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Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - Printable Version

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Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - edgoffin - 11-30-2017

Music@Work: Released June 6, 2000

"My Music at Work"
"Tiger the Lion"
"Lake Fever"
"Putting Down"
"Stay"
"The Bastard"
"The Completists"
"Freak Turbulence"
"Sharks"
"Toronto #4"
"Wild Mountain Honey"
"Train Overnight"
"As I Wind Down the Pines"

It was an "art versus commerce" discussion thread on this album that made me think it could be interesting to run through the albums in a thoughts and insights approach.

Steve Berlin returned to produce his second album. I recall Rob had a comment about producers always able to get one good album out of the band (understanding he's also quite self-deprecating). This is possibly my most confusing Hip album. My opinion, the first five tracks are great. Tiger The Lion was something different, and I love belting out (badly) that intro. I'll bump The Completists up into that top track category, along with Toronto #4 and As I Wind Down The Pines.

Listening to the album recently thinking about this thread, I don't dislike any of the other tracks (there's no Coconut Cream) but they've never drawn me in. I can't really say why, and I recall having the same impression when the album was released. It's likely the album I've listened to the least.

I've always considered this a Hip turning point, where following the huge success of Phantom Power they made a record that then starts to move away from the more standard Hip song template. REM, another favorite band of mine, had done something similar earlier where following the huge success of Green they moved away from jangle guitar rock to release two primarily acoustic albums. With hindsight, it's a bit of a mid-career reset for both bands. Add in to the mix for The Hip is Coke Machine Glow. We can do a separate thread for that album, but I do put that first solo album also into the category of a "reset".

I also think this is the last big seller (at time of release -- exclude last summer) for the band. Intentional or not, beyond the lead single there's not a lot of radio play songs on the album, I don't recall a second single? -- I assume Lake Fever. Despite all this, I remember these tours were huge. The two sets was a draw to hear some older songs. The addition of Kate Fenner worked in some areas, less in others IMO. I think they figured out the keys better when Jim Bryson joined the WATS tour, but Brown added some interesting elements. My lasting memory of this tour will be a version of Meridian in Ottawa, with a single spotlight on Gord when he did the "if I die section".

I'll add, the remastered vinyl version of this is really good, and brought a new level of appreciation for an album I've always struggled with. "As I Wind Down The Pines" is incredible.

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - Moof_Milker - 11-30-2017

^ Well said. This seems to be where the casual fans and the hardcore fans split. I recall most of this album got leaked on Napster prior to the release (...remember those days?) -- so I remember listening to some of these tracks on a burned disc on my portable cd player on a greyhound from Toronto to Whistler -- I was invited out there by a girl I knew who was living there for the summer...and with what little money I had I bought a bus ticket to get out there for a few weeks. She was a massive Hip too - one of the reasons I liked her so much, so I got to Whistler we went into the village together on release to buy it and it became the soundtrack to that summer (Spoiler alert, my short visit turned into a summer-long stay...and 17 years later we're still together). Anyway, personal romance aside, I like most of this album but my main criticism was that it had too much fat on it. At 14 tracks, I thought it could have benefited from some trimming -- two maybe three tracks could have been shaved off to make it a tighter more cohesive, and more accessible, album (...which is exactly what I thought they did on the follow-up, IVL. IVL felt like, to me anyway, a conscious effort to tighten the proverbial screws.

One more side note, I got a job as a sound guy in Whistler that summer (doing sound at conferences, retreats, events, etc.) and M@W was my go-to cd to check my audio and to play as background music. Hundreds, if not thousands, of event-goers -- including the all NHLPA members -- heard this album playing as the soundtrack to their events. Insidiously spreading the gospel of The Hip one conference/banquet/corporate retreat at a time. Toronto #4 was the perfect song to check my levels.

