Midnight Oil - Diesel And Dust

Beds Are Burning - 3
Put Down That Weapon - 3
Dream World - 3
Arctic World - 4
Warakurna - 4
The Dead Heart - 4
Whoah - 3
Bullroarer - 3
Sell My Soul - 4
Sometimes - 3
Total - 34 stars / 10 tracks = 3.40 stars

Diesel And Dust takes a little while to settle in. At first, it's easy to get caught off guard by how much Peter Garrett sounds like the B-52's Fred Schneider.

"Warakurna" is a blunt, political song that challenges uneven distribution of wealth. Its chant "there is enough" would not be out of place at a protest rally. The line "this land must change or man will burn" is a layered statement that could be interpreted as a premonition, or possibly even as a threat.

"The Dead Heart" is both radio-friendly and politically charged. Apparently Midnight Oil is not a huge fan of the white man, with an insistence that they (assumedly Aboriginal Australians) will hold onto their own culture and history.

"Sell My Soul" deals with the disinterest of absorbing into dominant culture, preferring to maintain a connection to the natural world.

Overall, the album's strongest point is its political messages. The lyrics aren't simply another musical voice, they are the meaning and the drive behind the album. The music itself exists for the sake of transferring and disseminating these thoughts, and it's quite often done well.