1328. Midnight Oil / Species Deceases [EP]. 1985. 3.5/5

Midnight Oil’s growing popularity out of the late 1970’s on the back of their first two albums, their self-titled debut and the follow up “Head Injuries”, had come on the back of constant touring and the hard working ethic shown in their concerts, where nothing was left when they finally left the stage. They began to break through on the Australian charts with their EP “Bird Noises”, recently reviewed on episode 168 of this podcast, and then the follow up album “Place Without a Postcard” which went to #12 on the Australian albums chart. However, it was the release of 1982’s “10-1” that saw the band top that wave and become the band that their fans always knew they could be. The songs that became tinged with lyrics that spoke of the world around them, of the causes they believed in and the political situations at home and abroad, began to burst forth, with singles such as “Read About It”, “US Forces” and “The Power and the Passion” taking on a life of their own. The album went to number 3 in Australia, and was then followed by “Red Sails in the Sunset” in 1984, which became their first number 1 album, with a continuation of their lyrical exposes and descriptions. Despite being a controversial entity in some places and corners, the ideology of the band spoke to the times they were living in, and their fan base was growing as they became as much a mouthpiece with their music as a popular band in itself.
In September of 1985, the band headed to the studio for four days to put down four new tracks that had been put together over their touring for that album. On the back of the success that “Bird Noises” had crested five years earlier, they looked to release a new EP rather than release another song off the album as a single release. It also gave the ban the chance to further bring their current stories to song, and to have a new release for the fans rather than a song from an album they had released a year earlier. This came Midnight Oil’s second EP and one that created history for the band, provocatively titled “Species Deceases”.

Like their previous EP, this one again comes with just the four tracks, and each is targeting a different piece of the world that the band sees as worthy of being spotlighted. “Progress” lyrically comes at the way that everything seems ot have to make way for progress, to push forward at the expense of the environment all for the betterment of industry or government. Musically it has moved away from the experimental side that the band had used over the previous two album and settled into a contemporary sound that is stripped back a little from what they have been offering. “Hercules” is the big song off the EP, one that is still played on radio and music video around the world. The mid-1980's in the South Pacific with nuclear testing happening and the rise of Greenpeace to protest it in particular influence the lyrical content of the song. Lead singer Peter Garrett had recently run for the Australian Senate as a member of the Nuclear Disarmament Party, something he narrowly failed to achieve, but it advertised heavily his thoughts on this subject in particular, and this song heavily pushed that theme here.
“Blossom and Blood” speaks about the nuclear argument again, here referencing Hiroshima and discussing the outward fallibility of talking about peace while preparing for war. The words here from Rob Hirst and Jim Moginie are compelling as always. Finally we have “Pictures”, outwardly about the nuclear apocalypse and the desire to not be a part of one. Lines such as “I just want to watch the paradise, I just want to see that clear, clear light, Don't want to be a member of a species that's deceasing, Keep on making those promises that they aren't keeping”. And also “Oh, I was a talking to the people next door, They said don't want to die in a nuclear war” - are pretty reflective of what the band is suggesting here.
The EP’s title is fairly specific just what the band has proposed here on these four tracks. Each speaks of their belief of the destruction of the environment and of the nuclear desolation that awaits if things don’t change. And it is very reflective of the time. The mid-1980's was a time where nuclear exchanges were considered to be a ‘not if, but when’ proposition, something that 40 years on might appear to be an overreaction from this point in time, but growing up and living in the time it was much more real that it might appear. And albums such as this weren’t as rare as you might think either. The fact that the band released this as a statement piece, a short retort to what they saw occurring on their (and our) doorstep, is perhaps the most important and compelling part about “Species Deceases”.

I still very much remember when this EP was first released. It was a couple of days before we had our Year 10 graduation dance at high school at the end of 1985. The previous week we had been on a school camp to Bundanoon in the NSW southern highlands, and discussion at the time was of the impending arrival of a new Midnight Oil release. On the night of this dance, there was a band who kept promising that they would be playing lots of great songs that were popular at the time, a promise that was most definitely not kept. However, the one thing they did do was, during the break in their set, whoever was doing their PA put on the brand-new release from Midnight Oil, and it got the biggest reaction of the night from the congregation.
This came out at the exact same moment as my heavy metal revelation, which more or less began at the camp that I just mentioned that was a week before this EP was released. But the popularity and exposure that this EP received is still very bright in my memory. It was everywhere at the time, on the radio, on the music TV shows, and of course in the school yard when we returned to school in February. And it went to #1 on the Australian singles charts, and remained there for six weeks over the Xmas period. It was also the only time the band had a number one single, which in retrospect seems incredible.
I did not get this EP on its release. As I said, this was literally when Iron Maiden was dropped into my lap, and that obsession took over everything for a long time afterwards. I heard the songs on the radio but didn’t feel the need to acquire it. That would come eventually, as I bought up the entire Midnight Oil discography. And listening to it again this week has been fun. It brings back a lot of memories of that time, of when I was on the cusp of moving into the senior years of high school. And it was a great reminder of songs that don’t always get recognised now in the Midnight Oil catalogue. Everyone knows “Hercules”, but the other three are somewhat forgotten. This week has been a good reminder for me of their excellence as well. Something that always makes these podcast episodes worthwhile in more ways than one.

