So, someone more musically inclined than me please explain: How much difference can a remastering really make? Assuming they don't completely overhaul things a la Let it Be, can it really drastically improve a song? Or would one be likely to even notice?
Just curious.
Cheers,
John
i think the remastering will be most welcomed on the FC tracks....that production is so friggin bad
It's gotta be frustrating for the band to have to switch U.S. labels every few years, for sure.
However, lets look at the two constants throughout the band's sordid "u.s. label history":
a) the band
b) the audience (i.e., the U.S.)
I don't feel that "blame" is really the right word here, perhaps "responsibility" is more fitting. But to be perfectly honest, I think the responsibility for one label after another floundering with this band falls at least partially on the band.
Before everyone gets in an uproar, let me explain that, and also explain why it's a good thing.
How many different labels have TTH had in the U.S.? I'm thinking it's somewhere in the neighborhood of half a dozen or so. After one or two labels completely fail to promote the band effectively, I think the knee-jerk reaction (and perhaps the *correct* reaction) would be "well, that label just sucked. that's all there is to it!" But after 5 or 6, one has to really start to wonder if it's the labels' "fault."
At that point, you have to really examine the band themselves, as well as the audience that the label is trying to market toward.
Looking at the band's music, it is incredibly obvious to me that this band just can't be pigeonholed into a genre or style of music, which is unfortunately vital in developing a solid marketing strategy. The Hip can't be categorized because their music sort of defies explanation - and it's my opinion that this is to their credit, NOT their detriment.
Now, a brief look at the landscape of popular music in America. It sucks, plain and simple. Everything that succeeds in this country is so motivated and driven by image, and not by actual musicianship, talent or "warmth" that there's no chance The Hip could ever crack this market on a commercially successful level. And given the musical climate here, would they even WANT to? I know they gave up caring about it a long time ago, and they've been rewarded because of that. The fan base they have managed to cultivate here are true fans who place music not only first, but as the only thing. Image is meaningless.
All of that said, I don't think that the popular music scene in America is really terribly different than it is elsewhere in the world, or even Canada for that matter. Compare the Billboard Top 20 albums for this week in Canada vs the U.S. It's not that different, I promise. The Hip have been huge in Canada for so long because they have, willingly / deservedly or not, developed a reputation as "Canada's band."
So, to generalize, if labels can't market without being able to pigeonhole, and popular music by and large sucks everywhere, that leaves the band. It's The Hip's own damn "fault" (tongue in cheek) that the've bounced around from label to label outside of Canada, and it boils down to this: they have refused, over and over again, to sell out. They make music THEY love, sing about things that are important to THEM, and do everything musically on THEIR terms. They've managed to pick up legions of fans in Canada along the way, as well as a cult-like following elsewhere in the world. A lot of what they do in terms of touring is with their loyal fans in mind, but even then they don't do things they just flat-out don't want to do. I say KUDOS TO THEM for sticking to their guns and maintaining what is, in this day and age, an absolutely shocking level of artistic integrity.
Wow!
FIDDLER'S GREEN WILL BE ON THE GREATEST HITS!
Uhhh... That is all I have to say.
Here is more info on the TTH Box Set from a umusic.ca e-mail I received.
It mentions the box set includes "a 50 minute film by Christopher Mills titled 'Macroscopic' and 11 visual vignettes set to new original scores from The Tragically Hip".
Tragically Hip - HIPEPONYMOUS Box Set Revealed
posted 2005-08-03
Universal Music Canada, the country's leading music company today announced that THE TRAGICALLY HIP, one of Canadas most beloved bands will release a limited edition, 2 CD and 2 DVD box set titled, HIPEPONYMOUS on November 01, 2005. The release of HIPEPONYMOUS marks the first time THE TRAGICALLY HIP have compiled a Greatest Hits package in their almost 20-year career.
The two discs in the set, entitled "Yer Favourites" will feature 37 digitally remastered classic Tragically Hip songs chosen by 150,000 fans of The Hip on Sympatico.msn.ca. Of "Yer Favourites" 37 tracks, 35 tracks were chosen from The Hip's 10 studio albums including The Tragically Hip (1987), Up To Here (1989), Road Apples (1991), Fully Completely (1992), Day For Night (1994), Trouble At The Henhouse (1996), Phantom Power (1998), Music @ Work (2000), In Violet Light (2002) and last years In Between Evolution (2004). "Yer Favourites" will also include two brand new tracks from The Tragically Hip.
