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Diesel and Dust

by Midnight Oil

Released: August 02, 1987

Alternative rock

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Why This Album Matters

This album matters because its strongest editorial story is: Chart Success.

The Album

"Diesel and Dust" is the sixth studio album by the Australian rock band Midnight Oil, released in August 1987 under the SPRINT Music label in association with Columbia Records. The album was inspired by the Blackfella/Whitefella Tour, which took Midnight Oil and other artists like the Warumpi Band and Gondwanaland to remote Indigenous communities in 1986. It was also listed at number 1 in the book *100 Best Australian Albums* in October 2010 and placed at No. 5 in Rolling Stone Australia's "200 Greatest Albums of All Time" countdown in December 2021.

Inside the Recording

Produced by Warne Livesey and the band, it is a concept album addressing the struggles of Indigenous Australians and environmental issues, themes that were central to the band's activism.

Watch and listen

Explore the Album

Midnight Oil - Diesel and Dust

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Then

Reception

Diesel and Dust achieved significant success, reaching No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart for six weeks. Critically acclaimed, *Diesel and Dust* was named the best album of 1988 by Rolling Stone editors and ranked as the 13th greatest record of the 1980s by the magazine.

Full background

The Complete Album Story

"Diesel and Dust" is the sixth studio album by the Australian rock band Midnight Oil, released in August 1987 under the SPRINT Music label in association with Columbia Records. Produced by Warne Livesey and the band, it is a concept album addressing the struggles of Indigenous Australians and environmental issues, themes that were central to the band's activism.

The album was inspired by the Blackfella/Whitefella Tour, which took Midnight Oil and other artists like the Warumpi Band and Gondwanaland to remote Indigenous communities in 1986. Diesel and Dust achieved significant success, reaching No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart for six weeks.

Critically acclaimed, *Diesel and Dust* was named the best album of 1988 by Rolling Stone editors and ranked as the 13th greatest record of the 1980s by the magazine. It was also listed at number 1 in the book *100 Best Australian Albums* in October 2010 and placed at No. 5 in Rolling Stone Australia's "200 Greatest Albums of All Time" countdown in December 2021.