music review:

Midnight Oil ::: "Redneck Wonderland "

rock - grunge - techno - industrial

Well what can I say? I'd love to write a lot about this, and every Oil album... I'm a Midnight Oil nut...have been since childhood, though during my trendy gothic teenage years it was subdued, but in the last 2 years they've become my staple diet. I especially love their early 80s stuff such as "10 to 1" and surrounding albums on which they were doing the industrial-electro-angst-rock-with-meaningful-content thing aeons before anyone else.

(And if you think Midnight Oil are recently "jumping on the bandwagon" of electronic music then listen to the1982 "10 to 1" album - who did it first!?!) And what's more they have content, they're REAL and proud to be Australian! No pretentious posing dressed in silly garb or makeup (and for those offended by that comment, that was me for years and years!).

Anyway, on to the music... I had assumed I was going to be disappointed by this album, as the stuff they've released in the 1990s doesn't grab me like their earlier material. Well, I finally got a copy and after several listens, I can't stop listening to it. It's got it all (almost!): jungle & trip-hop beats, distorted vocals, Beatle-esque sing-along melodies, lyrical substance, angst and aggression, straight out aggro-rock, funky-grunge and lots more.

If you're a fan of theirs, but like myself prefer their 80s power, then give this a listen. I'm even going to hunt down their previous 2 albums now to complete the set. Well worth it.... And thank-you very much to Peter Garrett for sending the "Cemetery in My Mind" EP (I couldn't help but brag about that!) which is also highly recommended. At first I didn't appreciate the title track due to its catchy hooks, but they've now sunk themself deep into my musical subconscious. The track "Heaven & Earth" is great too (a shame it's only available here - to my knowledge) and so is the dreamy harmonica & noise instrumental piece "Devilfish Shuffle" which reminds me a bit of their old classic "Scream in Blue".

At any good record store.