Breathe strips away some of the big, detailed production of
Earth and Sun and Moon, replacing it with a more direct sound while keeping the anthemic melodicism of the group's more recent records intact. The result is an album that is less ambitious than its predecessor, yet also more forceful, and
Midnight Oil sounds enlivened in this less constricted setting.
Breathe may not have the overall impact of
Diesel and Dust and
Earth and Sun and Moon, but it remains one of the group's best latter-day records. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine