Midnight Oil - Diesel And Dust 1987

On Diesel and Dust, there's less in the way of bruising hard rock like "Best of Both Worlds," nothing as eccentric as "Outside World," and very little as esoterically regional as "Jimmy Sharman's Boxers," while the production favors the tuneful side of the band's songwriting (which, truth to tell, was always there) and buffs away some of the group's harsher edges. As a result, Diesel and Dust isn't an album for hardcore Oils fans, but as a bid for a larger audience, it was both shrewd and well executed -- it was the group's first real worldwide success, going platinum in America and spawning a massive hit single, "Beds Are Burning." While the album lacks the kick-in-the-head impact of their earlier work, Diesel and Dust also makes clear that the bandmembers could apply their intelligence and passion to less aggressive material and still come up with forceful, compelling music, as on the haunting "The Dead Heart" and the poppy but emphatic "Dreamworld." And as always, there was no compromise in the band's forceful political stance -- most of the album's songs deal openly with the issues of Aboriginal rights (hardly an issue pertinent only to Australians), and one of Midnight Oil's greatest victories may well be writing a song explicitly demanding reparations for indigenous peoples, and seeing it top the charts around the world. And the closer, "Sometimes," may be the finest and most moving anthem the band ever wrote ("Sometimes you're beaten to the core/Sometimes you're taken to the wall/But you don't give in"). Diesel and Dust is that rarity, a bid for the larger audience that's also an artistic success and a triumph for leftist politics -- even the Clash never managed that hat trick this well. AMG.

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Midnight Oil - 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 (1983)

Midnight Oil were already one of Australia's most popular bands when they made their American debut with 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and while some knowledge of the intelligent but physical hard rock of the group's first three albums might have made it a bit easier for U.S. audiences to swallow, 10, 9, 8... was a daunting first listen even for loyal fans. Blending an art rocker's sense of adventure and fondness for odd textures, a hard rocker's muscular force and love of power chords, and a peace punk's passion for an intelligent rant, Midnight Oil bore small resemblance to anyone on 10, 9, 8..., running from the dreamy but ominous "Outside World" and "Maralinga" to the bone-crushing fury of "Only the Strong" and "Somebody's Trying to Tell Me Something" while making a number of stops in between. Nick Launay's deliberately eccentric production made the most of the band's dramatically oddball approach (dig that panning! check out that drum sound!), and for an album that so often goes for the purposeful left turn, it's remarkably listenable and catchy, offering up one passionate anthem after another. The band's politics are both well considered and unapologetically upfront throughout, which probably didn't help much with sales in the United States, where dance singles traditionally don't feature the chant "Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees," and questioning American foreign policy is uncommon on Top Ten albums (the album stayed on the Aussie charts for over two years, and "Power and the Passion" was a major success on the singles chart). As catchy as the Easybeats, as sweaty and hard-hitting as Rose Tattoo, and lots smarter than either, Midnight Oil were among the finest bands to emerge from Australia during the 1980s, and 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 was their first undeniably great album and still ranks with their very best. AMG.

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Midnight Oil - Red Sails in the Sunset 1985

Midnight Oil's second international release found them ambitiously taking on a variety of lyrical causes in a variety of musical styles. Their basic approach, with its martial rhythms, chanted vocals, and guitar textures, served as a jumping-off place, but they always sounded more assured when they stuck to that, rather than trying other things. And the unrelentingly judgmental tone of the lyrics, sung with dead seriousness by Peter Garrett, tended to douse the album's potential enjoyment, too. (It's hard to dance when you're being lectured to.) It wasn't much of a surprise when Garrett decided to run for the Australian Senate shortly after this album's release. AMG.

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