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Scream in Blue Live

Midnight Oil - Scream in Blue Live Audio CD

A fair review of the Midnight Oil "Scream in Blue Live" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Midnight Oil reviews here, or go back to the Midnight Oil tabs.

Band: Midnight Oil
Title: Scream in Blue Live
Rating:

Release Date: 1992-05-12
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Scream in Blue 2: Read About It 3: Dream World 4: Brave Faces 5: Only the Strong 6: Stars of Warburton 7: Progress 8: Beds Are Burning 9: Sell My Soul 10: Sometimes 11: Hercules 12: Powderworks 13: Burnie

An Essential Live Recording

This is arguably the best live record made to capture the music of the 1980's. For those who thought Midnight Oil was just about a freakishly tall bald headed guy wailing about burning beds, take a listen or two to this record, and you will realize that this band was as good as any heavyweight rock band of its time. I have a number of U2 live recordings and bootlegs and DVDs, and I've long thought they are the best band I've ever seen live, but these guys give U2 a real run for their money. [I also saw Midnight Oil live in Philadelphia in 1988-89 and it was one of most memorable concerts I've attended].

From Stars of Warburton to Read About It to Hercules to Brave Faces to Beds are Burning, this CD presents the Oils at their blistering best from each phase of their tremendous career from the late 1970's through the 1980's. Their music had tremendous passion, energy, and featured great musicianship, improvisation and vocal harmonies which make each of these tracks memorable.

Don't miss this record. It's a steal.

.

260 Million...I can't hear you at all...
Dominated by tracks from 10,9,8. Scream In Blue takes its title from a mostly instrumental track atypical among the Oils canon, but the album as a whole is vintage in every sense. . . (their top early 80's album) and Diesel and Dust (their best from the latter part of the decade), SIB features improved versions of great songs, delivered with more verve than their comparatively sedate studio siblings. "Star of Warburton" achieves a new vigor; "Sometime"s emerges as an all-out anthem; "Only The Strong" rocks as hard as anything in the band's catalogue. Even better, songs that originally targeted Australian issues convincingly resonate among other audiences. Peter Garrett slyly directs "Progress" at Americanism when delivered in New York, while a classic like "Beds Are Burning" remains quintessentially Australian.

Midnight Oil doesn't play significantly with arrangements, but the interplay of guitars and the wonderful contrast of the band's two bassists make the album musically engaging. Lots of great songs are not included (and no songs from Head Injuries seems surprising), but its hard to argue with the song inclusion here as every cut is enjoyable. A curious music fan wishing to check out Midnight Oil would not go wrong checking this album out first; if you don't like the songs here, the studio selections are unlucky to impress you.

Explosive!
This is THE BEST live album I have ever heard. I pretty much said it all in the title of this post. I first purchased it back in. . . well. . . my last year of elementary school. The cassette was purple! As if that couldn't be any cooler! Anyway. . . to this day, I can put that album (now a CD) on and still feel as excited as I did as a kid. There's more raw energy on that one CD than most bands could even dream of creating over an entire career. Honestly. . . it makes me want to move like Peter Garret himself. . . thrashing around more madly than I ever have at a punk or metal show. It's like an early greatest hits all captured live, so there's never a letdown! I know alot of people don't even like live recordings, but I'm sure this one could change anyones mind. And to think. . . before the end of this year (2004) we'll even have a live DVD with 2 complete Oils shows on it plus a bonus CD of one of those shows. The Oils might be done now, but this album will continue to destroy anyone elses attempt at a live album! Forever! Hopefully it'll teach a few people along the way as well.

