freeform goodness

Current events had me thinking about one of my very favorite 80’s records, Midnight Oil’s 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. The sound on this record is really weird — it’s got a strange, maximally processed drum sound (all the more prominent because Rob Hirst is such a f’ing amazing drummer) and all sorts of odd, delicate synth flourishes, all with Peter Garrett alternately ranting and lamenting. The songs are incredible — what the anthems lack in subtlety they make up for in singalong catchiness (“US Forces”), reckless abandon (“Only The Strong”, “Power and the Passion” [which features one of the few musically useful drum solos in the history of recorded rock music], “Read About It”), and texture (“Outside World”, “Tin Legs and Tin Mines”.)

The following album, Red Sails In The Sunset, was almost, but not quite as good, but the succeeding ones went way over the line into preachy for me.

:: Dave Walker 22:11 (EST/EDT) [+]

:: [/entertainment/music]
:: tags: music

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