Red Sails In the Sunset (Remastered)

I was kind of young when this came out and I live in the States so I heard it many years after the fact but it's incredible. Sleep is probably one of my favorite songs of all time as well as Minutes to Midnight. Very sharp solid production. Some people think 10,9,8,7 has better production but I feel that record sounds like it was recorded in a closet compared to Red Sails. On my first few listens I felt most of the tracks were trapped in an 80's technology toilet. Such as on "Who Can Stand In The Way" .. an effect is used that I can only describe as MC Hammer stabbing something, but on repeated listens its pretty slick. After really taking it in as a whole the album is genius. It shows a quality of songwriting that just doesn't seem to exist anymore. Also has one of the greatest album jackets and LP art ever.

I used to tell people that after The Clash folded, Midnight Oil was the "only band that mattered". This record contains three very solid rockers in Best of Both Worlds, When the Generals Talk and Kosciusko. But the rest of the album holds up well. Although The Oils are best remembered (in the states, anyway) for "Beds are Burning" the message and the method for delievering it were already well in place.

This record is Midnight Oil's masterpiece. The lyrics are powerful, and the music is incredible. The production can sound a little dated at times, but overall you forget it once you start to get engrossed in the songs. This album alone made them one of the great bands of their time. BUY THIS ONE FIRST! YOU WILL BE HAPPY YOU DID!

Though it had two pop songs on it, this album hid true jems. One listen, not a sample, to Jimmy Sharmans Boxers, Bells and Horns, and Shipyards made you realize what an outstanding band this was. Very few albums hold well as a complete assembly, but this is almost themematic in it's listening. One track leads to the next, and skipping any leaves a hole in it's experience. Truly an "LP" (Long Player for the young).

This album slipped past everyone in the states when it was released in the '80s, but it is one of the strongest albums 'Oil ever produced. It has definitely stood the test of time for me, for it has never left my record player/cassette player/cd player/iPod. I rank it in my top 3 underappreciated albums of the '80s (Thomas Dolby's "The Flat Earth", Joan Armatrading's "The Key" and this album). Incredibly strong song writing, and the production of the album really captures what was great about quality college music in the early eighties. You know, the stuff that wasn't making it to MTV, but was actually being passed around the dorm halls like illegal contraband. A worthy blind purchase if ever there was one.