i think over produced is a bit of a furphy ... I think people like to say it to sound cool or informed, often times. When people on one hand like to rattle on about an artists, "artistic integrity" on one hand, and then complain about an album that has been produced a certain way on the other, i find it contradictory. Surely an artists vision for a set of songs includes the soundscapes involved. to me it is merely a case of do you like the sound they were going for or not. to me, some stuff that is raw and barely produced can sound fantastic in its context, but by the same measure some stuff that has been produced to sound polished and create a soundscape can sound fantastic in its context. for example if "dark side of the moon" was just a bass, drums, keys, guitar and vocals recorded live in the studio with no tape effects, reverb, delay or anything else, it would not be the album that it is. it may still be ok, but i don't feel that it would be considered a masterpiece. and by the same measure if "highway 61 revisited" had all the edges polished off and was awash with the same kind of effects that "dark side" was, it would just sound weird. i don't really get into the whole it's overproduced or underproduced thing, i either like something or i don't. whatever the artist has put out, one must assume that for the most part it sounds the way they wanted it to
i never had that experience in the studio, it was normally just me and the engineer, but for me i could live in a recording studio lol ... it's a magic place where you can just create your heart on a piece of tape or a drive and listen to it in the best circumstances there are for it.
I've had a few of those, where I'm just an observer, but many times recording or mixing... It's a strange world but I love it
The closest I have ever come to that is when I was in a local park and chanced upon the scene of a video shooting for a song by the Someloves.
that would be cool too. the studio is just such another world, it would be hard to describe to anyone who hasn't spent a decent amount of time in one.
i'm so desensitised to swear/cuss words, i'm not even sure what word we're talking about lol i would think that he meant the suits.
I mean whoever it was that had the song removed from the U.S. release. So no, not the listeners. My point still stands though. The word goes past so quickly that you have to listen hard to catch it - nevertheless apparently the listeners needed to be protected from such offence. Yet apparently the executives of record companies have no problem releasing songs where every second word is an expletive. It just seems kind of inconsistent.
i know what you mean, but the Oils were on a major weren't they? A lot of the hip hop stuff is on indie labels ... i think
There was a fair amount of rap and hip hop that had far worse language. I suspect it was another reason entirely but it could have been removed because the Parental Advisory Labels that were put on albums at the time for bad language, etc. with Columbia afraid that it might impact sales but that’s sheer speculation on my part.
to a degree the record companies feel they know their markets, and make decisions based on that. i guess in some ways that can effect people's perception of the market on one hand, and the band on the other.
As with Diesel & Dust, when I revisited this album a couple of years ago for the first time in more than 20 years, Blue Sky Mining was better than I remembered in some ways. Individually, I think that most of the songs are pretty good. I love Blue Sky Mine, Stars of Warburton, River Runs Red and Antarctica. But collectively, this group of songs is where Midnight Oil begins to sound slightly generic to me, they begin to do less of the unique things that only Midnight Oil could do. One of the things I loved about the Oils previous albums were the abrupt left turns songs could take, the odd chord changes and weird melodies that would throw me for a loop. Songs that were both off kilter and amazingly catchy. On Blue Sky Mining the jangly guitars and relatively standard tunes stop this album from hitting the heights the band had hit previously. Still, I don't feel that it's a bad record by any means, just not as unique as they had previously been. The tour for this album was my first time to see the band live. Oh my gawd! I was not prepared for how great a live band they were (and are). Still one of the best shows I've ever seen all these years later. Here's an interesting interview with guitarist/songwriter Jim Mogine, followed by an interview with producer Warne Livesey. Both interviews are specifically about the recording of Blue Sky Mining. http://blurtonline.com/feature/the-story-behind-the-album-blue-sky-mining-by-midnight-oil/
yea i was listening again yesterday and the songs are good, but on 10-1 there were (for want of a better word) exciting/surprising guitar sounds etc and this album takes no chances musically
