''The Real Thing'' is a mostly acoustic
live album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by
Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by ...
, which includes four additional studio recordings, among them a cover version of
Russell Morris's classic "
The Real Thing". It was initially issued in Australia with a bonus disk of interview material listed as containing 2 tracks ("Interview" and "Track by track") but the CD was divided into 30 tracks, dividing the interview up so that past albums and each track on "The Real Thing" gets a short discussion followed by snippet from the album or song being discussed. Later international releases had a bonus disk with videos of "Cemetery In My Mind" and "Redneck Wonderland".
Like the band's previous live album
Scream in Blue
''Scream in Blue'' is a live album by Midnight Oil that was released in May 1992 under the Columbia Records label. It contains songs carefully culled from 5 live concerts recorded over a 9-year period. The audiences sound quite large, but also ...
, it was not included in the ''Full Tank'' box set, but three of the four studio tracks appear on the b-sides disc of the ''Overflow Tank'' box set (the fourth is included on ''Full Tank'' as part of
Capricornia).
Track listing
# "
The Real Thing" (
Johnny Young) 3:32 (studio recording)
# "Say Your Prayers" (Moginie) 4:27 (studio recording, first released on the album ''Liberdade - Viva East Timor'' in 1999)
# "Spirit of the Age" (Garrett, Moginie) 3:11 (studio recording)
# "Feeding Frenzy" (Garrett, Moginie) 6:02 –
The Metro Theatre
The Metro Theatre (commonly the Metro) is a music venue located on George Street, in the city centre of Sydney, Australia. The venue was redeveloped, from two former cinemas, by property developer Leon Fink.
The foyer of the Metro, designed by ...
,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
(October 1994)
# "Tell Me the Truth" (Garrett, Moginie) 3:36 –
The Metro Theatre
The Metro Theatre (commonly the Metro) is a music venue located on George Street, in the city centre of Sydney, Australia. The venue was redeveloped, from two former cinemas, by property developer Leon Fink.
The foyer of the Metro, designed by ...
,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
(October 1994)
# "
The Dead Heart
"The Dead Heart" is a song by Australian rock band Midnight Oil. It was first released as a single in Australia in 1986 and in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1988 after it had been included on the 1987 album, '' Diesel and Dust''. ...
" (Garrett, Hirst, Moginie) 6:04 –
The Metro Theatre
The Metro Theatre (commonly the Metro) is a music venue located on George Street, in the city centre of Sydney, Australia. The venue was redeveloped, from two former cinemas, by property developer Leon Fink.
The foyer of the Metro, designed by ...
,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
(October 1994)
# "Tin Legs and Tin Mines" (Garrett, Gifford, Moginie, Rotsey) 4:43 –
The Metro Theatre
The Metro Theatre (commonly the Metro) is a music venue located on George Street, in the city centre of Sydney, Australia. The venue was redeveloped, from two former cinemas, by property developer Leon Fink.
The foyer of the Metro, designed by ...
,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
(October 1994)
# "Short Memory" (Garrett, Hirst, Moginie) 4:53 –
The Metro Theatre
The Metro Theatre (commonly the Metro) is a music venue located on George Street, in the city centre of Sydney, Australia. The venue was redeveloped, from two former cinemas, by property developer Leon Fink.
The foyer of the Metro, designed by ...
,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
(October 1994)
# "In the Valley" (Garrett, Hirst, Moginie) 3:31 – Sony Studios
NYC (April 1993) for
MTV Unplugged
# "Blue Sky Mine" (Garrett, Hillman, Hirst, Moginie, Rotsey) 4:25 –
The Metro Theatre
The Metro Theatre (commonly the Metro) is a music venue located on George Street, in the city centre of Sydney, Australia. The venue was redeveloped, from two former cinemas, by property developer Leon Fink.
The foyer of the Metro, designed by ...
,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
(October 1994)
# "
US Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
" (Garrett, Moginie) 4:24 –
The Metro Theatre
The Metro Theatre (commonly the Metro) is a music venue located on George Street, in the city centre of Sydney, Australia. The venue was redeveloped, from two former cinemas, by property developer Leon Fink.
The foyer of the Metro, designed by ...
,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
(October 1994)
# "Warakurna" (Moginie) 4:27 – Sony Studios
NYC (April 1993) for
MTV Unplugged
# "
Truganini" (Hirst, Moginie) 4:37 – Sony Studios
NYC (April 1993) for
MTV Unplugged
# "The Last of the Diggers" (Hirst) 4:19 (studio recording)
Personnel
Midnight Oil
*
Peter Garrett - lead vocals, harmonica
*
Bones Hillman - bass, vocals
*
Rob Hirst - drums, vocals
*
Jim Moginie - guitars, organ, harmonium, autoharp
*
Martin Rotsey
Martin Rotsey is an Australian guitarist and a member of the rock band Midnight Oil, which was active from 1977 to 2002 and resumed performing together in 2017.
Career
In 2006, he joined fellow Midnight Oil member Rob Hirst's projects Ghostwrit ...
- guitars
Additional personnel
*
Chris Abrahams
Christopher Robert Lionel Abrahams (born 1961, Oamaru, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-born, Australian-based musician. He is a founding mainstay member of experimental, jazz trio the Necks (1987–present), he collaborated with Melanie Oxley as ...
- piano, organ (on all live tracks)
*Basheri - percussion (on MTV Unplugged tracks)
*Sunil de Silva - percussion (on all other live tracks)
*
Charlie McMahon
Charlie McMahon (born in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney, 1951) is an Australian didgeridoo player. The founder of the group Gondwanaland, McMahon was one of the first non- Aboriginal musicians to gain fame as a professional player of the ...
-
Didgeridoo
The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...
(on "The Dead Heart")
Horns on "Say Your Prayers":
*Stewart Kirwan - trumpet
*Andrew Bickers - tenor saxophone
*Anthony Kable - trombone
Charts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Real Thing, The
Midnight Oil live albums
2000 live albums