''Place Without a Postcard'' is the third studio album by Australian rock band Midnight Oil, released in November 1981 under Sprint Music and the Columbia Records label. It peaked at No. 12 on the Kent Music Report albums chart and the related singles "

Don't Wanna Be the One "Don't Wanna Be the One" is a song by Australian rock band Midnight Oil, released in October 1981 as the lead single from the band's third studio album, '' Place without a Postcard''. The song peaked at no. 40 in Australia. Track listing # "Don' ...

" and "

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, Fran ...

" reached the associated Top 40 chart.

Background

The band's third LP ''Place Without a Postcard'', released by

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

in November 1981, was recorded in Sussex with English producer

Glyn Johns Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an English musician, recording engineer and record producer. Biography Early history Johns was born in Epsom, Surrey, England. He had three siblings, two older sisters and a younger brother, Andy ...

(

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

) at a studio/barn on Johns' property. Creative tensions between the band and Johns plagued the recording and the group were not totally happy with the outcome. Johns had an arrangement with

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

and they asked Midnight Oil to return to the studio to record material suitable for an American single release – the group refused and returned to Australia. ''Place without a Postcard'' peaked at No. 12 on the albums charts and related singles "

" (No. 40) and "

" reached the Top 40 in Australia. Cover and other photography by Robert Butcher.

Critical reception

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' praised the "fatter sound and more focused songs." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' wrote that "the experimentation yielded valuable lessons, and James Moginie, the group's most prolific composer, also began to jell his distinctive guitar sound, as well as creatively exploring keyboards."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's William Ruhlmann wrote: "Midnight Oil went to England to record and turned to a major label (CBS Records) and a name producer (Glyn Johns) for its third full-length album. You might have expected this to make for a sonic breakthrough, but you'd be wrong. The band was experiencing growing pains, trying to stretch musically, and, at least at first, this made for a dilution of their hard rock focus moving toward a pop style they hadn't fully developed. ''Place Without a Postcard'' had its share of powerfully performed songs, but its sound was light compared to the band's first two albums, the stylistic experiments were not yet bearing fruit, and, with an emphasis placed on the vocals, Peter Garrett sounded overly strident."Ruhlmann, William
''Place without a Postcard'' review

. Retrieved 15 September 2018.

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

Personnel

;Midnight Oil *

Peter Garrett Peter Robert Garrett (born 16 April 1953) is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and former politician. In 1973, Garrett became the lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil. As a performer he is known for his signa ...

– lead vocals *

Peter Gifford Peter Gifford (born 5 April 1955), sometimes known as "Giffo," is an Australian musician. From 1980 until 1987, he played bass guitar, Chapman Stick and sang backing vocals for Australian rock band Midnight Oil. Midnight Oil Gifford is credi ...

– bass, vocals *

Rob Hirst Robert George Hirst (born 3 September 1955) is an Australian musician from Camden, New South Wales. He is a founding member of rock band Midnight Oil on drums, percussion and backing vocals (sometimes lead vocals) from the 1970s until the band ...

– drums, vocals *

Jim Moginie James Moginie (born 18 May 1956) is an Australian musician. He is best known for his work with Midnight Oil, of which he is a founding member, guitarist, keyboardist and leading songwriter. Career In addition to Midnight Oil, Moginie has work ...

– guitars, keyboards * Martin Rotsey – guitars ;Production *

- production, engineering * Sean Fullen - assistant engineer ;Design * Robert Butcher - design, album cover photo

References

External links

Midnight Oil
{{Authority control Midnight Oil albums Sprint Music albums 1981 albums Albums produced by Glyn Johns