Diesel and Dust is the sixth studio album by Australian rock band Midnight Oil, released in August 1987 by SPRINT Music label under Columbia Records. Diesel and Dust was produced by Warne Livesey and the band. It is a concept album about the struggles of Indigenous Australians and environmental causes, issues important to the band. It drew inspiration from the Blackfella/Whitefella Tour of remote Indigenous communities with the Warumpi Band and Gondwanaland in 1986. The album peaked at No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart for six weeks.

Diesel and Dust has been critically lauded since its release. Rolling Stone editors named it the best album of 1988 (the year of its United States release), and later ranked it the 13th greatest record of the 1980s.

Background

Midnight Oil spent several months in mid-1986 on the Blackfella/Whitefella Tour of outback Australia with indigenous music groups Warumpi Band and Gondwanaland, playing to remote Aboriginal communities and seeing first hand the seriousness of the issues in health and living standards.

Following the 1988 American tour in support of Diesel and Dust with Australian band Yothu Yindi, Midnight Oil launched the Building Bridges album with various artists contributing, including Paul Kelly, Scrap Metal, Coloured Stone, Hunters & Collectors, James Reyne, The Saints, Crowded House, and INXS.

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| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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| rev4 = Los Angeles Times

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| rev5 = PopMatters

| rev5Score = 9/10

| rev6 = Rolling Stone

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| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

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| rev9 = The Village Voice

| rev9Score = B+

According to Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane, Midnight Oil "reached the peak of its powers with the release of the groundbreaking Diesel and Dust... [it] is arguably one of the greatest Australian albums of all time. Powerful, dynamic and passionate songs like 'Beds are Burning', 'Put Down that Weapon', 'Dreamworld', 'The Dead Heart' and 'Sell My Soul' were statements of intent and a call to action backed by the strength of their convictions". except where noted

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Beds Are Burning

| writer1 =

| length1 = 4:14

| title2 = Put Down That Weapon

| writer2 =

| length2 = 4:38

| title3 = Dreamworld

| writer3 =

| length3 = 3:36

| title4 = Arctic World

| writer4 = Garrett, Moginie

| length4 = 4:21

| title5 = Warakurna

| writer5 = Moginie

| length5 = 4:38

Charts

Weekly charts

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!scope="col"| Chart (1987–1988)

!scope="col"| Peak<br />position

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!scope="row"| Australian Albums Kent Music Report

| style="text-align:center;"| 1

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Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

!scope="col"| Chart (1987)

!scope="col"| Position

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!scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| style="text-align:center;" | 6

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!scope="col"| Chart (1988)

!scope="col"| Position

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!scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| style="text-align:center;"| 88

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!scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)

| style="text-align:center;"| 13

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!scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| style="text-align:center;"| 30

|}

Certifications

Personnel

;Midnight Oil

  • Peter Garrett – lead and backing vocals
  • Peter Gifford – bass and backing vocals
  • Robert Hirst – drums, drum machine and backing vocals
  • Jim Moginie – guitars, synthesizers, backing vocals and string arrangements
  • Martin Rotsey – guitars

;Additional musicians

  • Glad Reed – trombone
  • John Ockwell – cello
  • Jeremy Smith – French horn

;Production

  • Midnight Oil – production
  • Warne Livesey – production, additional keyboards
  • Guy Gray – engineering
  • Greg Henderson – engineering <small> (6)</small>
  • Gary Morris – management (credited as "facilitator")

References

Further reading

  • Midnight Oil