Place without a Postcard

Background

The band's third LP Place Without a Postcard, released by CBS Records in November 1981, was recorded in Sussex with English producer Glyn Johns (The Rolling Stones, The Who) 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 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 "Don’t Wanna be the One" (No. 40) and "Armistice Day" reached the Top 40 in Australia. Cover and other photography by Robert Butcher.

Reception

The album scored 3/5 from Allmusic.

From iTunes: "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."

Personnel