MIDNIGHT OIL - midnight oil (1978)

country:
australia
Genre:
Rock , New Wave
Style:
Alternative Rock

members:
Peter Garrett (vocals), James Moginie (guitar,keyboards), Martin Rotsey (guitar), Andrew James (bass) & Robert Hirst (drums,vocals)

Produced by Keith Walker, Marilyn Productions and Midnight OilRecorded and mixed at Albert's Studio, SydneyEngineered by Keith Walker

Tracklisting:

1 Powderworks
2 Head Over Heels
3 Dust
4 Used And Abused
5 Surfing With A Spoon
6 Run By Night
7 Nothing Lost - Nothing Gained

link to download:
http://rapidshare.de/files/19852737/midnight_oil.rar.html

In 1978 the Oils released their self-titled debut album (sometimes called the 'Blue Meanie', a reference to the dark blue cover). The album was recorded in 10 days in post gig recording sessions. The album went gold in Australia and spawned the single Run By Night, which was played on radio 2JJ, the start of a long association between the band and the radio station.

BIOGRAPHY part 1

Midnight Oil is an Australian rock band known for their driving hard rock sound, intense live performances and their overt left-wing political activism.
"Burning the midnight oil" means working late into the night, by means of an oil lamp.

The Oils, as they are known to their fans, began as a progressive rock band called Farm in the early 1970s, then under the Midnight Oil name became an aggressive, hard-rock group associated with the surfer community near Sydney. One of their early fan bases was at the Sydney northern beaches pub The Royal Antler at Narrabeen.
Although consistently championed by Sydney alternative rock station Double Jay and its FM band successor Triple J, Midnight Oil, like many independent bands of the period, were almost totally ignored by Australia's mainstream commercial radio stations.
The Oils developed a strong "street cred" and a reputation for making no compromises with the music industry. In support of this, it was often stated that they were one of the few major Australian bands of the era never to have appeared on the all-powerful ABC TV pop show Countdown. While this was strictly true, the fact is that they had indeed been scheduled to appear in the early Eighties, but they were "bumped" from the show. According to producer Michael Shrimpton, on the day of the taping, the band had arrived late for rehearsal but (due to the show's very tight schedule and budget) there was a strict policy that latecomers were not allowed to appear, so they were told they could not perform that day. In retaliation, the group declared that they would never appear on the show, a promise they faithfully kept.
Manager Gary Morris also developed a fearsome reputation as one of the toughest managers in the business and he became equally notorious for banning any critics or journalists (who were usually given free admission to concerts) if they wrote unfavourable reviews. One famous case in the mid-80s involved writer and critic Bruce Elder, who in a newspaper review described the band's music as "narrow and xenophobic"; in retaliation, Morris banned him from Oils shows permanently.
Nevertheless, they built up an intensely dedicated fan base through constant touring and their blistering live performances, featuring the scorching twin-guitar attack of Moginie and Rotsey, the powerhouse drumming and soaring vocals of drummer Rob Hirst and the manic, whirling-dervish presence of their towering, shaven-headed lead singer Peter Garrett, who quickly earned a reputation as one of the most charismatic and outspoken musicians on the Australian music scene.
Their first two albums, 'Midnight Oil' and 'Head Injuries' are now regarded as classics of Australian indie rock, mixing solid guitar rock with progressive flourishes; both were released independently through the M7 label (a subsidiary of the Seven TV Network) and both were produced by Triple J live concert sound producer Keith Walker.

"This is the debut album from Australia's finest export and one of the world's greatest and long lasting groups. The CD is definately good, and there are many hints towards the total greatness they would achieve on later albums. To me, "Surfing With a Spoon" is one of the best examples of this. It has a very melodic opening which eventually gives way to a blistering guitar-fest, and then has this funky synth-laden bridge before it returns to another angst-ridden guitar explosion. "Powderworks" is a prime example of youthful "turn it up and play it hard" songwriting (but that doesn't mean its not cool!) Come to think of it, every song on this album is good, there's no stand out *classic* songs per se, but its still a classic album in that the songs are full of energy, drive, and vigor and they were a taste of the greater things to come (for example "Head Injuries" their next album is so much better than this album.)
A fun album worth having for fans, not the place to start listening to the Oils though, and especially if all you've heard is the singles "Beds Are Burning," "Forgotten Years," and "Truganini."

ok,this was the first part of Midnight Oil series,next time will come their second album!!!