Oz Rock Classics

Friends, Aussies, countrymen (and women) lend us your ears — we're about to take it loud and proud, with a handpicked, homegrown collection of untouchable tracks from the Oz Rock vaults. These are the tunes that shaped our musical identity, bottled the passion of an entire nation, and won global admiration and adoration for Australia's unique, trailblazing rock 'n' roll mission. The Saints light the touch-paper with their groundbreaking, brilliantly corrosive punk standard from 1976, "(I'm) Stranded," closely followed by the Easybeats' "Friday On My Mind" — voted the Best Australian Song ever by the Australasian Performing Right Assn. — and Midnight Oil's politically charged signature, "Beds Are Burning." Nick Cave delivers his career masterstroke, and the Angels power through the late-'70s, in Next Steps.

Our Classic Oz Rock overview continues with tracks lovingly plucked from a broad swathe of decades, including the hard rockin' '70s, when the Angels hit their stride and pitched up with "Take a Long Line" from 1978's powerhouse landmark Face to Face, the new wave surfing '80s — which produced Crowded House's finest moment (of many fine moments) in rock balladry, "Don't Dream It's Over" — and the never-outgunned '90s, when Nick Cave stripped back his fuller band arrangements and entranced us with the intimate character-driven narratives of his masterwork The Boatman's Call (1997): "Into My Arms" works its still-strong magic with subtlety and understatement. Trace a line from Rose Tattoo to Grinspoon, via INXS, in Deep Cuts.

The cream of the Oz Rock crop sounds as sweet as ever here, as the still-active Little River Band takes us back to 1977's Diamantina Cocktail with "Help Is On Its Way," and INXS deals up a straight flush of diamond-edged guitars and heart-skewering lust, "Need You Tonight," which reached the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1987. Post-grunge poster boys Grinspoon grew up big-time with second album New Detention (2002), which featured the magnificently constructed "Chemical Heart," and Rose Tattoo cut the ultimate salute to defiance, "We Can't Be Beaten," a hard-rockin' highlight on 1982's international breakthrough, Scarred for Life.

Crack open a cold one, rock lovers, and crank up your stereo to the max — we're about to celebrate the greatest artists in Oz Rock history, from Sunbury stalwart Billy Thorpe to young guns JET and Wolfmother. These are the tracks that connect city and outback, surf and cement, young and old, lion and lamb, shrimp and barbie, grain and grape . . . songs that have ensured out nation stands united as a staunch force in the rock 'n' roll cosmos. The national bloodline passes through those die-hard agents of hard-rock rebellion Rose Tattoo and the Angels, '70s crazies Skyhooks, '80s heroes the Hunners, INXS and the Hoodoo Gurus, and a fistful of the brightest icons who continued to pass the torch: the Cruel Sea, Powderfinger, Silverchair . . . they're all here. So plug in and play hard.