1327. Yngwie Malmsteen / War to End All Wars. 2000. 4/5

The path that Yngwie Malmsteen had taken through the 1990’s decade could have been seen to be a trepidation one, given the amazing change the face of music went through during that time. This will be the sixth album of his that I have done an episode on in the last 12 months of this podcast, which stretch from the start of his solo career to the start of the next century. Some would say that in that time period, his albums have remained almost significantly unchanged, that each showcases the talent that he has on his guitar, but that in general you could play a song from one album and then a song from another, and it would be difficult to perceive any great difference in the output. That is not an unfair assumption, because in most ways Yngwie stuck to what he knew and obviously what he enjoyed, the ability to showcase his guitaring talent in a way that was flashily pertinent to himself, and in some way attempt to create a song around that which would appeal in some way to his fan base.
In 1998 he did something that he had been building up to over a number of years with his album “Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra”, The album was Malmsteen's first attempt at a classical concerto suite featuring electric guitar solos. All of the music was composed by Malmsteen, though his compositions were scored by his friend and fellow musician David Rosenthal and performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. It was perhaps the first moment where Yngwie began to do things that he wanted to perform rather than to try and make a commercial breakthrough. This has been followed by the album “Alchemy”, which saw a return to material that was not written and performed for that same process.
Into the year 2000, and with the sting of the previous decade being retracted, and a definite feel of nostalgia creeping into music being written by bands that harked back to their roots of the 1980’s, Yngwie probably found himself back in his element – the opportunity to create an album that utilised all of his most famous tricks, with an air of expectation that that sound may once again become the status quo. Thus was the atmosphere that Yngwie brought to the world his new album and first of the new century, titled “War to End All Wars”.

The album begins with a fire and fury that hasn’t been heard for some time on an Yngwie Malmsteen album. And it is something that repeats itself through most of the album. “Prophet of Doom” opens the doorway and lets the demons fly out, anticipating a style that many have often looked for from Yngwie Malmsteen and his band but have rarely sighted. John Macaluso on drums comes to the fore immediately, not doubt given strict instructions as to how the drums were to sound here for this album, and complying implicitly. Mats Olausson on keyboards is offered the same advice, to duel with Yngwie when asked, and beyond that provide the support that the song requires, which he does as he has done on several other Yngwie albums with aplomb.
The second track “Crucify” is where you get a real feel for Yngwie on the other instruments, and how powerful he is in utilising them. The bass line on this track is brutal, Yngwie plays it extremely hard on this song, and it has an unusual guttural sound about it, flying along at the same speed as his guitar over the top. The sitar as well, making an appearance through different moments of the song gives it that eastern attraction that Yngwie does on occasions. “Crucify” goes for almost seven minutes, and along with this often brutal but at times scintillatingly brilliant song, Boals and his vocals perform acoustic acrobatics, reaching highs and beyond that he has hinted at before, but perhaps has never performed to the levels he does on this track. It is an amazing song, one that sets a new bar for the best songs of Yngwie Malmsteen’s career. “Bad Reputation” musically channels the most recent albums from the band, but with a renewed emphasis on the vocals, where Boals again excels, bring his amazing range into the track. In the verse and bridge of the songs he does sound like he is moving along the same vocal lines as from his best known work with the band in “Trilogy”, but when he goes out on his own to really hit the notes above that wavy line he sounds magnificent. And again, this is fairly noticeable all the way through the album. When he sings the same tone along the riff, with a multilayered vocal to make sound as though many are there rather than one, it does have similarities to other work. But when he just goes back and sings unabated, he and this album jump out of the ground and out of the speakers at you. It is when it is at its most brilliant.
“Catch 22” is mostly about Yngwie’s superb guitaring. And yes, that is obviously every song here, because that is what every Yngwie Malmsteen album is about. But his rhythm riff on this track is somewhat astounding. It is something to hear, to try and discern how he can play it. That bass guitar again as well, especially in playoff underneath his guitar solo in the middle of the track, is outstanding. The low guttural sound again, but moving in and away from what the guitar is doing, in an almost Geezer Butler way. It is superb, and Mark Boals sings the hell out of this song too. “Masquerade” is the most commercial sounding track on the album, but not in the way that sounds. Unlike the way Yngwie once chased the commercial route, this just has a brighter tone about it, and more rock structure, but with the anticipated Yngwie guitar blow outs. It starts with verse/chorus/verse, nice riff and great vocal, and then Yngwie goes full Yngwie and lets fly with his guitar solo piece that blows that out of the water, and brinsg this back to pure Malmsteen magic. On this song you can hear where Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica and Rhapsody and other bands of that ilk in the European power metal scene got their ideas, because it is all contain on this song. It's another beauty. The instrumental “Molto Arpeggiosa” follows, and follows the note by note playbook that so many of his instrumentals follow.
“Miracle of Life” is the power ballad of the album, the type that Yngwie does on every album, the one that I think he think will draw people to the album and have them connect with everything else he has played on the album. It isn’t necessarily true of course. Often they are the songs that you skip to get to the next great faster heavier song. Over his career he has produced some good versions of these types of tracks. This one is listenable without being terrible, but it does act as a momentum killer. Some of course may believe this album needed a circuit break, which this could be classified as. Back to the main event though with “The Wizard”, that fast paced double kick rhythm with Yngwie’s fingers flying up and down the fretboard and Boals flying over the top. Yngwie’s solo on this track is absolutely scintillating, careering along at the speed that has been set by the drums and bass. It stretches far beyond the vocals coming back into the track, and is an exceptional five minutes plus of Yngwie Malmsteen magic. It is one of the best tracks on the album.
“Preludium” is as the title suggests, a prelude to the next rack. It gives Yngwie the opportunity again to showcase his love of the neo-classical range of his music, something that dates back to his first ever solo album where he showcased it in spades. This acts as a nice callback to those times, and also as a bridge to those times and to the present day. It segues straight into “Wild One”, which feels like a more modern update on a song from the “Trilogy” album. Indeed, this would fit very well into that period with the structure and style of the song and vocals very reminiscent of that age. “Tarot” does the same thing, taking that middle distant mid-tempo that Yngwie enjoyed while playing his flying gutar licks and solos over the top to create a dual speed symphony is performed to perfection here. “InstruMental Institution" is the third Yngwie instrumental, with almost all apart from the drums played by him. It allows him to once again express himself in that way he does so well, and reintroduce the playoff between guitar and synth that for the most part is absent from this album, but is still a joy to hear whenever he decides to bring it back to the party. The album then concludes with the title track, “War to End All Wars", another of the fastest paced tracks on the album, highlighting again just how this album was constructed and played, how the music was written and composed, and the major counterpoint to the albums that have come before it. In many places this could almost be classified as speed metal such is its careering off the rails style - and I am here for every single part of it.

