The Last Wave of Summer is the 1998 reunion album for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel

Cold Chisel

Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...

. It reached number-one

Number-one albums of 1998 (Australia)

These are the Australian number one albums of 1998, per Australian Recording Industry Association.-Notes:*Number of number one albums: 26*Longest run at number one : Titanic by Celine Dion and James Horner -See also:*1998 in music...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 for one week in October 1998.

The album covers topics ranging from the serious, including the Australian Aboriginal stolen generation

Stolen Generation

The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments...

 in the Ian Moss

Ian Moss

Ian Moss is an Australian rock musician, best known as the guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial ten year career, Moss recorded eight albums, three of which were No. 1 national hits. His solo career began with a No. 1 album and single and five ARIA Awards...

 penned Red Sand and judicial inequity in Don Walker

Don Walker (musician)

Don Walker is an Australian musician and songwriter known for writing many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. He played piano and keyboard with the band from 1973 to 1983, when they disbanded. He has since continued to record and tour, both solo and with Tex, Don and Charlie,...

's Mr. Crown Prosecutor, to the flippant, such as the pub adventure Yakuza Girls.

Over a hundred songs were considered for the album over a 3 month rehearsal period. When Don Walker was asked how the band decided which songs to work on next, he replied, "Psychological manipulation

Psychological manipulation

Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...

, sullen looks, petulance, tantrums, insane rages both faked and real, sexual coquettishness and pathological violence. Sometimes the last two together."

The cover photo, by Adrienne Overall, of the band seated at a service station in Wyong, New South Wales

Wyong, New South Wales

Wyong was proclaimed a town in 1888 and is currently a major northern suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, located approximately 89 km NNE of Sydney. It is the administrative centre for the Wyong Shire local government area.- History :...

, references Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching...

's Nighthawks

Nighthawks

Nighthawks is a 1942 painting by Edward Hopper that portrays people sitting in a downtown diner late at night. It is considered Hopper's most famous painting, as well as one of the most recognizable in American art...

.

A rockabilly version of "Yakuza Girls" appreared on Don Walker

Don Walker (musician)

Don Walker is an Australian musician and songwriter known for writing many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. He played piano and keyboard with the band from 1973 to 1983, when they disbanded. He has since continued to record and tour, both solo and with Tex, Don and Charlie,...

's 2006 solo album Cutting Back.

The album was nominated for "best rock album" in the 1999 Aria Awards.

Track listing

All tracks written by Don Walker

Don Walker (musician)

Don Walker is an Australian musician and songwriter known for writing many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. He played piano and keyboard with the band from 1973 to 1983, when they disbanded. He has since continued to record and tour, both solo and with Tex, Don and Charlie,...

, except as noted.

1. "Mr. Crown Prosecutor"
2. "The Things I Love In You"
3. "Baby's On Fire"
4. "Way Down" (Steve Prestwich)
5. "Bal-A-Versailles"
6. "Yakuza Girls"
7. "He Can't Believe It's Over With You"
8. "Angel In My Room" (Jimmy Barnes)
9. "Never Stop Loving You" (Jimmy Barnes)
10. "Red Sand" (Ian Moss, Peter Moss, Cal Curtis)
11. "Pretty Little Thing"
12. "So Hard"
13. "Water Into Wine" (Steve Prestwich)
14. "The Last Wave Of Summer"

In addition to these, the album has a hidden track written by Phil Small & Jim Barnes entitled:

• "Once around the Sun"

Subsequent re-issues expanded the album to twenty tracks, including the following in addition to the original 14 tracks, and re-ordered the original tracklisting.

• "This Time Round"
• "Once Around the Sun" (Phil Small, Jimmy Barnes)
• "By My Side" (Steve Prestwich)
• "Somewhere in the Silence" (Steve Prestwich)
• "Someone Caught My Eye" (Steve Prestwich)
• "This Big Old Car"

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
1998	Australian ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...  Albums Chart	1
1998	New Zealand RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... Albums Chart	13