[Killer Whale Tank]

Forgive me if this has already been discussed, but one thing that seems fairly clear from the book is that Gord Downie was somewhat estranged from the band from M@W onward. That quote where an observer notes that, leading up to MMP, Gord admitted to the rest that he'd been a "total dick for a while now" seemed pretty striking to me, given that previous chapters discussed the band's antagonism to Gord bringing new elements to the table for the M@W tour, striking out for his solo career, and so on.

My impression is that after M@W Gord basically approached the Hip as a job, one he did with commitment, but without terrific joy or enthusiasm. His real joy was in subverting or at least dancing around the expectations created by Hipdom itself through his solo work and other ventures. This might contribute to explaining the bizarre "Screamo Gord" phase, which I always suspected had to do with some kind of frustration, either with the Hip or their fans or the crowd's preference for oldies or for the playlists - whatever. I think the clash between GD's experimental nature, his 'arty' streak, and the essential musical conservatism of the others taken as a unit - really their greatest strength in the early days - eventually became an ongoing sore-point that undercut the unity of the band. That's my impression anyhow.