Diesel And Dust＜完全生産限定盤＞

オーストラリアを代表するロックバンド ミッドナイト・オイル
1987年発売、バンド史上最大のヒット・アルバム『Diesel And Dust』(アナログ盤)

Midnight Oil(ミッドナイト・オイル)は1972年、シドニーで結成。1978年のアルバム『Midnight Oil』でデビューし、当初はサーフパンク色が強かったものの、フロント・マンのピーター・ギャレットの人種問題や環境問題を基にした社会的なメッセージを込めた歌詞と骨太のロック・サウンドにより、地元オーストラリアはもとより、世界各地で絶大な支持を得て一時代を築いたオーストラリアを代表する国民的ロック・バンド。

本作は、1987年の6枚目のバンド史上最大のヒット・アルバム『Diesel&Dust』(ディーゼル・アンド・ダスト)。収録曲の先住民から奪った土地の返還を訴える「Beds Are Burning」が全世界で大ヒット。アルバムはオーストラリアでは6週連続NO.1獲得、全米でも最高位21位を記録した。人種問題、環境問題などを基にした社会的メッセージの溢れる歌詞に、巨漢でスキンヘッド、どこか超人的なピーター・ギャレットの独特なヴォーカルとエネルギッシュなロックで表現された傑作。

Rolling Stone (11/89) - 4 Stars - Excellent - Ranked # 13 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The Eighties" survey. CMJ (1/6/03, p.15) - Included in CMJ's list of "Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time" CMJ (1/5/04, p.22) - Ranked #1 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1988" Paste (magazine) (p.81) - "[With] songs that reveal thoughtful intricacies on repeated listens." Record Collector (magazine) (p.100) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[A] fiercely political album....Its sales sky-rocketed due to the power and thrust of the anthemic melodies."

Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett has long been active in elective politics in Australia, and like any good politician, he knows that sometimes the most important thing is to get your message out to the masses, even it means speaking with a bit less force than might be your custom. While the hard edges and challenging angles of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and Red Sails in the Sunset made Midnight Oil bona fide superstars in Australia, they were little more than a rumor in most of the rest of the world, and for their sixth album, Diesel and Dust, Midnight Oil made some changes in their approach. On Diesel and Dust, there's less in the way of bruising hard rock like "Best of Both Worlds," nothing as eccentric as "Outside World," and very little as esoterically regional as "Jimmy Sharman's Boxers," while the production favors the tuneful side of the band's songwriting (which, truth to tell, was always there) and buffs away some of the group's harsher edges. As a result, Diesel and Dust isn't an album for hardcore Oils fans, but as a bid for a larger audience, it was both shrewd and well executed -- it was the group's first real worldwide success, going platinum in America and spawning a massive hit single, "Beds Are Burning." While the album lacks the kick-in-the-head impact of their earlier work, Diesel and Dust also makes clear that the bandmembers could apply their intelligence and passion to less aggressive material and still come up with forceful, compelling music, as on the haunting "The Dead Heart" and the poppy but emphatic "Dreamworld." And as always, there was no compromise in the band's forceful political stance -- most of the album's songs deal openly with the issues of Aboriginal rights (hardly an issue pertinent only to Australians), and one of Midnight Oil's greatest victories may well be writing a song explicitly demanding reparations for indigenous peoples, and seeing it top the charts around the world. And the closer, "Sometimes," may be the finest and most moving anthem the band ever wrote ("Sometimes you're beaten to the core/Sometimes you're taken to the wall/But you don't give in"). Diesel and Dust is that rarity, a bid for the larger audience that's also an artistic success and a triumph for leftist politics -- even the Clash never managed that hat trick this well. ~ Mark Deming