Most of the tracks were written by Barnes and one of the producers, Jonathan Cain, however "Waitin' for the Heartache" was co-written by Barnes and Desmond Child and "Walk On" was co-written by Child and ex-Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner; (Turner would later record his own version with his band Sunstorm). Two songs were also written with Jim Vallance. According to Vallance, Cain also contributed "later",[4] most likely during the recording process.
"Seven Days" was a Ronnie Wood track originally written for him by Bob Dylan. This was the last song recorded for the album, and features INXSdrummerJon Farriss, bassistChris Bailey and Rick Brewster from The Angels. Brewster, Johnny Diesel, Peter Kekell and The Angels' Jim Hilbun were all hired after Barnes returned with the uncompleted master tapes from the initial recording sessions at the Power Station in New York City, where he had fought for creative control with both Cain and Geffen Records.[5] The album was completed at Rhinoceros Studios in Sydney with Mike Stone producing. However the liner notes of the 1987 Mushroom album release compared to the Geffen album version release in 1988 reveal that a part of the album's songs has been additionally modified between the two releases at Right Track Studios, Hit Factory & A&R Studios. As an example the song Waitin' for the Heartache is slightly different on both album versions. Other guests to contribute include Huey Lewis, who provides backing vocals and harmonica on "I Wanna Get Started With You", Wendy Matthews and David Glen Eisley of the melodic hard rock band Giuffria.
Ian Moss was booked to play on the album, but pulled out. Barnes said, "He was supposed to but he chickened out. He is so worried about living up to this legendary status of Cold Chisel. He thought people might compare it and he might come out looking worse."[6]
