[etbkarate]

Direwolf74,

A lot of great points, and I agree with most of what you said. One of the things I always loved about the Hip is how they re-create themselves from album (for us older guys) to album, while remaining true to their core. My point was that the last two just do not have that certain special intangible feel. There are a few good moments, I didn’t mean to suggest the albums sucked. They just do not have The Hip feel, IMHO.I loved In between Evolution and My Music @ work is a classic, timeless piece. Every single other CD or Album they put out I completely immersed myself in and wore out. WC and WATS did not work for me, and I am suggesting that Rock’s influence has a lot to do with it. But at least it keeps us all thinking about the hip, and that is always a good thing.

Ed

[dhartley34]

I think these two albums (especially World Container) stand up there with their best.

Great songs, great sound.

[NegPhil]

Dear Bob, You rock.

Love,
Tim in Wa. USA

xxxooo

[bstrauss24]

I seriously love both of these albums. I don't care who produced them.... I just know I like them! People tend to overstate things, when a lot of times it can be as simple as "do you like that song" or "don't you like that song." I think the majority of this base liked both of these albums!

[Joe]

Dear Bob,

Third time's the charm.






j/k WATS was good.

[wendel]

So, how do you feel about the songs from WC and WATS in a live setting where the songs are on a level playing field, production wise, and 'New Orleans is Sinking' has a similar sound (ie: no polish) as 'Morning Moon'? Is it just Bob Rock's production which you have issue with, or is it the songs themselves?

Funny, Morning Moon is one of my fav hip songs now. Live, I must admit I'm not into the keyboard just as I wasn't into Kate and Chris when they joined the hip years back. I've seen the hip at least 30 times and I prefer to see them as just the five guys who caught my ear back in the early 90's. That being said, I'd take last row hip tickets over first row tickets to any other band.

[Lizard King]

Dear Everyone,

No more open letters to people who probably never come here.

LK.

ps: WC and WATS kick ass.

[sullivand]

Dear Everyone,

No more open letters to people who probably never come here.

LK.

ps: WC and WATS kick ass.

You can safely take the "probably" out of that. :thumb:

[etbkarate]

Thanks for all of your feedback. I just wanted to see if anyone else felt the same. I knew the open letter format would get some readers, so I went with it. Just to be clear, I never said the last 2 cds sucked, I just felt they are not as potent as the others. But based on a lot of your replies, yesterday I listened to both of them again (one of the perks of my job is I can play music whenever I want) and I have to admit, there are a lot of good moments on both of those cds.

Good debating with all of you. Look forward to more, and of course more great music from TTH.

Ed

[sherpa]

Of course it will be interesting to see how they fare on this poll - <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://hipbase.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15048">viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15048</a><!-- l -->

[mastodonfarm]

I'm with DW on the ad naseum of this topic. That being said, here's my open letter:

Dear TTH,
Please keep experimenting and evolving with your sound and style. You've come along way from your bar band sound of the late 80s thru early 90s. I'm not ripping that era's style - it put you on the map and introduced your awesomenes to the world. (Okay, north North America...) But it was sophomore level. You've come a long way!

Bob Rock can keep contributing to the less than popular/ideal production choices of the studio work, if he keeps acting as y'all's muse. As many people who would be dissappointed with a third BR produced album, twice as many people would be let down with a step backwards - say a 2011 album that sounds like a 1992 one. I liked Road Apples. And I liked WATS. I would've hated Road Apples II in 2009.

Rock on. And keep on rockin' on!

Mastodonfarm

[NauticalBuffalo]

For what its worth I think the We Are The Same tracks are a huge downer live. I remember the Rochester show where there was so much energy and they left for the encore. The crowd was pumped and ready for something rocking. Then Gord comes out, the crowd going nuts, and announces "Now The Struggle Has A Name". I'll never forget the collective sigh of the crowd. Totally killed the encore.

I love The Depession Suite on the album, but live it is awful. That's usually when I take my piss break/beverage refill. I am thankful for Love is A First though. Great live track.

[Zenith]

I love The Depession Suite on the album, but live it is awful.

I couldn't disagree more. I thought The Depression Suite was one of the best songs from all three shows I've been to this year. Especially with Gord's ditching the guitar half way through - it was great!

Love is a First, Frozen in my Tracks and The Last Recluse are really good live tracks too.

[tigerthelion]

So, how do you feel about the songs from WC and WATS in a live setting where the songs are on a level playing field, production wise, and 'New Orleans is Sinking' has a similar sound (ie: no polish) as 'Morning Moon'? Is it just Bob Rock's production which you have issue with, or is it the songs themselves?

It's mostly his production for me, but not entirely. I don't blame Rock for everything because the band members obviously each have a brain and if they decide to listen to ideas from Mr. Rock, that's their ultimate decision in the end. Nobody is putting a gun to Rob's head and forcing him to play songs a certain way, or any member of the band for that matter. It's their choice, which is fine. My personal preference just leads me to be more interested in a different style of production.

I just listened to the concert in BC from earlier this year that just went up on youtube and noticed how much better Coffee Girl, Recluse, Depression Suite, Frozen in My Tracks sounded when not smothered by an overbearing blanket of production. Granted, a lot of Hip material sounds better live but it is so drastically noticeable here that I can't help but think that Mr. Rock's production methods take some soul out of the music. Ocean, World Container, and (I can't believe that I'm saying this) In View sound way better when not held back by the chains of Bob Rock. I actually enjoyed listening to the In View performance from the Abbortsford (sp?) show, and I kind of despise that song.

Let's remember that Bob Rock is the guy who has worked with Simple Plan in recent years, produced on of the absolute worst The Tea Party albums, and was the man behind OLP's Gravity. :what

[direwolf74]

So, how do you feel about the songs from WC and WATS in a live setting where the songs are on a level playing field, production wise, and 'New Orleans is Sinking' has a similar sound (ie: no polish) as 'Morning Moon'? Is it just Bob Rock's production which you have issue with, or is it the songs themselves?

I just listened to the concert in BC from earlier this year that just went up on youtube and noticed how much better Coffee Girl, Recluse, Depression Suite, Frozen in My Tracks sounded when not smothered by an overbearing blanket of production. Granted, a lot of Hip material sounds better live but it is so drastically noticeable here that I can't help but think that Mr. Rock's production methods take some soul out of the music. Ocean, World Container, and (I can't believe that I'm saying this) In View sound way better when not held back by the chains of Bob Rock. I actually enjoyed listening to the In View performance from the Abbortsford (sp?) show, and I kind of despise that song.

Let's remember that Bob Rock is the guy who has worked with Simple Plan in recent years, produced on of the absolute worst The Tea Party albums, and was the man behind OLP's Gravity. :what

I couldn't agree more! And yeah, with the exception of the Hip, Bob Rock's resume is one gigantic steaming pile of crap for the most part. I'm really hoping they switch it up for the next record and go with a different producer. It would be cool to see them work with Steve Berlin again, or perhaps someone like Brendan O'Brien. I also wouldn't mind seeing them produce another album themselves. "Henhouse" didn't have the best production, but I'm sure the boys have since learned a few tricks from each producer they've worked with over the years. I bet it would sound amazing.