"Yer Favourites" Disc One
1. No Threat (New Song)
2. Grace, Too
3. My Music At Work
4. 38 Years Old
5. Gift Shop
6. Ahead By A Century
7. Vaccination Scar
8. Three Pistols
9. So Hard Done By
10. Fiddler's Green
11. Looking For A Place To Happen
12. Cordelia
13. "It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken"
14. Blow At High Dough
15. Wheat Kings
16. 50 Mission Cap
17. New Orleans Is Sinking
18. Escape Is At Hand For The Travelin' Man
"Yer Favourites" Disc Two
1. Fully Completely
2. Twist My Arm
3. Courage
4. Lake Fever
5. Poets
6. Fireworks
7. Boots Or Hearts
8. Bobcaygeon
9. Nautical Disaster
10. Highway Girl
11. Gus: The Polar Bear From Central Park
12. Scared
13. Something On
14. At The Hundredth Meridian
15. Long Time Running
16. The Darkest One
17. Locked In The Trunk Of A Car
18. Little Bones
19. The New Maybe (New Song)
The DVD, entitled "That Night in Toronto, a Film by Pierre & Franois Lamoureux" catches THE TRAGICALLY HIP live in concert at Toronto's Air Canada Centre in November 2004 and was filmed in High Definition and mixed in PCM Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound. HIPEPONYMOUS also includes an exclusive bonus DVD that features all 23 of THE TRAGICALLY HIP'S music videos, a 50-minute film directed by Christopher Mills entitled "Macroscopic", and 11 visual vignettes set to new original scores from The Tragically Hip. The limited edition package will also include a 48-page bound book.
I was just lookin @ Sir Lance's sight and sounds and i counted the vid's and there's 24 I count there, and Hipeponymous is gonna release 23? Any thoughts? I'm gonna assume its merely an oversight....
Summiteer Wrote:I was just lookin @ Sir Lance's sight and sounds and i counted the vid's and there's 24 I count there, and Hipeponymous is gonna release 23? Any thoughts? I'm gonna assume its merely an oversight....
Maybe they aren't counting Twist My Arm, as it's just footage from a MuchMusic special?
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chris Wrote:Summiteer Wrote:I was just lookin @ Sir Lance's sight and sounds and i counted the vid's and there's 24 I count there, and Hipeponymous is gonna release 23? Any thoughts? I'm gonna assume its merely an oversight....
Maybe they aren't counting Twist My Arm, as it's just footage from a MuchMusic special?
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Could be, here all this time I thought that was an quote unquote Official released video, ya learn something new everyday :thumb:
chris Wrote:Summiteer Wrote:I was just lookin @ Sir Lance's sight and sounds and i counted the vid's and there's 24 I count there, and Hipeponymous is gonna release 23? Any thoughts? I'm gonna assume its merely an oversight....
Maybe they aren't counting Twist My Arm, as it's just footage from a MuchMusic special?
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I figured that was the omitted one as well. Could be they threw it on to the Road Apples HyperCD re-release to bolster the likelihood that it would sell since Bones is the only tune on there with a "real" video.
Speaking of the HyperCDs...since the demise of the album mini-sites, they are completely worthless (except of course for listening to the CD itself, but who plays CDs anymore?).
cferneyh Wrote:mrlayance Wrote:a Rounder spokesperson confirms the label and the group are no longer working together.
Man, they need to find another US label now? That must be so friggin frustrating for them.
No kidding. They've had a long string of bad luck with their U.S. labels. They just don't seem to know how to market these guys. I always thought Rounder seemed like a weird fit anyway. The label's catalogue is mostly made up of folky singer/songwriter type stuff (fellow Canucks Sarah Harmer and Kathleen Edwards are on their roster), and the Hip seemed a bit out of place.
I was thinking a good label for the Hip might be Nonesuch Records. Wilco is on that label, and I figure if they know how to market Wilco properly, they would certainly know how to market the Hip. One thing's for sure, they should definitely stick with the indie labels, as the majors would have no idea what to do with them.
direwolf74 Wrote:I was thinking a good label for the Hip might be Nonesuch Records. Wilco is on that label, and I figure if they know how to market Wilco properly, they would certainly know how to market the Hip.
I was thinking the exact same thing. :thumb:
I'm excited that a track from the EP made the list. I really didn't think that would happen.
opiated Wrote:i think the remastering will be most welcomed on the FC tracks....that production is so friggin bad
Agreed. Listening to that album makes me wish they had met Adam Kasper back in '92, or even somebody like Brendan O'Brien. Hell, they could have worked with Don Smith again for that record. Imagine how freakin' cool that album would have sounded with a more raw, live-off-the-floor approach. The only way I can enjoy songs from that record is if they're played live.
Is Wilco pleased with Nonesuch; I always got the impression theat they weren't—admittedly, I am pretty uninformed, though.
I am honestly the most excited about all of the videos. I have seen a grand total of one of their videos, and that is for Good life.