In a single clear drum kick we launch into Don't Wanna Be the One, and just like that The Oils are right there in front of you, a fully formed musical beast, all limbs firing. This song has been my fave Midnight Oil tune for something like the last 15 years, and it's only just in the last few weeks that its slipped a spot or two. I love everything about this song, the driving beat, the perfect guitars, the lyrics speaking to me as if I was talking to myself, just wow. Even the organ kicks, and the harmonies are beaut too. The Oils do bloody good harmonies actually. 5 stars easy. And you know what? I don't want to be the fucking one, either.
Track 2 is Brave Faces and this brings it all back a bit, slowing it down a little. "There all talking shit to me" alright, we've all been there, Pete. This song plays about a bit with the time changes and a bit of falsetto even from Mr Garrett, unusual, ok stuff, nothing for a mixtape though. 2.5.
"You're watching people fighting, you're watching people losing...on Armistice Day". The haunting single piano note start, the short guitar solo and regular drum thump through the opening lines of Armistice Day are almost in my DNA. I get such a sense of memory and time and place when I listen to this these days. This was one of earliest tunes that I discovered, me myself, not shown by my brother, or heard in the car with my folks. It wasn't like anything that I'd been told to listen to before, it was a bit quirky and the singer didn't sound perfect and the lyrics seemed to really mean something to the guy. Not that I knew what the lyrics were necessarily about at that time. But yeah, this song is gonna get a slightly inflated score than it might if based purely on musicality alone as it means a lot to me. This was one of the biggies, one of the ones that started me on my musical journey, that made me realise how important music was to me, how much joy I got from it, and how worthwhile it was to go and find it, snuffle it out, listen... 5 stars.
Someone Else is almost poppy with its chorus and changes. I have to remember that this album was recorded in 1981, amidst some real musical crimes that abounded at that time. When I remember that I can appreciate that Midnight Oil really didn't release much that I'd outright say was just crap. They had a knack for keeping it interesting even when they maybe weren't perhaps super sure of what they wanted. 2.5 stars.
I really like the start-up to Basement Flat with Garrett singing the first few lines sounding as if he was singing a demo into a tape deck before the production kicks in. I love the refrain on this one too ("What can I do, there must be some solution"), you can see that they were trying some different things from a production stand point and to me this one works. 3.5.
Written in the Heart is another one that works for me. Pretty typical Midnight Oil tune here, I can get lost in the guitar lines. Having done far more than my share of country driving along the back roads and highways of remote Australia, I've always thought that there was no better band to have on when you're driving out there alone, the sun on the way down and the hot air blowing against your face. This sort of bread-and-butter Oils tune is what I'm talking about there. 3.5
Burnie is track 7 and is probably the weakest on the album for me. Not terrible but not much that grabs me in this one. Gotta hand it to them again though, its certainly not boring or bland, they really were trying out some different sounds on this album. 2.
Quinella Holiday is about gambling addiction and that's a subject pretty close to my heart. I actually think this is a huge issue in Australia, and the way the online/phone bet companies are allowed to advertise they are doing a magnificent job of making sure that all our kids are cashed-up betting machines when they get to 18. Phone betting! - how cool is that! Can't just watch the footy, gotta have a punt too! And everyone's a winner, right? I mean, these guys all do cash back for losing bets, don't they?? Fuck off. 3.
Loves On Sale is almost an interlude, running straight on from Quinella Holiday, mainly Peter Garrett's vocal here in the start up, which may be a little bit too much focus on it to be honest. Halfway through almost a jig kicks in! What's all this about then?? Curious indeed. 2.
If Ned Kelly Was King has a cool chorus and and this great set of lines:
"Three black boys sit in the corner
White woman waiting to talk
Lots of intention but no understanding"
Having lived and worked remote for so long I can say that this is a great example of lyrics nailing a complex situation with just a few words. Intentions were always good, understanding is still not there. I really like how they come back to Quinella Holiday at the end too. 3.
Lucky Country is the final song here and is a goodie too. I love the spoken verse in the middle and have to point out the use of the word "wank", which I guess would be one of the earlier uses in recording. This song has a great build and is all about us, Aussies working hard, mining jobs abound, but always looking for a shorter day. Great way to finish a pretty damn fine album. 4.
This third album proved a bit of a mixed bag for the Oils. Produced by Glyn Johns in England the band by all accounts weren't 100% totally thrilled with the outcome. Reading some critics comments the gradual move from straight rock to bring in more pop sensibilities and some musical experiments and production choices wasn't always successful. I kinda agree I guess, but on the other hand at their best it's precisely that about Midnight Oil that I adore - real rock mixed with interesting and accessible hooks, all wrapped up in great, considered production.
Place Without a Postcard has some real highs for me and is the first of what I would say is as good a run of 5 albums as almost anyone has put out. Overall score is a 3.3.
You should see what they do next! Oh boy!
