[Matthew Mesina]

Well well,

     At the grocery store I saw the newest issue of "Paste", which I've
been eagerly awaiting.  (You'll recall they ran the "Capricornia" ad the
declared "Possibly the Last recording To Include Peter Garrett!".)
Picking it up became a remarkable experience when, scant moments after
thinking to myself "I'd buy them a copy of Rob's book if they promised
to review it," I saw it was, in fact, reviewed!  

     The last two paragraphs choked me up, declaring, "There's a sense
of claustrophobia about "Willie's", as if Midnight Oil was runningout of
room in the popular music scene: even the press-which for the first time
universally ignored a Midnight Oil record when "Capricornia" hit the
stores in 2001-seemed to have arbitrarily decided the band was no longer
relevant.
   
     I bristle at the irony.  Each time I saw the band, I was struck by
it's profound sensitivity to the anxiety and conflicts confronting our
country.  Here, an Australian act was somehow channeling my frustration
and confusion in ways that no one from this side of the globe could.
Irrelevant?  Maybe to escapists.   Personally, I was starving for
someone to capture and convey "the temper of the times" in language I
could understand.  That someone was Midnight Oil."

     Indeed... 

Matt

the

Soberman

"Be sober and vigilant.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." -1 Peter 5:8