[edgoffin]

Didn't Rob do an XM interview when MMP came out? Or did he not talk about the new album? I wasn't able to listen because I don't have XM/Sirius. I remember someone posting here that the band has an "alternate" version of almost every album they've done...but can't recall anything else.

Rob mentioned the "shadow album" a few times, though I don't recall that specific XM interview. Usually we'd have the benefit of more press around the release, and then some press in each city as the tour passes through.

As for "band of brothers", back in the springtime of my working days I was a journalist and occasionally covered music. It did not take me too long to realize that not all members in most bands were necessarily diehard friends. Some were close, some came across as more a business relationship, and others were plain caustic. I was actually a bit disappointed to see behind the curtain for some bands that I really liked (The Hip was not one of them).

The hard thing, and I think the amazing thing for bands with long careers, is the ability to balance those relationships within something that truly becomes a business. In The Hip's case, how that business is managed moving forward will be interesting.

[andrew sharpe]

Well, I see Barclay as a credible source (but hardly an infallible one, of course).

Credible or not, most of the information from the book is gathered from previously published interviews and documentaries. I don't think the book itself provided much more insight into the band's dynamic than most of us hardcores would have already had a sense for.

[schaggs]

To expect that the Hip were nothing but a band of brothers throughout every moment of their careers is unreasonable. It's a business too, and no matter how much I like the folks I work with, there are still days I come home and think "eff those guys". To stay together as a band for more than thirty years without having guys who can't be in the studio at the same time, don't talk to each other, or quit speaks volumes about this band of brothers. It takes a strong bond to put up with each other for that long without something going awry, and I think you'll be hard pressed to find that kind of relationship anywhere else in music.

[direwolf74]

It takes a strong bond to put up with each other for that long without something going awry, and I think you'll be hard pressed to find that kind of relationship anywhere else in music.

U2 says hi.

[schaggs]

It takes a strong bond to put up with each other for that long without something going awry, and I think you'll be hard pressed to find that kind of relationship anywhere else in music.

U2 says hi.

U2 have had their share of internal conflicts, as well, but they are a good parallel.

[FourPistols]

5 members of the Hip
4 members of U2

WInner = The Hip

[edgoffin]

5 members of the Hip
4 members of U2

WInner = The Hip

I'll add REM in there with a consolation prize. It was interesting that they were able to overcome the departure of Bill Berry, though they made some so-so to terrible albums afterwards until the final two albums. I also like the way they agreed to put the band to rest -- as they finished recording their last album Stipe warned the other two he likely needed a few years away from the band. Buck's response, why don't we take some time away from the band forever. Mills agreed. The way they recounted it in the interviews for the Out of Time reissue make it sound like a 30 second conversation.

[direwolf74]

5 members of the Hip
4 members of U2

WInner = The Hip

I'll add REM in there with a consolation prize. It was interesting that they were able to overcome the departure of Bill Berry, though they made some so-so to terrible albums afterwards until the final two albums. I also like the way they agreed to put the band to rest -- as they finished recording their last album Stipe warned the other two he likely needed a few years away from the band. Buck's response, why don't we take some time away from the band forever. Mills agreed. The way they recounted it in the interviews for the Out of Time reissue make it sound like a 30 second conversation.

Pearl Jam should probably be in this conversation as well. They had some internal struggles of their own during their rocket to fame in the 90s. But they got through it and soldiered on. Once Matt Cameron joined as a permanent member in '98, it seemed to right the ship, and they've been going strong with the same lineup ever since. I've always gotten a real "band of brothers" vibe with those guys. Not to mention the fact that Cameron brings it full circle. He was the drummer on the original demo tape that eventually made its way to Vedder in 1990 when the PJ guys were looking for a singer.

[arewhyehen]

On the original Dougie Stardust album cover wasn't the kid wearing face-paint? Not that I've seen it - but I feel like I heard that somewhere. When they changed the name, they simply removed the face paint. As it is -- and imaging we had no knowledge of this whole "Dougie" thing, I doubt we'd be questioning whether or not the album art suited the music? The relationship between their album art and musical context isn't always obvious/explicit. It can be. It might be. Open to interpretation.

There was no face paint that I remember, it was the same baby, but the arms that are now on the back of the album were on the front, catching the baby. The inside gatefold was full of really cool/funny photos and the back cover was the london calling artwork, but said dougie stardust instead of london calling. From the sounds of the new book, I got to see and hold one of the only existing copies.

[kieffer]

I had this album streaming this afternoon while I was working away. It's the first time I've had it on in a few months and I just wanted to say it is such a nice flowing album with a cohesive sound. I believe I would feel as strongly about this album if the band if was not tied Gord's illness.

Also, I forgot that Man is 5 minutes plus in length, I could have sworn it was only a couple minutes long.

[Chris Tanz]

I had this album streaming this afternoon while I was working away. It's the first time I've had it on in a few months and I just wanted to say it is such a nice flowing album with a cohesive sound. I believe I would feel as strongly about this album if the band if was not tied Gord's illness.

Also, I forgot that Man is 5 minutes plus in length, I could have sworn it was only a couple minutes long.

Only a couple minutes worth listening to ... [am I allowed to say that?]

Agree on the flow of this album, even TAF has a place on it.

I kinda dig the way the lesser lights knit together on the second half (thinking the run from Here in the Dark through Ocean Next), before you get to the absolute KO of Machine.

ct

[potsie]

I had this album streaming this afternoon while I was working away. It's the first time I've had it on in a few months and I just wanted to say it is such a nice flowing album with a cohesive sound. I believe I would feel as strongly about this album if the band if was not tied Gord's illness.

Also, I forgot that Man is 5 minutes plus in length, I could have sworn it was only a couple minutes long.

Only a couple minutes worth listening to ... [am I allowed to say that?]

Agree on the flow of this album, even TAF has a place on it.

I kinda dig the way the lesser lights knit together on the second half (thinking the run from Here in the Dark through Ocean Next), before you get to the absolute KO of Machine.

ct

MMP is their best sequenced album since the 1990's. Regardless of what one might think of the album, it all hangs together quite nicely. The only change I would make would be to open with "In a World". I like an album to have a strong opener and a strong closer, Phantom Power-style.

[andrew sharpe]

I think Possessed, Sarnia and Machine hold their own with any Hip song.

[longseason]

MMP is their best sequenced album since the 1990's. Regardless of what one might think of the album, it all hangs together quite nicely. The only change I would make would be to open with "In a World". I like an album to have a strong opener and a strong closer, Phantom Power-style.

Phantom Power is, in my opinion, one of the best (if not the best) sequenced album in their catalog. Opening with Poets and closing with Emperor Penguin? Yes please!=