In Brief

* * * Midnight Oil, “Earth and Sun and Moon,” Columbia. You could fault these Aussies for never straying from the course of politically charged melodic rock they’ve followed for a decade and a half, or you could praise them for consistently turning out thoughtful, tuneful albums. It’s hard not to take the second tack when listening to “Earth,” which is practically bursting with Peter Garrett’s big, wrenching vocals and the band’s expressive playing.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).