Reviewed by Peter Bate

Following 1996's lacklustre LP 'Breathe', Aussie earth-shakers Midnight Oil released a greatest hits album and recharged their batteries. Obviously the break did them good. Subtlety was never their forte, but the ferocious guitars and breakneck grooves that leap from the speakers on 'Redneck Wonderland' belong to a bullish band at the start of their career, not one almost two decades into it. Peter Garrett some-times speaks, sometimes screams venomous social tracts on numbers like "Blot" and "Cemetery In My Mind", complete with a vein-throbbing chorus which rivals their best. Christian references are, as you'd expect, lingering in the background rather than staring at you straight on: "Give me your sermon on the mount/Give me your final account," begs Garrett on "Comfortable Place On The Couch". Some of the songs could do with a melody to match their vitality, but that aside, 'Redneck Wonderland' proves the Midnight Oil is burning more fiercely than ever.

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