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - gsmacleod - 11-30-2017

I remember well when this leaked; I had a furious (but short) debate with myself as to whether or not I would download it. I figured I was going to buy it anyway so I might as well listen early. I remember being very meh about MMAW; I didn't really enjoy the song and didn't understand why it would be chosen as the lead single. However, I loved Tiger the Lion and my appreciation for the song grew the more I listened (as well them playing it during the MuchMusic I&I). I enjoy most of the album and while Tiger is the only song that is probably in my top 10, when I listen, there is nothing that makes me want to reach for the skip button.

As for MMAW; when I saw this tour they opened with it and from the first chord, the whole song changed for me. I suddenly saw the magic and while I still prefer Tiger, I realize that this is a really fun song and now get why it was chosen as the first single. As a side note, my highlight during this tour was seeing Kate Fenner perform Yawning and Snarling which was simply amazing. I loved Yawning and Gord and Kate singing it blew my mind.

I also really enjoy the remastered vinyl; on an album with lots of quieter passages and songs, I think what Ludwig did really opened things up.

Shane

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - loach - 11-30-2017

Good posts and I agree.

This album lacked the multiple radio-friendly tunes that previous albums had and had some songs that weren't that memorable. Definitely agree that this album is where a significant chunk of the casual fans fell off the Hip wagon. For me, there's about 8 songs I really like, another 2-3 that are OK and then the rest can go hang out with Coconut Cream in my "I never have the urge to specifically play these songs and often skip them when they come on" pile. The album doesn't have the overall consistency that the preceding FC, DFN and PP had. It resembles TATH that way, but it doesn't have the handful of top-tier pinnacle songs (in terms of the overall Hip catalog) that album has.

As other Hip albums do, this one takes me back to memories of that time. I remember listening to this album almost every evening that summer of 2000 in which I was pulling late nights trying to finish a Master's thesis I was writing. I especially connected with M@W, Completists, Stay, Putting Down as I took snippets of those lyrics to apply to the situation I was in at the time. So, I still find myself often going to this album when I'm crunching a deadline and working late into the night.

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - TG - 11-30-2017

I love this album but agree that some fat should be cut.

The Wheat:
MMAW
Lake
Puttin'
Stay
Bastard
Completists
Sharks
Toronto #4
Train
Bear
Pines

The Chaff:
Tiger
Freak
Wild Mountain Honey

I know some ppl love Tiger and while i really enjoy the lyrics and certainly don't hate the song, i do find the tune far too jarring in all the wrong ways and ill suited for this particular album.

Your mileage may vary.

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - cochise - 11-30-2017

Agree with many of the comments above, it was a turning point with The Hip, taking the second fork in the road, detouring a bit further away from their original sound.

The album never really hooked me, plus I never really liked the artwork (which in a way can affect the album as well, if that makes any sense?). It took a few listens through and there were a few songs that caught me, Tiger The Lion, Lake Fever, Stay, etc, but a lot kept getting skipped whenever they came on, and sadly still do most of the time.

As for the title track, I agree with a above comment. MMAW I thought was OK and the video was good, but I never really gave it much thought. Then, I saw it live and it completely changed my feeling about it. It carried an energy that didn't seem to come out on the album. Hearing the opening riff and watching the entire crowd start bouncing up and down in unison at the same time as the bass line and drums kicked in really brought the whole song to life. Ever since then I listen to it with much more appreciation.

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - SRK - 11-30-2017

I didn't really dive into the hip until the late 90s, right after phantom power came out, so this was the first 'new' hip album for me. And I loved it. Still do. There's something about the sound of it that I dearly love, especially on some of the lesser-loved songs, like sharks, the bastard and train overnight...it's the one that always brings me back to 2nd year university and that time of my life. I also saw them live for the first time on the 'evening with...' tour and saw a number of M@W songs live there, which certainly helped.

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - direwolf74 - 11-30-2017

Other than DFN, this is arguably their most experimental album, with some interesting musical detours from the typical Hip sound (Tiger, Toronto #4, The Bear, Train Overnight, Pines). Like most of you, I had an early copy due to the album leaking a month or so before the official release. When I finally saw the artwork, I remember thinking it was the ugliest album cover of all time, and I still believe that. Not sure what they were thinking with that one. It really is awful.

