Customer Reviews

Place Without a Post

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Postcard has to be the Oils most underrated release. Postcards was not released in the United States until the success of Diesel & Dust. Don't let this deceive you, this cd offers everything from the Oils. Bold lyrics, raw guitar & great variety. This release is very progressive for the date of it's release. Been listening to this cd for over a decade, and it still rocks. If your a big fan of Red Sunsets and 10-1, I would definitely suggest Postcards. If you have a chance check out the songs Lucky Country, I don't wanna be the one, Basement flat & Burnie.

We all have our favorite album, and this is certainly mine. Now, I wouldn't say it's the best album I own, but being a favorite is a much different matter. This was actually the first album I ever bought (I still have the broken cassette tape), when I was 12. I hated it at first, as any 12 yr old raised on bad late 80s pop would, but as I listened to it again and again it--without getting too pretentious about it--changed the way I listen to rock. It's really that good. I can't praise Place Without a Postcard enough; almost every song is masterfully done. Listen to Basement Flat, and you will know, definitively, what all the faux-alternative pop bands today could not do even if they tried. And even for those among us who are not Australians, Lucky Country is a touching and satiric paean to what makes Australia unique. Here I'm slipping into cliches, I know; and yet what can one say about an album like this? It is, in my opinion, the best album Midnight Oil has yet made. Listen and be moved.

...are written in The Heart". Possibly the most overlooked piece of brilliance in the Oils discography. This is without a doubt my ultimate Oils album. It's passionate, angry, honest, blunt, raw, deliberate... all those things. Every song on the album gels, individually the songs are good, but taken collectively in one listen this is one awesome album. I especially love the pointed musical trilogy of Quinella Holiday, Loves On Sale and If Ned Kelly Was King, just fantastic. The slow thumping bass riffs of Burnie are haunting, Written In The Heart explodes with the Oils jagged edge of Moginie/Rotsey, Armistice Day & Lucky Country dispell myths with that powerful anthemic spell, and Don't Wanna Be The One just rocks. I could go on and on. I dug this album in 81, and I still do now in 99 - it's the Oils white-hot with passion.

I tend to see this as somewhat of a transitional album for Midnight Oil. Their previous albums, Head Injuries and Midnight Oil, were faster, owing more to punk rock. Bird Noises, a four song EP, preceded this full length album and offered some preview of the changes to come. The lyrics and arrangements are still knife edge sharp, but the tempo has slowed somewhat on Place Without a Postcard. The songs that stand as the best examples of the direction the band would take in the future are"Brave Faces" and "Lucky Country". "Brave Faces" has a wonderfully catchy guitar hook, plus makes a few key changes along the way. Laced with political and social lyrics, the song builds to it's climax, a wonderful guitar and bass interplay. "Lucky Country" blends acoustic and electric guitars in a style the Oils would continue to experiment with until they disbanded. No other band seems quite as adapt at fusing the two instruments as Midnight Oil. The song also features the stream of consciousness lyrical rampage Peter Garrett would perfect as time went on. This album also introduces horns and keyboards, widening the tonal palette at the band's disposal. Jim Moginie stands out as a multi-instrumentalist of the finest caliber and I think that all begins here.

Admittedly, I only discovered "The Oils" when they hit radio airplay success in the early-mid eighties with the release of the 10 to 1 album, but I grew to become a huge fan as a teenager. This album, simply put, is brilliant. The semi-poetic lyrics of Brave Faces, the 'brave' sounds and instrumentation on all the tracks right to the end and the truly moving climax of the album that is 'Lucky Country' make this stand out as one of Midnight Oils best. It's more coherent than what had come before but still has that rawness and low-fi cred that got a little lost in later offerings (not that I don't love them as well, but . . . ) The guitars really howl and the drums are as forceful and primal as ever. It makes you wish you were sweaty and slightly inebriated in a pub somewhere rockin'out. As a sociology major these days, I still find their music relevant and this album is a great example. Stand out tracks for me are "Basement Flat" for the solo (very moving) "Loves on Sale" for the anti-consumerist sentiments and the great rapping Peter does in it "Armistice Day" and "Lucky Country." Ultimately people always seem to dismiss Midnight Oil as simply a "band with a message" but they made GREAT music as well and had/have very warm and clear musical instincts. Get it, you'll love it or grow to.

The best Oil record for me is the Scream in Blue. The second is this one. For me it is the record that comes closer to what they sound live. I've read a couple of review that complain about the production. I have to disagree. This is the most powerfull Oil record when it comes to sound production. It is raw indeed, but Johns made a very good job by convincing the Oils to forget about synths and to focus on the guitars. And what guitars! There are a couple of songs with harmonica but I can forget it. The five piece (drums,bass,guitars and vocals)is mixed evenlly and every single bit of music is brought up to your face, no post production to mess around with the songs! For me it is like 10,9,8... without synths! Great songs, great sound.

Place without a Postcard was the last album the Oils made (1981) before 10.9.8...just changed the way Australians listened to music. Keep in mind before the Oils and before this album Australia had not really been shocked, politically; well the Oils continued here with this masterpiece. If you can get hold of it Triple J, then 2JJ, have a great vid of the Oils live on Sydney's beaches,(Curl Curl?). It's great, and for the collector a real icon.

The raw passion and energy is abundant in this Oil's album. All the songs tell of life that has gone awry. Very meaningful messages in each song plus the added accompaniment of Rob Hirst's drumming, Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey's guitars and Peter Gifford's bass really add to the overall appeal of this album. Believe me, you will be singing and humming these songs long after you stop listening to the album.

This and Breathe are the best two Midnight Oil albums. The songs are aggressive, yet somewhat elusive. When I listen to this disc, I'll find myself playing it over and over again. If you love Midnight Oil then you need this album!

Getting thier international steam up the boys from downunder really start setting the pace for the next two albums. This album really should be heard either live where the Oil's really shine, Or while sitting in a quanset-hut next to a crushed coral airstrip somewhere in the tropics. Some of the songs are a bit sentimental and meloncholy while others will have you screaming along with the band. If you are a Midnight Oil fan, or anyone with a shred of conciousness who lives on the PacRim, you must own this CD. Take with you the next time you go to the beach!