Blue Sky Mining
by Midnight Oil

Blue Sky Mining by Midnight Oil
Year: 1990
Release date: 1990-02-09
Overall rank: 2,113th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 172 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1990 (28th)
Award Top albums of of the 1990s (370th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,113th)

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Midnight Oil bestography

Blue Sky Mining is ranked 3rd best out of 28 albums by Midnight Oil on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Midnight Oil is Diesel And Dust which is ranked number 938 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,855.

Midnight Oil album bestography « Higher ranked (1,812th)
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
This album (2,113th)
Blue Sky Mining
Lower ranked (4,124th) »
Red Sails In The Sunset

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Blue Sky Mining rankings

Blue Sky Mining rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,113th | 1990s rank: 370th | 1990 rank: 28th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 1 hour ago).
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 hoyquarlowTop 50 Music Albums of the 1990s31/508
2026 RomanelliMy Overall Chart: 401-50099/100 -
2026joathomeTop 42 Music Albums of 19901/425
2026stangetzawayTop 29 Music Albums of 19906/294
2026 dihansseTop 100 Greatest Music Albums26/10075
2026RiveraTop 100 Music Albums of the 1990s90/1002
2026 ExTeaSeaTop 71 Music Albums of 199017/714
2026 PurplepashTop 72 Music Albums of 199055/721
2026 TamthebamTop 100 Music Albums of 199034/1003
2026stangetzawayBest Australian Albums62/100 -
2026 cestuneblagueTop 100 Music Albums of 199097/1000
2026stangetzawayTop 100 Music Albums of the 1990s54/1009
2026cicadelicQ magazine Recordings Of The Year 199024/50 -
2026 rambleon80Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s39/10012
2026 TerryTezzaTop 100 Greatest Music Albums34/10067
2026stevengnzTop 93 Music Albums of 199078/931
2026 paladisiac1990s 65rating (65), #001-100*26/62 -
2026 LeonardTop 100 Music Albums of 199058/1002
2026 dihansseTop 74 Music Albums of 19902/745
2026matterhornriderTop 45 Music Albums of 199022/453
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 133
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 787
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Blue Sky Mining collection

Blue Sky Mining ratings

Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 172 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 172 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
 !
05/13/2026 12:35 Strangel  Ratings distribution  1,00674/100
 
70/100
 !
04/07/2026 08:34 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  15,30570/100
 
80/100
 !
03/28/2026 21:05 TheHutts  Ratings distribution  2,09376/100
 
80/100
 !
03/18/2026 13:37 Rafion  Ratings distribution  93779/100
 
85/100
 !
01/27/2026 00:05 stangetzaway  Ratings distribution  2,31084/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 11% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.6/100, a mean average of 74.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.2.


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Blue Sky Mining favourites

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Blue Sky Mining comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 11 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
90/100
May not have the "classic" vibe of Diesel and Dust, but I think Blue Sky Mining is superior, truly Midnight Oil's finest. Songs are more varied, catchier and more passionate.

Standouts ; Blue Sky Mine, Mountains of Burma, Shakers and Movers, Antarctica.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 01/05/2018 11:15 | #204613
Big MO fan but I've never understood the hype around this album , the only track I love is 'One Country' with the remainder so so . lyrically great , musically disappointing.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
This is one of my overall top 100 albums which you can check out with additionele comments.
Although the predecessor of this album "Diesel and Dust" is maybe better known, this "Blue Sky Mining" is certainly the best of the Australian band Midnight Oil.
Although Peter Garett is maybe not the best singer and maybe the preacher in him is sometimes a bit too present, there is something magical about the songs on this album, going from the somewhat symphonic sound on tracks like "Shakers and Movers" to very energetic tracks ready for stadion rock singing like "Forgotten years".
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 10/28/2015 14:18 | #152167
In 1990 they pushed it on the cover of the "famous" "wom magazine" - and I bought it!!!
OK its radio music!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 10/11/2014 22:51 | #124139
very good album, love midnight oil
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 10/18/2012 11:44 | #52614
This is very average album. Not bad but nothing special.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From 10/11/2012 23:01 | #52136
Mountains of Burma stands out above the rest.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 10/04/2012 17:14 | #51728
Not as strong as Diesel and Dust, but still worth a listen.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Blue sky mine and King of the mountain are great singles.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
One Country was a beautiful Oils song that stands with anything they ever did together.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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