Still recording on their own Powderworks label,
Midnight Oil broke through to commercial success in their native Australia with their second album,
Head Injuries, which, like their debut, was a record full of tightly arranged, furiously played and sung, fast-paced rock & roll numbers. Lead singer
Peter Garrett, singing angry, sometimes politically oriented (but not, at least to international listeners, entirely clear) lyrics, took a backseat to the guitar work of
Jim Moginie and
Martin Rotsey and especially to the driving drumming of
Rob Hirst.
Head Injuries was a stirring collection that served notice
Midnight Oil was ready to compete beyond the borders of Australia.