As I have made mention of on other episodes that have been discussing albums by Yngwie Malmsteen, I had a period of about a decade where I had more or less written off Yngwie as someone I needed to keep up with. I loved and love his first albums, but “Eclipse” and “Fire and Ice” which had come in the early part of the 1990’s decade had turned me off, and with that changing decade (not only in music but in major parts of my own life) I was happy to seek out other avenues and bands to explore. And, as I also explained on the recent episode to discuss his 1995 album “Magnum Opus”, it wasn’t until “Unleash the Fury” attracted me once again in the middle 2000’s that I rediscovered a desire to go back and listen to all of the albums I had missed. And there were a few of them!
This one was an interesting one from the outset. If there was a fury that needed to be let out and engaged, I think this was the album that had it. Some of Yngwie’s guitaring on this album, as I have already discussed, is outrageously scintillating. He goes all out, bringing fire to his music, but also trying to bring back the 1980’s sound that other bands were also dabbling in, and in his case, I think trying to reconnect with a fan base that may have drifted away. So many of the aspects of this album spoke quite loudly to me because I was one of those fans that I feel this album was designed to try and speak to and draw back into the fold. For me of course, it was 5-6 years later than when the album was released, which was probably unfortunate for both Yngwie AND me.
Does this album offer anything new? Not really. As I’ve said, to me it sounds like an album that is trying to bring back the fan base. That means if you enjoy the first few albums that Yngwie released in the 1980’s, you will probably find something here that you will enjoy. If you enjoyed his 1990 album, there is also material here that you will enjoy. If you do not like Yngwie and his flamboyant guitaring antics, then you will not find anything here that will change your mind. He is a creature of habit, and promoting Yngwie and his guitaring is basically number one on his to do list.
Listening to this album again this week I have been surprised just how much it does remind me of the “Trilogy” album, which of course Mark Boals also sang on. That connection to the past is far stronger than I remembered when I first heard the album. And perhaps it is just that I am older now, and those kinds of connections are becoming more important to me, or perhaps just more noticeable. It is definitely a heavier album than those earlier albums. Yngwie has ramped up his material here to fit in with the heavier side of his music without losing his vital and quintessential characteristics that his guitaring style requires in order to make it his album. Having the experience and excellence of Boals as lead vocalist is a definite plus as well. For me, it is a shame that this was his final album with Yngwie, though given Yngwie’s notoriously difficult personality and how many artists have struggled to get along with his ego, perhaps the two album stretch was about what you would expect.
If you want to hear a heavier, uptempo style of Yngwie’s music that he produced in the 1980’s then this is still an excellent listen, and to fans I can’t recommend it enough. To those who aren’t, I’m sure you have already heard enough.