This disc is good as far as it goes. It says oppression exists and alienates, but not much more.
The lead cut, "Blue Sky Mine," covers the plight of mine workers who must toil in the Blue Sky Mine to put bread on the table. There are only obscure allusions to what should be done to end the mine workers' pain: "Who's gonna save me?/I pray that sense and reason brings us in/Who's gonna save me?/We've nothing to fear." This lack of analysis plagues the album as a whole.
While the words are clear and meant to be understood, Midnight Oil doesn't have a vision of revolution. It's certainly a benefit that the lyrics are included, and indication that their songs are to be read and thought through. There are songs against bourgeois technology, hero worship and opportunist politicians. But others wander into Christian-type utopia. "Bedlam Bridge" talks about a captive city, but waits for God or somebody to save it. Who knows? Midnight Oil shows some concept of history in "Forgotten Years." A revolutionary reading of this song says it sings about society after the revolution (sometime in the future) and warns that "Seasons of war and grace/These should not be forgotten years."
Revolutionaries know that there will have to be an ongoing, probably bloody struggle to achieve permanent peace As with most of their tunes, "Forgotten Years" could be a naive peacenik song condemning war and politics; Midnight Oil never tells us. The line "It reeks of politics" is heartening in that career politicians give political thought a bad name with the masses, but it doesn't show much substance. "Mountains of Burma" is the group's most progressive song. "We vote for a government/With axes in its eyes.... We feed an economy/It's got blood on its hands/Mountains of Burma." These are lyrics that speak to Third World oppression and colonialism in general. Still, the song is not specific to Burma, leaving the critical listener wondering. Midnight Oil brings the message of the oppressed without the solution of revolution. Maybe they'll figure it out. Or maybe they're full of crap like the people who promote Third World clothes and green buying at their concerts.