Getting back to the music, I've always thought this album was a bit too bloated, and I agree they probably could have trimmed off a couple of tracks to make a more focused and cohesive album. I remember Paul saying that they had recorded around 30 songs for this album and then whittled it down to 14. It would be really interesting to hear the shadow album that came out of those sessions. Perhaps one day we'll get to hear some of that stuff on a future b-sides/rarities album.

Favorite songs:

MM@W
Tiger the Lion
Puttin' Down
Stay
Toronto #4
The Bear
As I Wind Down the Pines

Decent, but not great:

Lake Fever (I still prefer the pre-album version they played at the 2000 New Years Day show in Toronto. The studio version is way overproduced, and there's just too much going on. This song would have benefited from a "less is more" approach IMO.)
The Completists
Sharks
Train Overnight

Sub-par filler:

Freak Turbulence
Wild Mountain Honey (although I do like Johnny's thunderous John Bonham-esque drumming on this track)
The Bastard

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - gsmacleod - 11-30-2017

Listening again now (studio MMAW is solid but still doesn't capture me the way the live version does and Tiger - just love this song!) and I'm reminded of the care I took to burn these tracks "disc at once."

I had really forgotten how this just flows, one track into the other and the frustration when I burnt my first copy with annoying 2s gaps. Just like burning bootlegs - DAO or you just made a coaster!

Also, agree, the artwork is hideous.

Shane

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - potsie - 11-30-2017

When following the career of a band you love, sometimes events occur that result in a re-adjustment of hopes and expectations. In the history of the Hip, the release of Music @ Work was that event for me. Up to the year 2000, I woke up on every release day with the strongly held conviction that the new album I was about to purchase was going to be the greatest thing the Hip had ever done. And usually I wasn’t far off the mark. Some were slightly better than others, all were exceptional. I never had that feeling again after M@W. I was crushed after my first few listens through the album. Not only was it not the greatest album they had ever recorded, it was the worst (to that point). My expectations were tempered for all the albums going forward from here.

I’ve grown to appreciate M@W a bit more over the years but the reality is that, chronologically, there’s no greater quality drop off than that from Phantom Power to Music @ Work. To illustrate this point, take the 26 songs (12 from PP, 14 from M@W) that Steve Berlin produced from 1998-2000 and create an album that contains the best 12 or 13. Do that, and what you come up with is essentially Phantom Power, minus The Rules and Chagrin Falls. PP is a century ahead of M@W, literally and figuratively.

M@W has a number of great songs on it because, after all, it is still the Hip. However, it takes effort to love it. It’s short on well-developed and compelling melodies. There is also a significant chorus problem on this album. “The Bear”, “Train Overnight”, “Toronto #4”, “Freak Turbulence”, among others, all lack a strong, memorable chorus. I listened to M@W on the drive home today and then played a bit of UTH and the difference in chorus quality is striking. There is no Hip album that is less fun to sing along to than M@W.

Lyrically this album is Gord at his most arcane and obtuse, and he is even pedantic at times. In Tiger the Lion, it doesn’t just feel like the Hip have put music to poetry, it feels like they have put music to a doctoral dissertation. The lines “John Cage had come to feel That art in our time Was far less important Than our daily lives, To which so many'd become More or less inclined” feel like Gord is giving a discourse on the musings of a music theorist. I love the menace of Tiger, but the lyrics feel clunky at times. No need to state “John Cage had come to feel”… re-write it a bit and footnote Cage in the liner notes, just like was done with Northrop Frye on MMP.

Musically, it is short on interesting ideas as well. It’s as if no one in the band brought their “A” game to this one. I wonder if Gord was mentally looking beyond this one to his upcoming release of CMG and was distracted by thoughts of working on that project.

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - Killer Whale Tank - 11-30-2017

Gord D once said the Hip were up on the head of a pin and seeing how long they could stay there.

