PunBB

To start, it seems alot of us Hipfans will always hold the older tunes in a higher place than the new ones. Perhaps this is because we all got hooked on the band by listening to Road Apples or Day for Night. No doubt many of us loved World Container and found the new tunes great in their own way, but they could never stand beside our old favourites. I wonder if in 6-8 years, and 3 or 4 albums later, we may look back on WC, and think of it the way we think of Phantom Power or Fully Completely today. We may go to shows in 2016 and say "Man I wish they would break out Kids Don't Get it once in a while," or "I'd lose it if they surprised us with The Drop Off tonight!"

I'm not sure what made me think of this, maybe the news of the new album. I always feel a bit nervous when a new album comes out that it's going to immediately be compared to our old favourites and automatically it starts out behind the 8-ball.

I was thinking to myself that there are certain songs on WC that when played live a few years down the road, will have the same special place in the set that some do now.

For example:
World Container is like a modern day Long Time Running
The Drop Off has the feel of a new age Inevitability of Death

I'm not sure what my point is exactly, just getting the brain going on a rainy Thursday....thoughts?

I agree with you that hip albums and tours are like good bottles of wine i.e. As we look back on them they build character with time.

For me Each album and tour (takes on a life of their own). It's a meeting of the new music and what is going on in my life at that very moment. That's how I remember it...who I went to the shows with, what venues I went to, what personal triumphs or screw ups were going on.

The old Hip and new Hip discussion goes on all the time but the Live Hip is the same Hip, intense, challenging, fun exciting, different you know what I'm saying.

I was introduced to the Hip when I worked in a record store in Bangor, Maine in college in the early 90's. Got a promo for "Fully Completely" in the mail, put it in, and was hooked from that moment. I still believe it's their best record but I would acknowledge that nostalgia plays a part in that belief. When I first talked to fans of the band (lots of fine Canadian folks in line at shows in Maine since for myriad reasons so many Americans JUST DON'T GET IT) they would list "Up To Here" or "Road Apples" as their faves for maybe the same reasons I would select FC. That being said, one could easily argue PP or IVL are superior albums. This is not a band that burned brightly at their outset and faded away. To me, "The Drop-Off" is a classic on par with "50 Mission Cap" or "Nautical Disaster", songs that stopped me in my tracks and brought me back again and again. I hope songs like "The Drop-Off", "Yer Not the Ocean" and "Silver Jet" don't become rare live surprises as new albums come out- they deserve to be staples like "Wheat Kings" or "New Orleans is Sinking" (that one could honestly be retired for a couple of yours, though I'm probably in the minority there).