.com Meet the new Oils, same as the old Oils. Well, sort of. On Redneck Wonderland, the Australian group's 12th long player, Peter Garrett & Co. conjure a brave new sound, employing heavy distortion, synths, and clanging metallic percussion to drive home their proclamations on race, ecology, and national policy. When rock & roll mixes with politics, the music often suffers, but the Oils have always been at their best when speaking directly from their hearts, as on "White Skin Black Heart," "What Goes On," and the title track. Certainly Aussie-centric screeds such as "The Great Gibber Plain" will have more resonance Down Under but, more often than not, the Oils speak plainly, pointedly, and with a sense of urgency missing from their music since their landmark albums Diesel and Dust and Blue Sky Mining. --Daniel Durchholz
K**K
Still the same Oils overall
Redneck Wonderland is to the Oils what Actung Baby was to U2. A slightly different sound (complete with feedback), but overall the same lyrics, same conviction and same intent. The CD lunges at your throat with the first track while losing a few loyal listeners who prefered their previous releases. I have a hard time believing that Midnight Oil is trying to copy anybody, that excuse is lame. Their not rapping, using a banjo or playing with some stupid philharmonic orchestra...hello Metallica. Us critics shouldn't be guessing at what we believe the Oils were thinking when they made Redneck Wonderland. I could care less if they were mad at the surfing conditions. This is one of the most engaging and creative CD's I've heard, If you don't like it, sell it back, life goes on.
S**E
The most haunting and heavy Midnight Oil album ever!
A hauntingly beautiful album from the Oils with its almost industrial hard rock guitars and insane driving rhythms mixed with light electronica. The songs are so stark and bleak that the heavy music absolutely complements the lyrics and you wont be able to get the riffs and melodies out of your head.
J**R
I love every beautiful, freaky, weird, whacked out note of this masterpiece
Bizarrely, my 3 favorite Oils albums are Diesel & Dust, Breathe, and this post-grunge, alternative folk metal snarl of a record. I can certainly understand why few MO fans agree with me, because it is a very different beast to any other era of the band. It stands alone - more metal than punk, more grunge than pop, more tightly controlled, heavy yet melodic aggression than loose, punky angst. But for me, somehow Redneck Wonderland defines EVERYTHING about MO, even though it sounds nothing quite like anything else they recorded. Emotion - check. Energy - check. Intelligence - check. Melody - check. Anger - check. Power...passion...talent. All combined to throw up something that has not been equaled before or since - by anyone.Yes, I like it.
D**S
I hope this doesn't represent the Oils' last album
I'm a longtime Oils fan; I believe I own everything they ever released, even the EPs. I saw them once in concert, and they'd be tops on my list of bands to see again if I ever got the chance.When this album was released, it took me a while to get used to the new sound...it's different from anything the Oils have ever done (and anything else in your collection for that matter). The groove is metallic and incisive, updating the political intensity of their best music to a new set of listeners. It's impossible to ignore the anger of this album, obviously reflecting the Oils' disgust at the direction of Australian politics at the time. But above all, the music rocks...turn it up to eleven and see if your system survives!My greatest concern is that this will represent the Oils' last effort...I hope I'm wrong. The last decade has seen them grow more and more disaffected with the music industry in general; I believe that "Breathe" was an intentional slap at Sony face, designed to give the label exactly what it didn't want...a low key collection of garage band tunes...when Sony was looking for another "Diesel and Dust" (the best part, though, is that "Breathe" is actually a very effective - though noncommercial - album). I think that "Redneck Wonderland" ends their recording commitment, and they may be tempted to surf off into the sunset. I hope not.
J**N
Differen, for better or for worse
Having owned every single Oil's track on the market, I feel I have a right to say that this is an extremely different CD to the norm. Much heavier and with a different sense of anger, a loud and brash one, the oils go where they have never before.Wether this is a good thing or not is debatible. Those who like it heavier will enjoy this, however I don't feel that is the kind of fan-base the oils have. It's different, it's new (only a few repeated songs this time round) and it's good. Like it or leave it, you have to give the oils credit; trying something new and doing well at it.Not my fav. but it's the oils, and that is good enough for me.
P**Z
A great Midnight Oil Album
The first song which has the same title as the album cover, 'Redneck Wonderland' is one of the best Midnight Oil songs I have ever listened too. This song is followed by the strong 'Cemetary in my Mind' song that has some powerful lyrics. Peter Garret again excels as lead vocalist and is on par.The only two songs I felt were weak in this album was Return to Sender and Blot. The others were absolutely great. 'Seeing is Believing' and 'What Goes On' are another two strong tracks. Well worth listening to over and over. I know I will be.
N**L
the Oil continue to adapt and make a modern rock album
The midnight Oil have been making records as long as I've been alive and it blows me away that they can continue to make phenomenal records that adapt and fit in with modern music. Redneck Wonderland is not an adult contemporary album, it is Modern Rock! Other bands should should be lucky to pull off a young, kick ass record 20 years after their first!
J**5
Sorry Guys, this one is just plan BAD !!!! (Zero stars)
I guarantee,if you are a fan of Midnight Oil's: Earth & Sky & Moon(on my desert island disc list), Diesel & Dust, Blue Sky Mining, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, Red Skies in the Sunset or any other Oil record actually...you will want to pass on this ill conceived, extremely poorly written body of songs!I have nothing good to say about this LP and it boggles this listeners mind to read the great reviews written here about the record (and which influenced/suckered me into buying it)- I heard nothing good songwise on my copy and it has since been traded back to my used CD store (joining a pile of six other returned copies). I suppose, the fanatical Midnight Oil fan, who would gladly buy an LP of lead singer Peter Garrett farting and call it brilliant, would rate this rubbish so highly (and would explain the great reviews here), but this descriminating longtime fan calls a pass on this dud!
D**N
Conforme, parfait
Article conforme, transaction nickel
R**E
Tolles Album
Jeden Cent wert.
P**Y
Oils Redneck Wonderland
Brilliant....Oils punching out a classic...
M**N
Oil tell you the truth!
Reviews of other MO albums seem to suggest that this album is dire,substandard, "almost unlistenable"... Just goes to show you can't really trust reviews, as they are subjective. Redneck Wonderland is excellent.... nice and rocky! Choose to believe me or not! This is one of the best MO albums in my correct opinion. Some of their others are reviewed with high praise, but I'd call weak. Again - subjective. But if you like the rock element of MO, peppered with the lyrics we all have come to love, and adorned with unusual chords and sequences, buy Redneck Wonderland, and feel sorry for the critics who miss out and otherwise would have put you off!
フ**ト
Midnight Oil Redneck Wonderland
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