PunBB

cochise Wrote:First, how sad is it that this is the finale for the "thoughts and insights" discussions..........

It doesn't have to be the end. I say we continue and do all the solo records. (Gord, Paul, Stripper's Union).

direwolf74 Wrote:

cochise Wrote:First, how sad is it that this is the finale for the "thoughts and insights" discussions..........

It doesn't have to be the end. I say we continue and do all the solo records. (Gord, Paul, Stripper's Union).

I'd rather do the videos!

I can't separate this one from "the news." Just no way.

I love Machine. That one just rocks. What a way to close the record, what a way to maybe close out their recording career. I was thrilled to hear this live in Toronto.

I also really love What Blue. What an extraordinary little love song. It's just a beautiful sentiment, hung together in a hooky, catchy way.

I didn't like it at first but I've come right around to Tired as Fuck. The line about the Mays and Junes is really great. I'm not sure what it means but I now like this one a lot.

I also like In Sarnia. I don't think it's as good as the first three I cited, but I enjoy it.

I like In A World Possessed. Some great lyrics. "God rustling in the bushes." Inspired stuff. Maybe it doesn't rock all out but it's a nice number.

Man I initially didn't like at all because of the weird warped voice. It doesn't bother me as much now but it's still not a lot.

Hot Mic is okay. Not great. Definitely not terrible. Somewhere in between.

Here, in the Dark is similar. It is, by the way, a line from Green Eggs and Ham. I wonder if Gord was going for that. Maybe.

Great Soul doesn't do much for me.

Ocean Next is pretty eerie. It's hard not to take this as a song about death. I don't know how else to take "ocean next." It's pretty dark.

Overall, I'm just glad this one got made. It's nowhere near their best album but considering the circumstances of their personal lives, it's a valiant effort.

The lyrics here though are really hard to decode. I think Gord got more cryptic as their career progressed. The lyrics are inspired and original and often brilliant but they're hard to piece together. "Better than sex and salt and vinegar chips." Super interesting line. But what on earth does that mean?

They always had brilliant lyrics that were often esoteric. But I think the stories in the songs got harder to follow as they went, and that may have been purposeful on Gord's part.

I do think it could have used a couple more songs to add to it. But maybe they had 20 good songs recorded and were intent on releasing many of the other 10 on the next album, which I would bet surfaces at some point.

It's deep and it's different and a little super dangerous. And that's not a bad thing to be.

SRK Wrote:I agree with the "hard to separate the album from the news" sentiment, so it is inevitably going to be over-rated.

While it's tough to separate it from the circumstances surrounding its release, I don't believe the album is overrated by any means. At least not for me personally. After fully absorbing it over the last two years, I think it holds up nicely as a bold and powerful statement from a band who clearly weren't finished as a creative force. I listen to it (and enjoy it) a lot more than any other latter-day Hip album. The only tracks I ever seem to skip are Hot Mic and Great Soul. And even then, I'll still listen to both of them once in a while just to hear specific moments like Gord's beautiful and emotional singing on GS and Johnny's kick-ass drumming on HM. I like how you can hear him throw his sticks down after that final little drum fill he does at the tail end of the song. That's good stuff.

This is a very strong album in my opinion and even where it feels as though the execution wasn't perfect in some places, the direction in which the band was heading, or the fact that they were trying new things (how far in or out of the spectrum of their comfort zone this move was can likely be better stated by others).

I recall the original discussion thread for this album I mentioned my love for Here, in the dark and stating that it had a real Hold Steady vibe to it. I know Gord was a fan of the band. I feel as though there was a punk side that Gord was wanting to explore further (done so in some of his solo work). Upon my first list this was the stand out track for me.

Machine is honestly one of the best things they've ever recorded. I've only watched the LTR doc once, but forever etched in my memory is the shot of Gord dancing and smiling during the solo near the end of this song. This song was awesome live. Under different circumstances I think they could have done some real cool things with this song and Man live.

Speaking of Man/Machine and LTR there was a portion of the doc where some lyrics for these songs were overlaid on the screen and there was some lyrics that I don't think were used in either song where it spoke about the man's? job was to write and he would do so before bed and drift off to sleep only to find out when he awakes that he had written something along the lines of I do what I hate. Can anyone help me out here? Watching it I thought this is an awesome lyric and wonder if it could be part of the shadow album?

Hot Mic would be the one song I have never connected with on this album and I seem to have a love/hate relationship with TAF - it was definitely more enjoyable live than on the album.

FourPistols Wrote:Ocean Next is pretty eerie. It's hard not to take this as a song about death. I don't know how else to take "ocean next." It's pretty dark.

Overall, I'm just glad this one got made. It's nowhere near their best album but considering the circumstances of their personal lives, it's a valiant effort.

The lyrics here though are really hard to decode. I think Gord got more cryptic as their career progressed. The lyrics are inspired and original and often brilliant but they're hard to piece together. "Better than sex and salt and vinegar chips." Super interesting line. But what on earth does that mean?

I think Ocean Next is about overthinking. As in, focusing always on what's in front of our nose (including sex and potato chips), forgetting there is a much bigger world and our shit isn't that important.

