Midnight Oil- relevant anymore?

Sep 24, 2008
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Agree with people who say that it was a collective and not just Garrett. Jim Moginie is unbelievably underated as a songwriter and producer as well as performing as a folk and surf guitarist too.

10987654321 is still relevent today as it ever was but everything after the quite brilliant 'Species Dececies' or at a stretch 'Diesel and Dust' is essential music for any Australian music fan. I agree also that the end begun with Bones joining the group.

That live concert of theirs that they did on some island in Sydney for Double J in the mid 80s is a band at their absolute peak. The live version of Only the Strong is still a prime example of a live track being better than the original.
 

IAMDASH

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I love the Goat Island Gig but I reckon the Live at The Capital Theatre DVD tops it. It's epic.

Garrett seriously looks like he is going to melt during Powderworks. Agree that so many Oils tunes are better live.

Powderworks, Stand in Line, Only The Strong, Read About It, No Reaction, Written in the Heart, Hercules, Best of Both Worlds, Back on the Borderline...could go on for ages here.

I think they became more a studio band after D&D as their later material didn't cut it as well live (although they were still as good as ever playing their old stuff). If I had to compile a live Oils set list, I reckon Sometimes would be the only post Species Deceases track that would get a run.
 

ChappyUK

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As someone who is on the conservative side of politics I often have to overlook the politics of the band/singer and take the music on face value.

Still love the Oils and often put on some of their old stuff but I stopped going to live gigs around Blue Sky Mining when the songs became more and more like hymns that were sung between Garrett sermons.
 

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Props Spandex.

Lucky Country is one of the best Aussie rock songs ever. Shame the message has just changed. Garrett has conformed but conformed to be heard.
 

IAMDASH

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Props Spandex.

Lucky Country is one of the best Aussie rock songs ever. Shame the message has just changed. Garrett has conformed but conformed to be heard.

Great call. Get's no airplay on commercial radio, don't think it was ever released as a single.

Place Without a Postcard is such a friggin' great record. It sounds like the band is actully playing live in your garage. Raw and rough and awesome
 
Great call. Get's no airplay on commercial radio, don't think it was ever released as a single.

Place Without a Postcard is such a friggin' great record. It sounds like the band is actully playing live in your garage. Raw and rough and awesome

Has always been my favourite Oils record and I go "back to the well" often. Every track on the album is special. I love 10,9,8... but Place without a Postcard for me was the absolute high point for the Oils.

One of a few 10/10's in my collection.
 

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One thing that will always get the punters respect from the Oils besides the live shows is the feeling of Australiana. Its not a bad thing, but a thing to be proud of. Australia is a great place
 
Sep 24, 2008
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As someone who is on the conservative side of politics I often have to overlook the politics of the band/singer and take the music on face value.

Still love the Oils and often put on some of their old stuff but I stopped going to live gigs around Blue Sky Mining when the songs became more and more like hymns that were sung between Garrett sermons.

That was when they were trying to get the crowd to sign up for various causes at the concerts too, I know a lot of people that were put off by that and they're lefties.
 
Whenever I listen to the Oils,I remind myself of beaches,bush and blue skies.

No other band puts those images in my mind like the Oils.

My fav Aussie band and live were incredible.

It was my sis who got me into them.

that 1982 concert in Sydney was crazy.

I remember recording the Goat Island Show live simulcast on ABC fm(no triple j then ,I think it was double J and only in Sydney) and channel 2 on my folks betahidi video recorder.

That tape I clutched onto for a long time until the Oils DVD came out with the amazing 1982 concert from Sydney.


No Time For Games blew me away when I first heard it.

Love the Eps they made Bird Noises and Species Deceases.

Great song from Head Injuries.

[YOUTUBE]zHYF8RxrXvE[/YOUTUBE]

This is the most passionate I've seen Peter Garrett.

LET IT BURN !LOL

[YOUTUBE]_C0ZXvH1cww[/YOUTUBE]

This song is so emotional.

[YOUTUBE]kWBNfbEJo84[/YOUTUBE]
 
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not really.

One of the best rock bands to come out of Australia in the 80s and 90s but I doubt you'd find many teens/young adults/political analysts talking about them today.

And given that so many posts in here are referencing early 80s songs/clips, I doubt this thread is going to help them become more relevant any time soon.
 
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not really.

One of the best rock bands to come out of Australia in the 80s and 90s but I doubt you'd find many teens/young adults/political analysts talking about them today.

And given that so many posts in here are referencing early 80s songs/clips, I doubt this thread is going to help them become more relevant any time soon.

I think you'll find that not many teens/young adults give a toss about any music released before 2007 (roughly the last 5 years).

Case in point, at a function the other night, Boy&Bear's version of 'Fall at your Feet' comes on, and the 19yo nearby comments on how he loves this song. I casually remark that give me the Crowded House version anyday and he looks at me blankly.... 'Who are they?' was the response.

This to me is the norm. Don't even mention The Stones or REM etc.

Apart from AC/DC, Metallica, and songs like Teen Spirit and Sweet Child, hardly anything from the last 40 years of rock has gotten through to today's teenage rock fan. Unless they hear it on Guitar Hero. Even thats had it's 15 minutes. At least it exposed kids to some rock songs!

Bit unfair to single out the Oils as being irrelevant. Could list 100's of great bands that would fall into the same bracket. Doesn't mean that they have lost their value.

Just highlights that young music fans have no sense of music history.
 

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It's become de riguer to s**t can Midnight Oil, but they were a very good band with true rock and roll minimalist sensibilities. Definitely one of the better Australian live acts I have seen. The early stuff was classic Aussie pub rock.

"Dreamworld" stands alongside the very best in Australian music.
 
Like many, I'm a massive fan of pre-Species Deceases, but can still listen to the later stuff - there's a coulple of track of Breathe that are quite handy.

I'm also a fan of British band The Futureheads and over their last few albums they've developed a sound that sounds uncannily like early Oils. A couple of examples:

[YOUTUBE]SahyRJspW0o[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]B4SU8npTwHI[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]TaGkBB-I980[/YOUTUBE]

Could be they're still influencing someone.
 
Not relevant these days at all. They were a great band, their recorded output peaked with 10...1 and went steadily down from there. They were a devastating live band but as time went by the political aspects started to detract, I much prefer having political seeds planted to than having political causes rammed down my throat. The Celibate Rifles could straddle that line of raising political issues without preaching and remain far more relevant today.
 
I respect them but have never understood the attraction to their music. Has never done a thing for me whatsoever

Thats cos you have s**t taste in music brah.

Bieber ftw.
 

Puddy

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Triple M will tell you they are. Very average band. Got a bit of success overseas and Australians are obbessed with Australian bands who have success overseas, even average music groups like Midnight Oil
 
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