Midnight Oil
January 22nd 2009 22:00
King of the Mountain
While the Oils cracked the U.S. top ten with Beds are Burning, they failed to make the kind of impact they’d made at home in Australia – which is understandable, because you would struggle to find a more Australian-based band, especially in terms of lyrics.
Whether you love or hate Peter Garrett (Oils frontman ,who went on to become the Minister for the Environment in Australia, for those who don’t live here) you can’t deny that he has always worn his heart on his sleeve and written some of the most thought provoking words ever put to song, which is one of the greatest things about the Oils – all their songs have meaning.
I don’t care that he has made a few errors; I still thinks it’s pretty cool that a rockstar is knocking it out in high parliament.
Besides, you can’t say the guy doesn’t work hard for what he believes in.
Whatever political side you value, you can’t deny the power of that.
Anyway...the music is kick ass too.
The band has such a rich, varied and temperamental sound that it is hard to classify at times.
Spurred on by Rob Hirst’s intense and imaginative rhythms, percussion and textures overflow from every one of their songs. Garrett’s wild dancing, vocals and harmonica somehow slide right into the anarchic mess to gel the great cohesive together.
It reminds me of those dry hot days in the 80s and the Australiana boom that made us all proud to be here.
I’ll look at their best songs on next week’s Top Ten...
“Yellow belly black snake, sleeping on a red rock, waiting for the stranger to go.”
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Comment by Nomad
Awesome Food
I'm not sure if thats what he's doing, but I'd like to think so..
Comment by Jarrah
Back to the Eighties
You gotta 'play by their rules' to get anything done anyway.
Comment by ejstarr
I even had a snooze for about two songs (hey I was only 11, alright!) and my ears rang for about a week after.
It was a great gig though - Garrett was in his prime!