10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 is the fourth studio album by Midnight Oil that was released on vinyl in 1982 under the Columbia Records label. It peaked at No. 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and remained on the chart for 171 weeks.^[1] It also became the band's first album to be released in the US, where it peaked at number 178 on the Billboard 200.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Studio album by Midnight Oil
Released	November 1982
Recorded	September 1982
Studio	Townhouse (London)
Length	45:55
Label	Sprint Music / Columbia
Producer	Nick Launay & Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil chronology
Place without a Postcard (1981) 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (1982) Red Sails in the Sunset (1984)
Singles from 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
"US Forces" Released: November 1982 "Power and the Passion" Released: March 1983 "Read About It" Released: 1983

At the 1982 Countdown Music Awards, the album was nominated for Best Australian Album.^[2][3]

In October 2010, the album was listed in the top 30 in the book 100 Best Australian Albums, with 1987's Diesel and Dust at No. 1.^[4] In July 2011, the album was listed in Triple J Hottest 100 Australian Albums of All Time, 2011 at number 21.^[5] In December 2021, the album was listed at no. 19 in Rolling Stone Australia’s ‘200 Greatest Albums of All Time’ countdown.^[6]

Content

The album's closing track "Somebody's Trying to Tell Me Something" contains a note held by the group which would continue into the album's runout groove, and emulated on the CD version for just over 40 seconds. This is an approximation of a locked groove, a method used a number of times on vinyl albums (such as Diamond Dogs and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) where the ending sound would continue into the runout groove, thus continuing indefinitely until the turntable arm was lifted off or the automatic return, present on some turntables, kicked in.

Garrett noted, "We wanted, as a band, to make this album lyrically stronger, because these are fucking desperate times. It's very important for us to get immediate, because we can't go on making records like this for years and years and people can't go on ignoring it."^[7]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[8]
Rolling Stone	^[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[10]
The Village Voice	C+^[11]

Mark Deming at AllMusic wrote: "It's remarkably listenable and catchy, offering up one passionate anthem after another. The band's politics are both well considered and unapologetically upfront throughout... 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 was [Midnight Oil's] first undeniably great album and still ranks with their very best."^[8] The Sun-Herald said, "This extraordinary collection of songs marked the evolution of Midnight Oil from explosive live band to studio act capable of great invention without ever sounding poxy."^[12]

David Fricke said the album, "sounds like the end of the world turned up to 10".^[7]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Outside World"	Moginie	4:24
2.	"Only the Strong"	Hirst, Moginie	4:31
3.	"Short Memory"	Garrett, Hirst, Moginie	3:52
4.	"Read About It"	Garrett, Hirst, Moginie	3:52
5.	"Scream in Blue"	Garrett, Moginie, Rotsey	6:22

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"US Forces"	Garrett, Moginie	4:06
7.	"Power and the Passion"	Garrett, Hirst, Moginie	5:39
8.	"Maralinga"	Garrett, Moginie	4:44
9.	"Tin Legs and Tin Mines"	Garrett, Moginie, Rotsey	4:28
10.	"Somebody's Trying to Tell Me Something"	Garrett, Gifford, Hirst, Moginie, Rotsey	3:58

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1982+)	Peak position
Australian Kent Music Report^[13]	3
Canada (RPM)^[14]	98
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[15]	5

Year-end charts

Chart (1983)	Position
Australian Kent Music Report^[13]	2
Chart (1984)	Position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[16]	37

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[17]	7× Platinum	490,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)^[18]	Platinum	15,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

Midnight Oil

• Peter Garrett – lead vocals
• Peter Gifford – bass, vocals
• Rob Hirst – drums, vocals
• Jim Moginie – guitars, keyboards
• Martin Rotsey – guitars

Additional personnel

• Gary Barnacle, Peter Thoms & Luke Tunney – brass (on "Power and the Passion")

References

1. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
2. "Australian Music Awards". Ron Jeff. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
3. "Final episode of Countdown". 1970scountdown. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
4. O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
5. "Countdown #7 | Hottest 100 Australian Albums Of All Time | triple j". www.abc.net.au. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
6. Rolling Stone’s 200 Greatest Australian Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone Australia, Rolling Stone Australia, 06 December 2021. Retrieved 06 December 2021.
7. Toby Creswell and Martin Fabinyi (2000). The Real Thing. Random House. p. 137. ISBN 0091835488.
8. Deming, Mark. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – Midnight Oil". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
9. Puterbaugh, Parke (27 October 1983). . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
10. Fricke, David (2004). "Midnight Oil". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 541–42. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
11. Christgau, Robert (21 February 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
12. Peter Holmes (1 November 1998). "Rock of Ages". The Sun-Herald.
13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
14. "RPM100 Albums". RPM, March 3, 1984.
15. "Charts.nz – Midnight Oil – 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
16. "Top Selling Albums of 1984 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
17. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
18. "Official Top 40 Albums". Recorded Music NZ. 10 June 1984. Retrieved 6 December 2022.