"A word is worth a thousand pictures." - Elie Wiesel

Like others, it is tricky to separate this album from the news of Gord's diagnosis. I got the email while I was getting my coffee ready in the morning and I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Couldn't believe it was real and was emotional every time I heard the news over the next few days.

On release day, I had nothing to do at work so I sat down with headphones and started streaming. Listened to the album all the way through probably ten times that morning before hitting up my record store to buy the CD later in the day. I had ordered the LP but had CD copies of everything else so figured I should have the complete catalogue on the same medium. Listened to this in my car continuously for at least a couple of months and when it came out, it was only to replace it with other releases in the lead up to seeing them in Ottawa.

Some of mentioned that it is only ten tracks but it never really felt that short when I was listening; checking the length (just over 40 minutes), it is longer than NFPA and relatively close to UTH and WC in terms of duration.

The things that caught my attention from the first listen was the amount of reverb on the vocal track and also where the drums were in the mix. I find the drum sounds a little off on a couple of tracks but overall really like the drumming on this and the choice to push the drums to the front. The reverb seemed like an odd choice to me but not bad; just different.

Having listened to this extensively after the release until final show in August, I then took a bit of a break from it and when I've come back, it always feels solid. I really enjoy this album and if it ends up being the end (fingers crossed the half an album Robbie has mentioned is finished enough to become an EP) then it was a wonderful way to cap an amazing catalogue.

Shane

Honestly, while it undoubtedly concerns creativity and its attendant concerns, I also think "Ocean Next" is as much about death as anything else. And no, I do NOT mean GD wrote it with his illness in mind (it preceded his illness). But the sea is the land's end, has long been a metaphor for passing past life (think of Tenneyson's "Crossing the Bar"); and that sense of gradually approaching a destination while thinking things like

be happy, it's all you leave

combined with the ghostly sound of this haunting track, make it hard for me not believe that death is not a presence in this song.

("It's better than sex/or salt n vinegar chips" is classic Gord, incidentally :wink: )

It took many listens for me to get into this album, but now I'm on board. I wish there were one or two more songs on it.

World Possessed still makes me emotional when I listen to it, almost 2 years later. I know everything was written before the diagnosis. I loved it the first time I heard it.

I personally appreciated Tired AF because I was suffering from extreme insomnia in 2016.

What Blue is beautiful - I love the lyrics "what drove and drives you drove and drives me too."

GD continues his theme of repeating lyrics - "colours of justice" and "in awe of no one" in both World Possessed and Hot Mic.

Is this the only album by any artist whose title is the same as a previously released song on a different album?

direwolf74 Wrote:And I seem to be in the minority on this one as well, but I kinda dig Great Soul. I agree it sounds somewhat unfinished and probably should have been a b-side. But from a purely musical standpoint it's got a cool, swampy groove, and I really like the guitars. Gord's vocal performance is fantastic, particularly when he hits the "oh great soul, from the india of my dreams" part. Yea, it's not their best song by any means. But it's a cool jam nonetheless.

Nope - I like it too, "the india of my dreams" is the best part.

senrab Wrote:Is this the only album by any artist whose title is the same as a previously released song on a different album?

I can't think of any previous situations where a song showed up as the subsequent album title. Only thing that comes close is Zeppelin with Houses of the Holy. In that case it was the album title first (1973, title song didn't make the cut), then the song appeared on Physical Graffiti two years later.

potsie Wrote:

senrab Wrote:Is this the only album by any artist whose title is the same as a previously released song on a different album?

I can't think of any previous situations where a song showed up as the subsequent album title. Only thing that comes close is Zeppelin with Houses of the Holy. In that case it was the album title first (1973, title song didn't make the cut), then the song appeared on Physical Graffiti two years later.

Sidebar re album titles and song titles -- Tom Waits' album "Blue Valentine" (sing.) has a song on it called "Blue Valentines" (plur.) and his album "Foreign Affairs" (plur.) has a song on it called "Foreign Affair" (sing.). I love shit like that.

ct

direwolf74 Wrote:I like how you can hear him throw his sticks down after that final little drum fill he does at the tail end of the song. That's good stuff.

Love the stick toss - a great finish to a song I quite enjoy.

Shane

gsmacleod Wrote:Love the stick toss - a great finish to a song I quite enjoy.
Shane

Reading this thread I'm surprised at the lack of love for Hot Mic. I have a feeling it is going to exit the MMP poll much quicker than I'd like it to. The pounding drums throughout the song and the sound of Sinclair's throbbing bass in the verses are fantastic. Seems like it had been a long time since Gord S was pushed this high in the mix. Also love the hypnotic guitars in the outro. Of course the song isn't without its faults (it's got a bridge to nowhere, and the whole thing is a bit of word salad) but it feels exciting and dangerous to me (although not super-dangerous!). Shane, if you are campaigning for president of the Hot Mic Appreciation Club, I'll be your vice-presidential running mate.

Also Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack album came out in 1974.

Three years later, the song Sheer Heart Attack followed We Are The Champions on News of the World.