This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Surprise No. 1: Midnight Oil are still around. Surprise No. 2: Actually, they never went away.
These politically minded, quasi-rocking Aussies made albums throughout the ’90s, even though I don’t know a single soul who bought one. With any luck, their 11th studio album Capricornia will mark the end to that dry spell. For a band from the Whatever Happened To … file, chrome-domed crooner Peter Garrett and co. sound as vital as ever on this dozen-track release. Wisely avoiding trendy musical and production cliches, the group stick to their classic, guitar-based delivery and message-oriented lyrics. Sure, they’ve mellowed a bit with age — many of these tunes have a ’60s pop feel in their jangly melodies and stacked vocal harmonies. But considering they’re a band most people forgot about a decade ago, this disc is fairly memorable. Which would be Surprise No. 3.
