Best Oil album out of a large catalog

This is an incredible album from a very talented band known in the U.S. for their one hit "Beds Are Burning". If you are a fan of just that one song this album may not be for you. It does include a little pop sensiblity in the way of "When The Generals Talk" and "Who Can Stand In The Way", but most of the albums has strange indigineous Australian instruments as well as some great orchestration. Songs like "Bells..." and "Shipyards Of New Zealand" have constant time changes and varieties of music styles within the songs themselves. It is not a perfect album with small flaws such as the strange instrumental "Bakerman" which does however fit into the flow of this weird album. Overall, it is possibly the best Midnight Oil album out there and that's saying a lot about a band that has such a large and impressive catalog.

Swirling, bizarre, unique, strange...exceptional

This is a "grower" if there ever was one. I remember, as a 16 year old, being very confused by Red Sails In The Sunset considering my only exposure to Midnight Oil was based on Diesel & Dust and Earth and Sun and Moon, stylistically tame by comparison. It's not that Red Sails In The Sunset is weak or has a lack of focus; it's just not that accesible on first listen. Or second listen. You will have to give it some time.



To put it simply, of all of Midnight Oil's albums, this is their most sprawling and weird. Most of the guitar parts have a warbling sound to their attack, Jim Moginie goes keyboard happy towards the second half of the album, Rob Hirst takes the lead vocals on two songs, and the lyrics of Garrett, Hirst, and Moginie spread themselves over everything from cryptic to explicit. On top of all of that, the mix comes across a little muffled and makes the whole thing sound like a passive-aggressive romp.



But they are still politically charged, musical experimentation being no exception. Best of Both Worlds is a regrettably chilling account of the cold war possibly turning into a nuclear holocaust. Jimmy Sharman's Boxers drives the guilt right into sports spectating: "Why are you paying for this?/You pay to see me fall like shrapnel to the floor." When The Generals Talk, sung by Hirst, makes for a very puzzling opener as disco beats compete with a modern commentary that highly-ranked military men make the best public speakers.



And most of all, lyricall speaking, I enjoy Who Can Stand In The Way's preaching against the dangers of capitalism: "If Christ were here he'd camera check/He's cry so loud the planes would stop/He'd cry so loud the earth would shake/And men would fall in tinsel town...Who can stand in the way when there's a dollar to be made?" And musically I always get caught up with the woozy sounding Sleep and the slappy-yet-unplayful Minutes to Midnight.



With such a wide array of albums accompanied by a top 40 hit, it's easy to overlook the fact that in 1984, Midnight Oil quickly recorded an odd egg that slipped under the radar. But if you find it, there is easily a lifetime's worth of challenging pop to disect and devour. I did, and I'm glad.

Way to spacy and weird for me

As a long time fan of Midnight Oil, this CD is very surprising to me. 'Red Sail in the Sunset' is a release that is so un- Midnight Oilish. There is no method to the songs and in no order so the CD sounds spacy and weird. Makes me wonder what Peter Garrett and members were doing whilst recording this CD. Only one song stands out in this release and that is 'Kosciusko'. The rest of the songs are forgettable and I know this CD will be the least played album in my home.