许多乐队对于自己度过20周年这一个隆重的里程碑式的时刻常常做会大肆宣扬,他们会去做电视专题节目,特别的MV合辑,3CD的精选,公园里的免费演出等等之类的事情。而Midnight Oil如今也把自己的历史推向了这一辉煌的20周年的美妙时刻——但他们却选择让这一重大时刻悄悄过去,没有加以宣扬。
因此如果Midnight Oil不情愿过这个生日的话,就让我们现在自己把他们拉过来,一起来参加这个庆典,来一起许愿一起吹蜡烛——这毕竟是一个乐队,一个藐视所有音乐潮流并拥有10张唱片(2张EP)以及全球一共1200万张唱片销量的乐队。他们用自己的音乐反抗不公正、不平等、人情冷漠以及玩世不恭和保守主义内在的那股邪恶力量,他们愤怒,他们正义而刚正。他们创作了许多优秀作品——而且再从其他方面上说,Midnight Oil确实能算音乐史上比较出色的一支乐队。
而正当我们在谈论他们的时候,Midnight Oil已经渡过第21个年头了,而现在他们也发行了乐队第一张精选专辑——名为“20, 000 Watt RSL--The Midnight Oil Collection”。
人们一般把1976年作为Midnight Oil的诞辰之年,因为就在那年吉他手Martin Rotsey加入了其他三名乐手的行列并成为终生伴侣——Jim Moginie,Rob Hirst和Peter Garrett。本来这支乐队名为Farm,自从1971年就一直经历了分分合合——但到1976年他们把名字改为了Midnight Oil。乐队第一张同名专辑(被老歌迷和朋友们昵称为“The Blue Meanie”)在1978年出世,79年随后又是另一张专辑“Head Injuries”,发行于1979年的10月。这两张专辑并为乐队之后的现场表演造势,令歌迷们对乐队刮目相看——虽然他们的现场表演并不是十分出色。
1980年乐队阵容发生了些变化,原先的贝斯手Andrew James由Peter Gifford顶替,并在1980年11月发行了一张全新专辑名为“Bird Noises”。1981年乐队来到伦敦与著名的英国制作人Glyn Johns(The Who和Rolling Stones)合作录制专辑,这张专辑名为“Place Without a Postcard”,发行于1981年11月。凭借其中的“Armistice Day”和“Don't Wanna Be the One”两首杰出的作品,Midnight Oil的这张“Place Without a Postcard”常没视为乐队的第一个转折点——乐队从此熟悉了解了录音棚工作的紧张,而此时创作的歌曲不仅融入他们现场演出的那种激情和怒火,并能看出他们自己的智慧和政治见解。
1982年Midnight Oil回到伦敦继续录制唱片——几在这个时候乐队做了一个很重大的决定——与一个年轻的天才合作,这个人名为Nick Launay。Launay磁性嗓音中透出一种怪异的渴望,在录音室里他的声音与乐队日益成熟的词曲创作能力配合地天衣无缝。而这张绝无仅有的专辑“10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1”(发行于1982年11月)让Midnight Oil在他们的家乡迅速建立起超级明星的崇高地位。其中的几首如“Power and the Passion”,“US Forces”和“Short Memory”也成为了乐队的经典。
1984年Midnight Oil发行了另一张专辑,由Nick Launay出任制作,但这次是在日本完成的录制工作。这张专辑取名为“Red Sails in the Sunset”,发行于1984年10月,其中的如“Kosciusko”和“Best of Both Worlds”都是相当出色的单曲。接下来的一年对Midnight Oil和澳大利亚来说都是一个极其喧嚣的年份,Peter Garret参加政治竞选主张全面核裁军,同时乐队出版了一张轰动性的单曲碟名为“Species Deceases”,发行于1985年12月,其中还包括那首乐队最著名的赞美诗词“Hercules”。
紧接着发生的是一场革命——Midnight Oil发展历程中的一个分水岭。1986年乐队与土著摇滚乐队Warumpi一起去澳洲本土内陆荒僻的居民点举行巡回演出,这场旅行表演最终成为了书籍以及电视记录片关注的主题——内陆人民的生活暴露在Midnight Oil面前,给他们留下了深刻的印象——有积极的一面也有消极的一面。Midnight Oil回来后在1987年8月发行了专辑“Diesel and Dust”,这张专辑与英国制作人Livesy共同合作完成,专辑深刻体现了乐队旅行中的所见所闻——从几首不同寻常的歌曲如“Beds Are Burning”,“Dead Heart”和“Dreamworld”都有所表现。
凭借这张专辑“Diesel and Dust”一路上扬突破5百万的销量,Midnight Oil在全世界范围内成为一个商业成功的典范。等乐队结束了随后的全球巡回演出后,Midnight Oil与一些制作人回到了录音棚创作录制下一张专辑“Blue Sky Mining”,这张专辑是乐队的另一张惊人之作,发行于1990年3月,其中如“One Country”,“Blue Sky Mine”和“Forgotten Years”体现了在不失原先狂热的激情、杰出的词曲创作和身上的重大责任的基础上,Midnight Oil如今对于国际形势的新看法。这张专辑也是第一张有Midnight Oil第三任贝斯手Bones Hillman参与的作品,Bones凭借其充满活力的表现以及非凡的才华赢得了广泛的赞誉。
Midnight Oil在90年代发片的步伐开始放缓——过去15年里乐队在出版专辑和演出上已经投入了大量精力,因此这也是可以理解。1992年Midnight Oil发行了一张活力四射的现场专辑“Scream In Blue (Live)”,于1992年的5月。随后在93年又是专辑“Earth, Sun and Moon”,这张专辑发行于2月,体现了乐队性格豪爽的一面,而专辑一部分是现场录制于一个条件异常糟糕的录音棚里,但“Earth, Sun and Moon”还是为Midnight Oil订下了一个新的发展方向,顺着这条路Midnight Oil在96年10月发行了乐队历史上第十张专辑“Breathe”。
而现在Midnight Oil带给我们的这张“20, 000 Watt RSL -- The Midnight Oil Collection”带给我们来自乐队10张经典专辑中的16首最佳单曲,还增加2首乐队最近录制的单曲——分别是“What Goes On”和“White Skin Black Heart”。也许叫“20, 000 Watt RSL -- The Midnight Oil Collection”这个名字有点傻,因为乐队从没有把精选与是否“great”放一起考虑过。
Midnight Oil从诞生之日起给我们留下了如此众多的经典歌曲和白金唱片,他们的足迹是没有疆界的,他们的发展不依赖于任何规律,而重要的因素对Midnight Oil来说就是情感、表达、音乐内容和表演。Midnight Oil就象一条河流,贯穿不息,如今走过20周年这个里程碑他们仍将续写自己的历史。
by Jason Ankeny
Australias Midnight Oil brought a new sense of political and social immediacy to pop music: not only did incendiary hits like Beds Are Burning and Blue Sky Mine bring global attention to the plight of, respectively, aboriginal settlers and impoverished workers, but the group also put its money where its mouth was — in addition to mounting benefit performances for groups like Greenpeace and Save the Whales, frontman Peter Garrett even ran for the Australian Senate on the Nuclear Disarmament Party ticket.
