MIDNIGHT OIL (ABO #163)

MIDNIGHT OIL
ENDANGERED SPECIES
(1978-2002)

For more than 25 years, Midnight Oil raged and rolled as the antinuclear, pro-environmental conscience of Australian rock. At the height of the band's international fame, in the 1980s, Midnight Oil was favorably compared to the Clash, with good reason: The Oils' U.S. debut, 10, 9, 8 is a stunning, sunbaked answer to London Calling. Midnight Oil's ferocious jeremiad against corporate greed and American military imperialism is powered by the apocalyptic delivery of bald singing colossus Peter Garrett and the twin-guitar assault of Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey. But the Oils were never punks; they were heavy-melody activists, pressing their politics with the seductive writing and vocal harmonies of mid-'60s Beatles and the classic Aussie ferocity of AC/DC and Radio Birdman.

Formed in Sydney in 1976, the Oils quickly became favorites of the hard-drinking, pub-brawling surfer communities on the city's North Beaches. Midnight Oil and Head Injuries crudely bottle the force and fire of early Oils shows. The band's earli-est records also reveal a poetic nationalism that bloomed on the outback-tour diary, Diesel and Dust. At a time when many Aussie bands sought world approval by slavishly emulating American and British songwriting, the Oils made explicit geocultural references to their pride in Australia and fear for its future in songs like "Lucky Country" and "If Ned Kelly Was King," on Place Without a Postcard.

10, 9, 8 was the first Oils record to truly bring out the pop in their pow. Moginie and drummer Rob Hirst wrote much of the Oils' music, and their tuneful instincts made the argumentative drama of 10, 9, 8 torpedoes -- "Only the Strong," "Read About It," "The Power and the Passion" -- both compelling and convincing.

The Oils' explosive growth on 10, 9, 8 and the nuclear-nightmare followup, Red Sails in the Sunset, climaxed with their worldwide commercial triumph, Diesel and Dust. Recorded after a pioneering series of shows in remote aboriginal settlements in the Australian desert, Diesel and Dust is a vivid exami-nation of Western sociocultural failure and indige-nous suffering and spirituality, set against a punishing landscape and including the Oils' finest, tightest writing: the folk-rock strum and foreboding locomotion of "The Dead Heart" and the muscular R&B surge and soaring chorus of the Top 20 hit "Beds Are Burning."

After fighting their way to the top from the bottom of the globe, Midnight Oil hit alternative rock's brick wall in the 1990s. Although sales and airplay fell, their later albums deserve, and reward, rediscovery. The title song of Blue Sky Mining is a righteous, garage-band stomp in the local spirit of the Easybeats. "My Country," on Earth and Sun and Moon, and Breathe's "Surf's Up Tonight" capture Garrett in dark, magnetic ballad form. Redneck Wonderland shakes and snarls with Black Sabbath--like distortion and outlaw rage. In December 2002, Garrett -- a former law student who ran for a seat in the Australian senate on the Nuclear Disarmament Party ticket in 1984 -- announced that he was leaving Midnight Oil to pursue full-time activism, leaving the group's future in doubt. He now is Minister for Environment, Heritage and Arts of Australia's Labour Government. (Rolling Stone)

Best of Both Worlds


My Country

My MIDNIGHT OIL Top
1 - Diesel and Dust (1987)
2 - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (1982)
3 - Head Injuries (1979)
4 - Earth and Sun and Moon (1993)
5 - Red Sails on Sunset (1984)
6 - Capricornia (2002)
7 - Place Without a Postcard (1981)
8 - Redneck Wonderland (1998)
9 - Blue Sky Mining (1990)
10 - Midnight Oil (1978)
11 - Breathe (1996)