteran brings Cold Chisel’s distinctly Australian songwriting into the live set, with Jimmy Barnes carrying its restless narrative.
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Choirgirl — Its restrained ballad form makes a striking contrast with the harder material, placing the focus on the song’s uneasy story and Barnes’s vocal.
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Wild Thing — The extended cover closes the set by returning to the raw rock-and-roll vocabulary that underpinned the band’s pub performances.

Elevation

Our rating, out of 100 — and why.

AI-generated from five scored dimensions. An opinion, not a measurement.

62 /100

Foothills

Higher than 24% of albums we've rated

The album captures Cold Chisel's live energy but lacks a cohesive narrative across its extensive tracklist.

What we noticed

Many tracks include extended instrumental sections and crowd interactions, emphasizing the live performance aspect.
The sequencing alternates between high-energy anthems and slower ballads, creating dynamic shifts in pacing throughout the record.

Composition 25% of the score: 6/10
Craft 20% of the score: 7/10
Durability 25% of the score: 6/10
Distinctiveness 18% of the score: 6/10
Sequencing 12% of the score: 5/10

Influence 4/10

Known within its scene. Reported but not counted — how far a record travelled describes its reception rather than the record, and a newer release has had less time to travel than an older one.

Is this for you?

Good fit if you like

vibrant live performance energy
heartfelt storytelling through songs
dynamic flow with wave-like pacing
sing-along moments with friends
for nostalgic reminiscing

Maybe skip if you

prefer polished studio recordings
seek instant gratification tracks

Where this album fits

In the catalog: Deep Cut — A solid live album that adds to their legacy but isn't a primary entry point.
Career context: Released in 2020, this fifth volume of Cold Chisel’s Live Tapes series looks back to a 1980 performance at Sydney’s Bondi Lifesaver. The recording catches the band around the release of their third studio album, East, as they were building their national reputation through relentless touring.
Stylistic neighbors: The Angels· Midnight Oil· Hoodoo Gurus