Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] A "dissenting" opinion?

Travis Zanoni TravisZ@actf.com.au
Tue, 12 Mar 2002 09:58:19 +1100


Honestly, would you like another 'Redneck Wonderland'?

Shit yeah!!  I think it is a brilliant album....and especially for it's
time.  It was one of the most adventurous albums of it's time, by any band
in the world, and a bit sad that it took a bunch of old guys like the Oils
to do it.
The sounds on RW always excite me...from the opening blistering guitars in
RW, the whammy guitars and thumping drums in concrete, the huge drum sound
in WSBH, the spooky piano in SCB, crisp acoustics in GGP, huge distorted
guitars and fucked up drums in BLOT, strings on SCB, the french horn on Drop
In The Ocean......I could keep going.  I guess it depends if you want to
hear a band repeat themselves or if you prefer to be taken on a musical
journey by your favourite band.....and with what the Oils have to offer...I
think I choose to follow.  I may not 'get' all of it...but I'll be all the
better for having heard it.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bjorn Blomquist [mailto:bjorn.blomquist@mbox301.swipnet.se]
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 1:47 AM
To: Rob O'Neill; powderworks@cs.colorado.edu
Subject: SV: [Powderworks] A "dissenting" opinion?



> Finally got ahold of the Capricornia album, and have listened many times
> over the last several days, both at home and at work.  I must say, I
> find it "disappointing", in that while I think it's strong lyrically I
> just don't find the musical side very different or "progressive"
> compared to last several albums.  I'm not sure what I'd like to hear
> different, but it feels to me like they've hit some kind of wall or
> reached some kind of limit, and only have a limited range of musical
> "styles" to use....

That was my initial reaction of the album as well, that it isn't as varied
as an Oil album usually is and that we have heard them doing these songs
before. In this case I actually think it's a good thing. Midnight Oil have
spoilt us throughout the years with every album sounding different from the
previous, and this time we get the REAL Midnight Oil. 'Capricornia' is a mix
between their, in my opinion, three greatest albums (DAD, BSM, E&S&M). It's
like they want to show us: here we are, sounding like ourselves, doing what
we are doing the best. Much credit to the producer Warne Livesey for helping
the boys to find their classic sound again. (Honestly, would you like
another 'Redneck Wonderland'?) This album also *sounds* very good. It may be
the best-sounding Oil album ever? I mean, compare it to 'Breathe'!!! The
producer surely is important for the sound.

I think however that more of the weakness lays in that some of the lyrics
are very sparse (read: repetitive), at least for coming from the pens of the
Oils.
We are already discussing "Too much sunshine", but this one isn't much
better:

"Have I been away too long
Have I been away too long
Have I been away too long
I just can't wait
Have I been away too long
Have I been away too long
Have I been away too long
I just can't wait"

or when a whole verse is just:

"When they march, when they march in the fields of green
When they march, when they march in the fields of green" (What is THAT song
about anyway?)

I think this is part of being "out of ideas", because we heard one-line
choruses and repetitions on 'Breathe' and 'RW' as well. On the other hand,
we also get songs like "Poets and slaves" which is far from being repetitive
with a simple structure. 

> Being a loyal Oil-er, I'll keep listening, and maybe it will grow on me
> more substantially...

Definitely it will. I did for me, and probably for most of us.

/Bjorn


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