This album is where they fell off.

Potsie's choice of the word "obtuse" is very apt. A turgid record that strains the ear if listened straight through, it's very much a pure "studio" album - nearly every song clearly having been layered together track by track, rather than emerging via a more organic inspiration. The music doesn't breathe like the earlier stuff did - rather, it suffocates - and the great hooks, as potsie again brilliantly notes in his lament for the choruses, just aren't there. The latter isn't surprising, since apparently Gord D came to the sessions without any finished material, just couplets that he tried to string together. You can see where that'd work against really inspired results.

It also has what might be the single worst thing they ever did - "Wild Mountain Honey." Fortunately, the title track is terrific.

I really tried hard to love this record. In the end I just couldn't do it. Too much abstraction, too much forced "studio" layering substituting as songwriting.

That said, coming back to it years later, I found it worked a lot better if you purge some of the bloat. My own personal M@W thus goes like this:

"My Music at Work"
"Lake Fever"
"Putting Down"
"Stay"
"The Completists"
"Sharks"
"Toronto #4"
"Train Overnight"
"As I Wind Down the Pines"

The result is a nice, highly acoustic, intelligent record, still lacking in killer tracks, but a pleasant listen. Others might have a different track list, but I'd bet that only the hardest of the hard core actually enjoy this album from start to end.

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - potsie - 11-30-2017

Killer Whale Tank Wrote:A turgid record that strains the ear if listened straight through, it's very much a pure "studio" album - nearly every song clearly having been layered together track by track, rather than emerging via a more organic inspiration. The music doesn't breathe like the earlier stuff did - rather, it suffocates

direwolf74 Wrote:Lake Fever (I still prefer the pre-album version they played at the 2000 New Years Day show in Toronto. The studio version is way overproduced, and there's just too much going on. This song would have benefited from a "less is more" approach IMO.)

I'll third this idea of claustrophobia and lack of breathing room on this album. "Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)... an idea that would have served the Hip well to have kept in mind when recording this album, both in terms of song production and number of songs they ended up putting on the album.

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - coldlakeswimmer - 11-30-2017

my absoloute favourite. can listen to, on repeat again and again. it was beautiful to hear as part of the final setlist in kingston... m@w, putting down(!), lake fever and toronto #4. my heart soared. truly special. a life changing record for them and i don't get the disdain.

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - TG - 12-01-2017

potsie Wrote:I'll third this idea of claustrophobia and lack of breathing room on this album. "Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)... an idea that would have served the Hip well to have kept in mind when recording this album, both in terms of song production and number of songs they ended up putting on the album.

wind sand and the stars is one of the best things i've ever read.

i dig this little community.

Re: Thoughts and Insights -- Music@Work - kieffer - 12-01-2017

The theme I always picked up on from this album was transition/change and often through metaphors around transportation (or lack there of). I believe I read in an interview (and assuming this wasn't a sarcastic comment), the original plan for this album was to record it on a train, but it fell through at the last minute. This speaks to the obvious transportation and travel references in a number of the songs.

I definitely found this album took a while for me to warm up to. While the album has it's detractors, I think there's strong consensus that the supporting tour was one of their best. The addition of Kate and Chris and 30ish song setlists are hard to beat.

While I didn't see my first live show until the IVL tour, hearing many of these songs performed live over the years certainly gave them new life. Lake fever was always a live favourite of mine, especially with the various introductions given to the song about two young lovers during a cholera epidemic.

Putting down was always a pleasant surprise and I greatly enjoy the way the song flows lyrically. Hearing the Bear played live in 2009 is up there as one of the biggest surprises in all of the shows I caught, and was it ever great live.

While I agree that the album art isn't spectacular, in my mind it is still miles ahead of the adult contemporary look of We are the same. IMO not only does We are the same have the worst album art, it also has the worst album title in the band's discography.

Can anyone explain the lyric from MM@W "And when the sunlight hits the olive-oil don't hesitate" - I've never gotten that reference, or is there even a reference to 'get'?