[NegPhil]

Come on guys - seriously?

OK, I guess I'll have to be the first one to say it. First, a female vocalist in a Hip song (the title track of the new album is my skip song) and now a lame video.

Apart from "At Transformation" (which is brilliant) where are the ROCK songs!?

There's plenty of rock on this record: Transformation, Streets, Modern Spirit, Attawapiskat...hell, if you listen closely, Take Forever could easily be a long lost outtake from Phantom Power. Also, the Hip were employing female back-up vocals as far back as 2000 when Julie Doiron sang on The Completist, Toronto #4, and Wind Down the Pines. Not to mention they took Kate Fenner along with them on tour. So collaborating with female vocalists is nothing new. The band's relationship with Sarah Harmer goes way back to when she was a 16-year old following the Hip around the Ontario club circuit with her older sister, who would sneak her into the shows. It's not surprising in the least that she would eventually sing on a Hip record.

I can understand your desire for the Hip's music to remain stuck in the 90s. I f'n LOVED that decade, and I loved the music they released during that period. But the Hip are not that band anymore. They're older, wiser, they have families, and their songwriting comes from a very different place than it did during the Road Apples/Fully Completely/Day for Night era. As Mojo_Mattv said, the Hip are more of an indie-rock band these days with a really unique pop sensibility that they never had in the 90s. They've evolved. Some of the fans have stayed along for the ride. And some haven't. So be it. Personally I think this is one of the best records they've ever made. A late career masterpiece if there ever was one. Long may this band run!

:thumb:

But the video does suck. Yes it's great to see the guys in silly outfits but the camera work is awful, the lighting is terrible and the editing sucks. I don't give a shit if the guys a Doctor. His video work is amateurish and poorly done.