Customer Reviews

Bird Noises

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This EP, released in 1980, is something of an oddity. Its four songs are an eclectic assortment and it is probably the first recording that widened Midnight Oil's scope. After this, listeners would no longer be able to pigeonhole the band. It opens with the most characteristic Oils song, the terrific rocker "No Time For Games", which deals with the angst of youth in the face of middle class conformity and parental expectations. "Knife's Edge" is a similar in your face rock song, with a brilliant driving rhythm. With "Wedding Cake Island" the EP becomes a bit more indefinable. A tropical/Hawaiian-like instrumental, this is a gorgeous track, complete with a melody (very unusual for the Oils!) "I'm the Cure" is a strange one. Presumably about drugs, the vocals are spoken very slowly, almost slurred. To the non fan it might sound sick - however it is very insighftul. It's an uncomfortable song - I'm not sure if I like it, but I can't deny its impact. "Bird Noises" is very good. It foreshadows the brilliance that would follow in two years' time, with the album "10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1".

The classic early oils sound, grungy and powerful. No Time for games absolutely rocks, Garrett's voice wails. If you want to get in touch with what it was like to be an oils fan in the early 80s, get this record.

Released between Head Injuries and A Place Without a Postcard, this 4 song EP is a quick snapshot of where Midnight Oil was at in 1980. To my mind, the music on "No Time For Games", "Knife's Edge", and "The Cure" is similar to what the Oils would release a year later on Postcard, but perhaps a little less refined. There's also the gorgeous "Wedding Cake Island", a surf inspired instrumental that showcases the compositional skills of guitarist Martin Rotsey and multi-instrumentalist Jim Moginie. Midnight Oil has never gotten the respect that they deserve as musicians, especially Moginie, who in my opinion is one of the most underrated musicians to emerge over the course of my lifetime. Bird Noises is not Midnight Oil's best work, but it remains an interesting curio in the history of this fine group.

There has to be a weakest Oils album in their long and great career and this one is easily the least memorable. I used to own a cassette of this album but it was eaten by my Sony Walkman. I think it was trying to tell me something. Before other people flame me for this, just know Midnight Oil was and still is my favorite band of all time. I've seen them in Concert in BEFORE they were well known with their Diesel and Dust release. I know every song in the Oil's catalog and I can tell you definitively this is unfortunately the worst. It doesn't even hold a candle to their other EP, Species Deceases. I can't think of another album they put out that is this bland. Can any of the reviewers here honestly name one album they consider worse than this one?

the 2 best known tracks on this are "no time for games", about kids from the wrong side of the track and "Weddingcake Island" a great instrumental piece which sounds very much like a "The Shadows" instrumental.Worth getting for these 2 tracks.

Bird Noises is an okay EP. The production and sound quality is very good (better than Head Injuries, and much better than Place Without a Postcard). But there are only four songs on the disc, and none are very memorable. The songs are so-so, mediocre.

I'd put this at the bottom of Midnight Oil releases to get.