[Björn Blomquist]

Hello

> Red Sails - bloody weird album and not one of my favourites, but HOW
> good is
> Jimmy Sharman's, and is there a better double shot in any of the oils
> albums
> than Bells and horns / Shipyards...?

"Weird" is the right word to describe this album indeed! Not one of my favourite Oils either, although I find it enjoyable enough to put it on now and then. When I first heard it I couldn't believe what crap it was!
Actually I haven't liked any Oil album at the first listening, not even 'Diesel and Dust'. 'Red Sails' is the one I really hated in the beginning, even more so than '10-1' which I also disliked. While 10-1 has grown to be one of their masterpieces, I can't say the same about 'Red Sails. 
The only "normal" songs on the album are the ones I like the best: "Sleep", "Minutes to midnight", "Kosciusko" and "Harrisburg". Sure, the latter also has a very unusual sound (for the Oils) but I like synthesizers. "Bells and horns" is nothing but weird, at least you get a smile out of it. "Bakerman" can also be considered a joke, but I've always found it a cool little piece - maybe because I'm a clarinet player... :-)

> As for Breathe, quite opposite to most other people on the list, it is
> quite
> clearly one of my favourites.  Nothing less than a beautiful album
> (aside from
> Underwater)...

I think "Underwater" is the only really great track on 'Breathe'! Nothing less than a boring album (aside from Underwater)...
I'm surprised that so many people now seem to love this album. What were the reactions when it was new? For some reason, this album doesn't really exist in my mind. It's a Midnight Oil record that just is there somewhere, hidden in the cd rack... I don't know but to me it sounds like something they recorded "just for fun", like demos, or a rehearsal session for songs they never completed, or something like that. It's not a well-produced piece of work, with a sound quality that sucks.
It's not *that* bad as I first thought, and I must say that today I maybe like it more than 'Redneck Wonderland'. At least I do so sometimes...
 
> Cheers all - can't wait for the 28th...

Just as we were ready for the 11th... That's typical, isn't it? Maybe it will be in April after all...

/Bjorn - hoping for 'Capricornia' being the best Midnight Oil album since 'Earth & Sun & Moon'!