Blue Sky Mining

Blue Sky Mining
Studio album by Midnight Oil
Released	9 February 1990
Recorded	June−September 1989
Studio	Rhinoceros (Sydney, Australia)
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	46:52
Label	Columbia
Producer	Warne Livesey & Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil chronology
Diesel and Dust (1987) Blue Sky Mining (1990) The Green Disc (1990)
Singles from Blue Sky Mining
"Blue Sky Mine" Released: 29 January 1990 [1] "Forgotten Years" / "Shakers and Movers" Released: 16 April 1990 [2] "King of the Mountain" Released: 23 July 1990 [3] "Bedlam Bridge" Released: 22 October 1990 [4] "One Country" Released: 1 April 1991 [5]

Blue Sky Mining is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band Midnight Oil, released on 9 February 1990 under the Columbia Records label. ^[6] This was the band's first studio album with bassist and backing vocalist Bones Hillman, who would remain in the group until his death in 2020. It peaked at number one on the ARIA albums chart. ^[7] It stayed at number one for two weeks in Australia and had Top 5 chart success in Sweden, Switzerland and Norway. ^[8] It peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200 ^[9] and number 28 on the UK charts. ^[10] A limited release of the album featured a clear, blue vinyl.

Background

Blue Sky Mining retains the alternative rock sound and Warne Livesey production of the band's previous album, Diesel and Dust, but is "more defiant and outspoken." ^[11] The single "Blue Sky Mine" describes asbestos exposure in the Wittenoom mine tragedy. ^[12] The lead single peaked at number eight on the ARIA singles charts, ^[13] top 15 in Norway and Switzerland, ^[14] number 47 on Billboard Hot 100 and number one on both their Mainstream and Modern Rock Tracks charts, ^[15] and appeared on the UK charts. ^[16] The second single, "Forgotten Years", was more moderately successful, reaching number 26 on the ARIA singles chart, number 97 in the UK, number 11 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks, and number one on the Modern Rock Tracks.

Hirst later said, "Warne's whole thing was to get as close to aural perfection as you possibly could, or as close as we were ever going to get- and Rhino the sort of place to do it. It was indulgent, excessive, and it was the kind of luxury that's afforded to bands with a hit album, which we had." Moginie added, "I didn't realise that we were making a commercial record and we certainty never set out to. We ended up going for good songs and lots of acoustic guitars, and it worked." ^[17]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[18]
Chicago Sun-Times	[19]
Daily News	[20]
Entertainment Weekly	B [21]
Los Angeles Times	[22]
NME	8/10 [23]
Orlando Sentinel	[24]
Q	[25]
Rolling Stone	[26]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[27]

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1991, Midnight Oil won 'Best Group' and an 'Outstanding Achievement Award', and were awarded 'Best Cover Art', 'Best Video' and 'Album of the Year' for Blue Sky Mining. ^{[28] [29]} Manager Gary Morris, accepting awards for Midnight Oil, was criticised for a speech lasting 20 minutes. ^{[29] [30]}

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Blue Sky Mine"	Garrett, Hillman, Hirst, Moginie, Rotsey	4:18
2.	"Stars of Warburton"	Garrett, Moginie	4:43
3.	"Bedlam Bridge"	Hirst	4:25
4.	"Forgotten Years"	Hirst, Moginie	4:21
5.	"Mountains of Burma"	Hirst	4:50

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"King of the Mountain"	Hirst, Moginie	3:58
7.	"River Runs Red"	Hirst, Moginie	5:28
8.	"Shakers and Movers"	Garrett, Moginie	4:32
9.	"One Country"	Garrett, Moginie	5:56
10.	"Antarctica"	Garrett, Hirst, Moginie, Rotsey	4:22

Bonus track on some pressings

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"You May Not Be Released**"	Moginie	3:38

• • Some early Australian copies included the track "You May Not Be Released" - it was the B-side to a 12-inch issue of "Forgotten Years," and it is believed that this only appeared on the first 1,000 LP copies. It also appeared on early cassette copies ^{[31] [32]} and CDs. ^[33]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1990–1991) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [34] 1 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [35] 13 Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [36] 6 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [37] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [38] 27 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [39] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [40] 2 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [41] 3 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [42] 2 UK Albums (OCC) [43] 28 US Billboard 200 [44] 20

Year-end charts Chart (1990) Position Australian Albums (ARIA) [45] 3 Canadian Albums (RPM) [46] 28 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [47] 19 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [48] 8 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [49] 12 US Billboard 200 [50] 67

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [51]	5× Platinum	350,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [52]	Platinum	100,000^
France (SNEP) [53]	Platinum	300,000*
Germany (BVMI) [54]	Gold	250,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) [55]	Platinum	15,000^
Sweden (GLF) [56]	Gold	50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [57]	Platinum	50,000^
United States (RIAA) [58]	Gold	500,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

