After the two huge successes that were "Diesel And Dust" (1987) and "Blue Sky Mining" (1990), and the endless tours that followed, Midnight Oil took a long break (used to release the live "Screaming In Blue"). This one will be heavy of consequences for them and "Earth And Sun And Moon" marks the beginning of the international commercial decline of the band, which will however remain very popular in Australia.
And when listening to this one, one has to wonder about this change of status, as this tenth album sounds good next to its glorious elders, and as all the ingredients were gathered to make this record a new classic.
Indeed "Earth And Sun And Moon" contains many potential hits, like the catchy 'Truganini' or the darker 'Bushfire'. In the list of the very good tracks, we can add 'In The Valley' which combines effective chorus and melody full of Folk, 'My Country', a pamphlet on the consequences of the excess of patriotism and on its drifts, or still 'Feeding Frenzy' and its very 70's atmosphere coming from the use of a Hammond organ and a Mellotron. Midnight Oil even tries for the first time to compose a love song, 'Outbreak Of Love'.
"Earth And Sun And Moon" is therefore an excellent album from Midnight Oil. Maybe its release was spoiled by the slight polemic induced by the title 'Truganini' which deals with the condition of the Aborigines through the portrait of 2 Australian natives (the artist Albert Namatjira and Truganini, the so-called last Aborigine of Tasmania), in terms that made the record to be boycotted by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre? Anyway, this record is to be classified among the 3 or 4 best albums of Midnight Oil.