The band formed in Sydney in 1971 as Farm, and originally comprised guitarists Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey, drummer Rob Hirst and bassist Andrew Bear James; Garrett, a law student known for his seven-foot-tall stature and shaven head, assumed vocal duties in 1975, and the group soon rechristened itself Midnight Oil. After months of sporadic gigs, they began making the rounds to area record companies; following a string of rejections, the group formed its own label, Powderworks, and issued their self-titled debut — a taut, impassioned collection of guitar rock which quickly established the Midnight Oil sound — in 1978.
After declaring their independence from the music industry, the Oils grew increasingly active and outspoken in the political arena; after performing in opposition to uranium mining, they supported the Tibet Council before turning their attentions to the unfair practices of the local music industry, and formed their own booking agency in response to the monopoly exerted by area agents and promoters. With their 1979 sophomore effort Head Injuries, the band scored their first hit single, Cold Cold Change, and earned a gold record. James left the band the following year due to health problems; with new bassist Peter Gifford, they cut the EP Bird Noises, another chart success.
With 1981s Place Without a Postcard (recorded with producer Glyn Johns), Midnight Oil achieved platinum status on the strength of the smash Armistice Day, which won the group an American deal with Columbia Records. Their follow-up, 1983s 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, spent over two years in the Australian Top 40; after 1984s Red Sails in the Sunset, Garrett made his run at Senate, losing by only a narrow margin. Participation in the Artists United Against Apartheid project followed, leading directly into Midnight Oils increased interest in the battles of Australias aboriginal settlers and a tour, dubbed Black Fella White Fella, with the aborigine group the Warumpi Band.
The aborigines plight came to the fore on 1987s Diesel and Dust, the Oils breakthrough record; sparked by the hit single Beds Are Burning, the album reached the U.S. Top 20 and made the band a household commodity. After bassist Dwayne Bones Hillman (ex-Swingers) replaced Gifford, Midnight Oil returned with 1990s Blue Sky Mining, which they followed with a concert outside of the Exxon corporations Manhattan offices in protest the companys handling of the Alaskan oil spill. (A film of the performance titled Black Rain Falls was later released, with profits going to Greenpeace.) The album Earth and Sun and Moon appeared in 1993, followed three years later by Breathe. Midnight Oil next resurfaced in 1998 with Redneck Wonderland. The Real Thing, only available in Australia, followed in 2001. It was a solid collection of new songs and live tracks from Midnight Oils magnificent run at the Metro Theatre in Sydney. Capricornia, issued on Liquid 8 in spring 2002, marked the bands 14th album of their career. In December, Peter Garrett announced his split from the band after 25 years. Garrett, who left Midnight Oil on good terms, wished to pursue other challenges.