354. Midnight Oil / Diesel And Dust. 1987. 4/5

If you are Australian, and you grew up through the 1980’s, then you know the band Midnight Oil. On the back of extensive and furious clubbing in their early days to garner their reputation, the band had chart topping success with both albums and singles throughout the 1980’s decade. Albums like “10 to 1”, “Red Sails in the Sunset” and the EP “Species Deceases” were enormous for teenagers like me and 20-something adults, who all bolted on to those big singles that dominated the airwaves, and the albums that were played over and over in lounge rooms and bedrooms. People would try and dance like Peter Garrett, and manically play the drums like Rob Hirst. And, sometimes without even knowing, they would learn some things about the world, as the band’s intelligent and thoughtful lyrics exposed the holes in governments and industry and other wrongs being perpetrated in the world.
Prior to the writing of the “Diesel and Dust” album, Midnight Oil went out on the road on the so-titled Blackfella/Whitefella tour, which included indigenous bands the Warumpi Band and Gondwanaland, which focused on touring remote Aboriginal communities. For several months of 1986 the band saw first-hand the seriousness of the issues that existed in both health and living standards in these communities. When it came to writing and recording their new album, it was these experiences that the band drew upon, and became the basis of “Diesel and Dust”. The band members in interviews at the time expressed that the album was focused on the need for governments and so-called ‘white Australia’ to recognise the past injustices involving the First Nations, and the need for a reconciliation between the two on all levels. And it is obvious when you listen to the album that this message is quite passionately exclaimed throughout every song.

The four singles released from the album are the best known tracks, but it is perhaps the other tracks on the album that reveal the changing style of the band at this time of their career. Having been known for their high octane live gigs and songs with amazing energy and passion that had drawn in their fan base over a period of over a decade, some of the songs here reveal the bands' ability to write and record songs that didn’t lose their passion or appeal, and that the power of the music could remain even though they brought it back to a slower, softer and somewhat quieter level. “Arctic World” is a prime example of this, focused more on keyboards and Garrett’s vocals with other instruments non existent or muted. This segues almost unnoticed into “Warakurna” which is a beautifully understated song musically, restrained even. It allows the lyrics to grow their full meaning, be the prominent part of the track in an easy singalong style, with the music there to contribute but not to dominate. It is a great example of the way Midnight Oil were changing their style to incorporate tracks like this, not to bombard as they do on stage but to offer their thoughts in an open light. “Whoah” offers a light takedown of several issues hiding in plain view at the time. “Bullroarer” is another great song, again understated musically, not pushing the boundaries of the group’s former high energy output, but instead invokes the lyrics that are being sung. It’s another song invoking the altered style of the band and performed beautifully. “Sell My Soul” and “Sometimes” and “Gunbarrel Highway” all paint their own pictures, perhaps in a more traditional Oils fashion with more Garrett passion in the vocals, more percussion beats in Hirst’s drumming, and more hard hitting on the guitar strings by Moginie and Rotsey.
You know the singles here, or if you don’t you have been on another planet. “Dreamworld” is the bright and fast track that the Oils have always produced in their energetic frame. “Put Down That Weapon” is the anti-arms track of the album, a step away from the ideology and stories of the majority of the songs on the album to keep listeners know they still have an ear and eye on the outside world. “The Dead Heart” is the most prominent of the change in styled songs form the album, released as the first single prior to the album being composed for the tour that preceded it. And of course “Beds Are Burning” which became arguably the band’s biggest ever song, and one that was played on radios... well... still I guess.

I’ve spoken of 1987 often on this blog, the year I finished high school, and how so many albums released in this year have ingrained themselves on me, that remind me of this time of my life because of it. As it turns out, this album reminds me of a different time, of a decade later. Why? Well, when this album was released, my music tastes were dominated by heavy metal. Any type of heavy metal. I was discovering all of these new great bands, and they were my main focus. So when “Diesel and Dust” was released, and those that loved pure rock more than metal began to play it, I listened to it as well. But it just didn’t take. For me, “10 to1” was my template, that album was what I believed Midnight Oil was, and it was that album that I judged everything else they released on. And it is quite clear that early listens to this album didn’t fit that template for me at all. The quiet and soft songs were... quiet and soft... and I didn’t have any motivation to sit down and listen to that at that time of my life. And so I bypassed it, noticing that it sold amazing numbers and the singles were played to death on the radio, and that’s it. Until, as I said, about a decade later, when my wife and I went on a month long trip of the UK, and in the car we had almost all Australian artists to listen to as we drove around the countries. And it was Midnight Oil that struck home hardest on that trip, and the stories they told and the music they played. It was instrumental in my return to the band in a big way. And on revisiting “Diesel and Dust” at that time, I discovered what I had missed in my teenage years. In essence, I was now ready to hear it, and embrace it, without only having to have thrash guitars and double kick drums traipsing through every song I listened to. And now, when I listen to this album, as I have once again a couple of dozen times in the last few weeks, it reminds me of driving around the UK, and how Australian music had kept us company on our overseas journey.

More recently, a few years ago my family and our friends family journeyed through the Aussie outback to Uluru and experienced first hand the magic that this monument exudes, which was a truly amazing experience. And what did we listen to while staying out there while we enjoyed our evening beer? Why, “Diesel and Dust” of course, because this album is the soundtrack to Uluru, the outback, the First People's nations. It is even now a most remarkable album. “10 to 1” will always be my favourite Oils album, but this album continues to grow in significance and importance – and brilliance – the more I listen to it. It is one that everyone should listen to, to hear the lyrics and feel the mood of each song, because they are all entwined in the story being told, and that story is no less important today than it was 35 years ago.