Screaming the Midnight Oil...live
Scream In Blue Live is taken from these five concerts:

1) Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, 1984
2) Brisbane Boondall Centre, 1990
3) Capitol Theatre, Sydney, 1982
4) 6th Avenue, NY, NY
5) Our Common Future, Darlinghurst, 1989

The title track, originally on their 10,9,8. . album, is presented here as a brief instrumental before launching into another song from that same album, the social and political ills outlined in the punkish "Read About It. " The opening guitar playing sounds rougher and less polished compared to the studio version and drives the effectiveness of this song. The song of some driven insane by a life of alienation, of a life consisting of eating and sleeping in "Only The Strong" is given a hard-driving treatment and is a very energetic number, ending with some Native American chanting.

The pained viewpoint of an activist fighting a battle against mass media and politicians in "Brave Faces" from Place Without A Postcard with its lively guitar makes for a great performance.

Blue Sky Mining is represented solely by "Stars Of Warburton," where the hallmarks of aborigine culture is being superceded by hypermart malls, industrial technology, and ATMs.

The breakthrough Diesel And Dust is represented by four tracks. "Dreamworld," on white industry encroaching on the free spaces of the aboriginal wilderness. "Beds Are Burning" starts with a speech from Peter Garrett on aborigines living in Australia for 40-60,000 years. "They didn't sell it to anybody. . . they didn't trade it in for houses up the coast/they had it stolen off of them. " Hence, the need to give back some form of recompense to the disenfranchised aborigines. I didn't quite picture this as a good live song, but leaving it off would be a glaring omission. That's followed by "Sell My Soul," on farmers who struggle to keep their heritage and dignity instead of giving in to mechanized industry and expanding cities, and then by "Sometimes," whose guitarwork matched the punk fury of material from the 10,9,8. . . album, was a definite candidate to do live and its inclusion here is well-chosen. Like "Beds Are Burning," this was taken from Our Common Future.

"You've been trapped in your building all morning with a window that never opens, come and stand underneath this tree and you'll understand what this argument is all about," says Garrett as he gets into "Progress" from the Species Decreases EP, in a denunciation of pollution, world McDonaldization, increased technology resulting in unemployment. As he states quite clearly, "Some say that's progress/I say that's cruel. "

"Who needs a stealth bomber?" asks Garrett before launching into the slamming "Hercules," taken from the Species Decreases EP and performed at Brisbane, decries the US military presence in the South Pacific: "Keep us radioactive free/Strike a bell in Hiroshima Park. " Indeed, "why sink Pacific Dreams"?

After a drum solo, the group do "Powderworks" from their self-titled debut. This angry tune decries a life of being cheated. The album ends with an uncredited track, a new studio version of "Burnie" from Place Without A Postcard, of someone loving their beach home the way it is: "This is my home/This is my sea/Don't paint it with the future, of factories. "

Choosing the most poignant themes echoing the ecological and political danger befalling Earth, Midnight Oil's compilation of live tracks also demonstrates the energy and passion they have in their form of protest rock.

Live Energy
Midnight Oil is one of those bands that seem to explode with energy once on the stage, which makes their live albums a step above their studio productions. "Scream In Blue" is Midnight Oil's collection of live cuts recorded around Australia (and one cut from New York) from 1982 to 1990. Peter Garrett is nothing but energy to begin with, and he conveys that through his vocals to the listener. The band picks up on it, and rise to the occasion to deliver a great album.

This album has a bunch of their greatest hits, but appear here a little different than their studio versions. "The Stars of Warburton" is the strongest cut off the album. Great arpeggio guitars from Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey, and of course Garretts lyrics make this song very powerful. The album starts off with a feedback, disharmonized intro that sets the fillings in your teeth to rattling, then segues into "Read About It". The energy is already pumping as the song starts, and they keep the same level throughout the album. Everything on this album is great. "Dreamworld", "Beds Are Burning", and "Sell My Soul" are a few of the excellent tracks here.

If you like some of the stuff Midnight Oil has done, and like a high energy show, this is definitely a must have. The songs are great, and Garrett's energy is passed on to you as you listen. How a live album should be.

You can see a complete list of all Midnight Oil discography, or go back to the Midnight Oil tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.