Midnight Oil

• Peter Garrett - lead vocals, harmonica
• Bones Hillman - bass, vocals
• Robert Hirst - drums, vocals
• Jim Moginie - guitars, keyboards, vocals
• Martin Rotsey - guitars

Additional personnel

• Warne Livesey - additional keyboards
• Jeremy Smith - French horn
• Phillip Hartl - String Leader
• Glad and Carl - Horn Swells

References

1. "New Release Summary: Singles". The ARIA Report . No. 3. 28 January 1990. p. 20.
2. "New Release Summary: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 14. 15 April 1990. p. 18.
3. "New Release Summary: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 28. 22 July 1990. p. 19.
4. "New Release Summary: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 41. 21 October 1990. p. 19.
5. "New Release Summary – Product Available from: 01/04/91: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 62. 31 March 1991. p. 20.
6. Holmgren, Magnus; Stenerlöv, Carl-Johan. "Midnight Oil". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
7. "Midnight Oil discography". Australian Charts Portal. Archived from the original on 29 October 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
8. "Blue Sky Mining album charting". Australian Charts Portal. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
9. "Midnight Oil – Charts & Awards – Billboard Albums". allmusic. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
10. "The Official Charts Company Midnight Oil". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 22 October 2008.
11. Gerard, Chris (4 April 2014). "50 Best Alternative Albums of the '90s". Metro Weekly . Retrieved 10 November 2025.
12. McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Midnight Oil'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . Allen & Unwin. ISBN   1-86448-768-2. Archived from the original on 13 August 2004. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
13. "Midnight Oil discography". Australian Charts Portal. Archived from the original on 29 October 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
14. ""Blue Sky Mine" single charting". Australian Charts Portal. Archived from the original on 27 November 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
15. "Midnight Oil – Charts & Awards – Billboard Albums". allmusic. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
16. "The Official Charts Company Midnight Oil". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 22 October 2008.
17. "A Studio Tour". Australian Musician. No. 14. Winter 1998. p. 15.
18. Demalon, Tom. "Blue Sky Mining – Midnight Oil". AllMusic . Retrieved 2 October 2015.
19. McLeese, Don (19 February 1990). "With its brilliant 'Blue Sky,' Midnight Oil gambles and wins". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
20. Hinckley, David (25 February 1990). "Midnight Oil Burns On". Daily News .
21. Sandow, Greg (23 February 1990). "Blue Sky Mining". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 20 January 2018.
22. Willman, Chris (25 February 1990). "Midnight Oil 'Blue Sky Mining' Columbia". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 20 January 2018.
23. Collins, Andrew (3 March 1990). "Diggers with Attitude". NME . p. 34.
24. Gettelman, Parry (16 March 1990). "Midnight Oil". Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved 2 July 2023.
25. Sutcliffe, Phil (March 1990). "Midnight Oil: Blue Sky Mining". Q . No. 42.
26. Fricke, David (22 February 1990). "Midnight Oil: Blue Sky Mining". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
27. Fricke, David (2004). "Midnight Oil". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp.  540–541. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
28. "ARIA Awards 2008: History: Winners by Artist search result for Midnight Oil". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 25 August 2008.^{[ dead link ]}
29. "ARIA Awards 2008: History: Winners by Year search result for 1991". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 24 October 2008.
30. Jenkins, Jeff; Ian Meldrum (2007). Molly Meldrum presents 50 years of rock in Australia. Melbourne: Wilkinson Publishing. pp. 21, 82, 237–241. ISBN   978-1-921332-11-1.
31. "Album FAQ - Blue Sky Mining". Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2007.
32. Personal memory. I went to the record store on release day and bought a cassette copy which included this "bonus rough mix track"
33. Physical CD media from 1990 release
34. "Australiancharts.com – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
35. "Austriancharts.at – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
36. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 9030". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
37. "Offiziellecharts.de – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
38. "Dutchcharts.nl – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
39. "Charts.nz – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
40. "Norwegiancharts.com – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
41. "Swedishcharts.com – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
42. "Swisscharts.com – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
43. "Midnight Oil | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
44. "Midnight Oil Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
45. "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums1990". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
46. "Top 100 Albums of 1990". RPM . Retrieved 1 December 2021.
47. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment . Retrieved 12 March 2021.
48. "Top Selling Albums of 1990". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
49. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1990". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
50. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
51. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved 31 December 2014.
52. "Canadian album certifications – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining". Music Canada . Retrieved 22 July 2022.
53. "French album certifications – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 22 July 2022.Select MIDNIGHT OIL and click OK. 
54. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Midnight Oil; 'Blue Sky Mining')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved 22 July 2022.
55. "New Zealand album certifications – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 20 November 2024.
56. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
57. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Blue Sky Mining')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
58. "American album certifications – Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 22 July 2022.

External links

• Midnight Oil