Blue Sky Mine This is a great song and an interesting lyric that looks at the attitude of the average worker. "well what I'm doing may not be the best thing in the world, but I have to feed my family". The song is essentially about the mining of asbestos and the worst form of asbestos was blue asbestos. After years of using this product for brake pads and fencing sheets etc it was discovered that the asbestos was highly toxic causing the respiratory disease mesothelioma, which sadly is fatal. I remember as a child playing in asbestos dust like is was snow, there isn't much in the way of snow in Oz. A very well written song. Lyrics Hey, hey-hey hey There'll be food on the table tonight Hey, hey, hey hey There'll be pay in your pocket tonight My gut is wrenched out it is crunched up and broken A life that is led is no more than a token Who'll strike the flint upon the stone and tell me why If I yell out at night there's a reply of bruised silence The screen is no comfort I can't speak my sentence They blew the lights at heaven's gate and I don't know why But if I work all day at the blue sky mine (There'll be food on the table tonight) Still I walk up and down on the blue sky mine (There'll be pay in your pocket tonight) The candy store paupers lie to the share holders They're crossing their fingers they pay the truth makers The balance sheet is breaking up the sky So I'm caught at the junction still waiting for medicine The sweat of my brow keeps on feeding the engine Hope the crumbs in my pocket can keep me for another night And if the blue sky mining company won't come to my rescue If the sugar refining company won't save me Who's gonna save me? But if I work all day... And some have sailed from a distant shore And the company takes what the company wants And nothing's as precious, as a hole in the ground Who's gonna save me? I pray that sense and reason brings us in Who's gonna save me? We've got nothing to fear In the end the rain comes down Washes clean, the streets of a blue sky town
Stars Of Warburton Out in the Austalian outback the stars in the night sky are an amazing thing, as there are no city lights interfering with there shine, they aren't competing for space. Many American friends that have been in the outback areas are quite amazed, and many folks say it's the best place in the world to see the stars. I have studied the lyrics enough to give any further insight as to what this one is about, but that is the first thing about the song that comes to my mind. This is a good song, but by this stage all the musical edges of Midnight Oil were smoothed over. Lyrics I, I was, I was shaken down in a toy town He, He's out there You know it's Kennedy's shadow from White Cross to Michigan ATM's, are in the air, oh yeah machines they are spinning out everywhere The speaker is speaking Can you hear the sound The listener is listening as he hits the ground The medium or the message but there's no one around I couldn't believe I couldn't believe the stars of Warburton were waiting for me We were dancing, we were dancing on the plain We're looking through the window didn't see any buffalo there We got our pipe dreams, they went up in smoke dreams Burn it clean in the climate control, of your hypermark malls Don't want to talk about Elvis Presley Don't want to see his white shoes walking around And around and around over here The press baron's acting up the mainframes are down Newspapers crawling around on the ground The medium or the message still there's no one around I couldn't believe I couldn't believe the stars of Warburton were waiting for me Over the hills and mountains we go, so far, so far away For the ring of the axe on the ironbark, for the smell of the wallaby stew From the golden reefs to the sandstone cliffs Came the sheep of the Mallee plain The wind blew the soil to the Orient, we'll be shouting to the skies again I couldn't believe I couldn't believe the stars of Warburton were waiting for me I couldn't believe I couldn't believe the stars of Warburton were living in me Raining down on me, were washing down on me
So the next obvious question is...when do you start the INXS thread? Because I would be all over that.
I would like to. I can probably only cover Shabooh Shoobah to Kick though. I know a couple of earlier songs and a couple of later songs, but essentially those four albums are my only real connection with the band
I remember listening to Blue Sky Mine, the song, on repeat for at least an hour. I loved that song. Will have to revisit this week! My impression is the same as many. Great album in spots but doesn't quite reach the heights of their previous work.
There is better than INXS, though less well known. At some stage I'll post some info on various bands i think people should know, but I doubt I'll be doing a full album by album review, as I don't tend to buy everything an act puts out. Maybe a potted history and a few select clips.
