Blue Sky Mining (Remastered)

So, there was a time in the '80s or '90s that saw a flood of great Aussie bands. Not the Men At Work and Crocodile Dundee set. Churning out driving tracks and scathing enviro warning lyrics was Midnight Oil, the best of them all. This is a great collection overall. My personal recommendatiions include Blue Sky Mine, Forgotten Years, King of the Mountain and One Country. Thirty years later, we're starting to understand their warnings and their rage.

I first bought the original-issue cassette of "Blue Sky Mining" in 1990. I upgraded to CD eventually and always thought it was a great album. It caused me to dig deeper into their back catalog. It seemed though that the older CDs sounded better than the new ones. CDs like "Diesel and Dust" and especially "Blue Sky" were starting to show their age. The original CD releases could not compete with the rest of the music world, sonically. Then in the late 2000s they started re-releasing their old albums in digital format, remastered. The results could not have been more pleasing. It opened up the recordings in unimaginable ways. In particular "Red Sails in the Sunset," originally released on LP format in 1984, naturally, but seems meant for the digital age. The only one they released in CD format was their biggest hit, "Diesel and Dust," and oddly it's the weakest re-master from a sound standpoint. But "Blue Sky" was not among them. I waited and watched. I'd do web searches from 2008 on, trying to figure out when the BSM re-master was going to drop. 2010 passed (perfect opportunity for a 20-year Anniversary Edition, right?). then 2011, then 2012, 2013, almost all of 2014 and no BSM. But just this October I looked and there it was, just sitting there. In fact on the title it's known as "Blue Sky Mining (2011 Remaster). 2011?? Where has it been? Well I don't care. I'm just glad it's here. I downloaded it immediately. the burned CD is in my car now. What an astonishing album this is. Until you can feel and hear the full range of sound a good re-master can bring. It's like hearing it for the first time. And sonically it's as good if not better than new albums being released by current artists. The sophistication of this album, its lyrics, its arrangements and soundscapes, blends right into today's music landscape. that said, now where is the re-master of "Earth And Sun and Moon," Midnight Oil's best album? I will be looking. It may be out there already.