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Midnight Oil - Diesel and Dust Audio CD

A fair review of the Midnight Oil "Diesel and Dust" 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.

Midnight Oil Band: Midnight Oil
Title: Diesel and Dust
Rating:
Release Date: 1988-01-26
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Beds Are Burning 2: Put Down That Weapon 3: Dreamworld 4: Arctic World 5: Warakurna 6: Dead Heart 7: Whoah 8: Bullroarer 9: Sell My Soul 10: Sometimes

"Beta" Version of "Blue Sky Mining"
" The song-writing, lyrics and atmosphere of Blue Sky are a step above Diesel. "Diesel and Dust" is an enjoyable album but it comes across as a collection of B-Sides when compared to "Blue Sky Mining. In fact, in comparing the two albums, a song-by song comparison arose in my mind. I won't bore the reader by going track-by track, but just as an example, Blue Sky Mining is a much better opener than Beds are Burning. Never liked that song much. Antarctica is a MUCH better song than Arcticworld. Forgotten Years is better than, well, just about anything on Diesel. I even love Mountains of Burma. Perhaps some individuals have put the hype for Diesel into overdrive? Blue Sky gets the 5 stars over Diesel.


Diesel and Dust Review
Several other songs are good too. Every DJ has to have the lead tune of this CD in their collection.


This Land Don't Change and We Don't Leave
Some of the songs explore themes familiar to long time listeners of the band, such as the anti-war "Put Down That Weapon", but for the most part the album is a well crafted look at the culture of Australia that Midnight Oil wanted to protect and defend ("Bullroarer"). More than anything else, Diesel and Dust seems like a love letter to the land, people, and culture of Australia. This is the "land of wide open spaces" referred to on 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1's "Maralinga", a precious commodity being encroached upon by the modern world ("Warakurna", "Dreamworld"). It's also a land of traditions and cultures maligned ("Beds Are Burning", "The Dead Heart"). Midnight Oil reminds us not to give up what is most precious to us, that the fight is always worth the effort ("Sell My Soul") even if we get knocked around a little ("Sometimes"). Not only are these messages delivered with poignant, insightful lyrics, but with stirring anthemic music, evocative of the very land they champion. This was a masterpiece when it was released and it has stood the test of time. One need not be Australian to get the point of these songs. Change the place names to cities and deserts in the States (or any other country) and the message remains the same. Protect what you have before its gone, embrace your cultural roots, and fight for what you hold dear. .


Midnight Oil Burns
Peter Garret was still passionate (well, he always was), and the rest of the band, in particualr bassist Peter Gifford and drummer Rob Hirst, kicked up their best rock and roll A-game. "Diesel and Dust" was Midnight Oil's perfect storm of an album. The Oils shucked some of the artier motifs that bogged down 10, 9, 8. . . and Red Sails in the Sunset, and switched to dance floor propulsion. The result was the politcorock of "Beds are Burning" became an international smash both on rock radio and in the clubs. Yet it came with absolutely no condensation of the band's roots; the songs were as fiery and as socially spiked as ever.

In fact, this may have been Midnight Oil's most homeland-centric album. Everything from the single to the closing "Sometimes" addresses issues in some form or another. Some are blatant ("Beds are Burning's" pointed look at aboriginal rights, "The Dead Heart's" anti-mining rant) to oblique (the plea to not sell out on "Sometimes" and "Arctic World"). Even the weaker material ("Whoah") would be great on a lesser album. It's a shame that few bands have ever tried to follow where Midnight Oil tread. . . it's been a long time since a band so forcefully took a stand AND made a successful commercial run at it.

Given the timing of their breakthrough, "Diesel and Dust" may have been at a moment when being socially and politically actionable was acceptable. 1987-88 were also the years Joshua Tree ruled the world and artists like The Call, Peter Gabriel and Simple Minds were making anthemic rock chart-worthy. But no-one mixed it up quite like Midnight Oil, and "Diesel and Dust" was the peak of their curve.


Greatest Album by greatest band of all time
This album is a great introduction to their sound. My single favorite band of all time - nothing will ever come close. Full of incredible passion, powerful lyrics, unreal guitar solos, and creativity and originality in every song. The popular Beds are Burning is not even in my top 5 songs on this album (Sell My Soul is #1, and possibly my number 1 song of all time. Dreamworld is pretty special too).

If you fall in love with the album, as I did, you can move onto some of their older stuff - 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, or Red Sails in the Sunset are similarly incredible, and even more creative.

The Oils are truly a special band, and 6 years after their breakup, I still pop in my mix CD's in the car when my kids aren't around. I'll never understand why they didn't become as popular as, say, U2 or REM - they are all that and more. But I suppose it makes it that much more amazing for the die hard fans that still rave about the Oils to this day.

Hope you enjoy - I'm pretty certain you will.
.


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.

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