Album · Midnight Oil
Diesel and Dust by Midnight Oil
Diesel and Dust is an album by Midnight Oil, released in 1987. 7 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 169 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Beds are Burning”, on 102 lists with a best position of #3.
Diesel and Dust, Midnight Oil's sixth album, came out in August 1987 through SPRINT Music and Columbia, and it's the record where the Australian band's fury found its target. Warne Livesey produced it with the band, and every song circles two causes the band cared about deeply: the fight of Indigenous Australians and the fate of the land itself.
It was born on the road: in 1986 the band took part in the Blackfella/Whitefella Tour through remote Indigenous communities alongside the Warumpi Band and Gondwanaland, and the album grew out of that journey. "Beds Are Burning" is the call to arms, a lean, stomping rallying cry that's impossible to sit still through. "The Dead Heart" rides a hypnotic, droning chant, "Dreamworld" and "Put Down That Weapon" crackle with nervous tension, and "Sometimes" builds from a quiet brood to a defiant roar. The sound is stark and spacious, like the outback itself, with ringing guitars and pounding drums.
At home it sat at number one on the Kent Music Report albums chart for six weeks. When it came out in the US in 1988, American critics named it the best album of that year, and later ranked it among the finest records of the '80s. In 2010 it topped the book 100 Best Australian Albums, and it has been lauded ever since.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Diesel and Dust on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beds are Burning#286 of all time | 102 | #3 | – | 1988–2026 | |
| 2 | The Dead Heart | 33 | #20 | – | 1988–2023 | |
| 3 | Dreamworld | 8 | #43 | – | 1988–2003 | |
| 4 | Put Down That Weapon | 9 | #88 | – | 1988–2004 | |
| 5 | Bullroarer | 6 | #1703 | – | 1999–2004 | |
| 6 | Sometimes | 7 | #88 | – | 1988–2003 | |
| 7 | Sell My Soul | 4 | #1785 | – | 1999–2002 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.