[No_Longer_Convinced]

from today's The Record (kit-wat-camb daily):

A return to The (relevant) Tragically Hip

THE TRAGICALLY HIP


(Oct 26, 2006)

THE TRAGICALLY HIP -- World ContainerTM (UNIVERSAL)

Maybe they felt their ass getting kicked by the next generation of CanRockers. Maybe they took a long hard look at their lacklustre recent work after issuing last year's box set and hits compilation.

Maybe producer Bob Rock hooked them up with Metallica's therapist and opened new doors of communication.

Who knows? Who cares? The short of it is that World ContainerTM sounds like The Tragically Hip are willing to put up a fight and resist the irrelevance that's been nipping at their heels for most of this decade. There were some definite steps out of their slump on 2004's In Between Evolution, but now they've gone back to the drawing board.

Gord Downie is no longer relying on guitar riffs to conjure his melodies for him, and ends up writing some of his poppiest melodies ever, especially the toy-piano-driven single In View. Guitarists Bobby Baker and Paul Langlois have finally realized that The Hip have long ceased to be a decent jam band, and have quit noodling themselves into the netherworld; here they sound tight and focused and exploring different textures to their playing. Bob Rock's production errs on the side of stadium-size drum sounds, yet he also leaves enough sonic space for every guitar track to ring out loud and clear. Downie's vocal performances sound like he's hungry again -- or maybe he's overwhelmed by the oceanic setting of Rock's Hawaii studio, as aquatic themes dominate several songs here.

Fortunately, the album is front-loaded with future hits, like the surprising The Lonely End of the Rink, with its reggae-tinged verses adding an extra twist to standard rock chorus. (Maybe they took notes on how to pull off this tricky feat with subtlety when the Joel Plaskett Experience opened their last tour).

World ContainerTM dips considerably in the second half, especially when Downie sounds like a grumpy grandpa shooing the whippersnappers off his lawn on The Kids Don't Get It. But he's rescued by the rousing Family Band, a shout-out to struggling young bands on their first tour ("what's gripping the city ain't hitting the town") set to an anthemic avalanche of guitars that may well have been borrowed from Broken Social Scene. If this country's recent rock success stories threatened to unleash a classic Canadian cultural amnesia, one of our finest bands has finally returned to remind us why we love them -- fully, completely.

Michael Barclay

Pretty good review but a couple of points i disagree with...The Kids Don't Get It...awesome song, probably my favourite on the album..he writes about Gord's hunger, and on no song does Gord sound any more urgent than this one.

Secondly, in terms of The Hip's relevence..i'm sure a lot of the Canadian bands he deems to be relevent in this decade will not even be around long enough to make "irrelevent" 10th albums later in their career.

But he makes some good points too. Especially about the tighter guitar solos, which I agree, on IBE a lot of the solos seemed to serve no purpose and were just there for the sake of being there. The solos on this record really serve the songs well.

[lindros]

For me "World container" is one of the best Hip albums ever.

This album shows all the best of the Hip. And thank Bob Rock, it rocks !!
My favorites are At the lonely end of the ring, Luv (sic), In view, ...... ok, I´ll end the list here. I really like all songs. There is only one that I don´t like as much and that is The kids don´t get it. The melody is not so catchy.

But I did not understand the critics on In between evolution and In violet light. I really like those albums too.

[Ballgame]

For me "World container" is one of the best Hip albums ever.

This album shows all the best of the Hip. And thank Bob Rock, it rocks !!

I agree, Im blown away how good it is.

I also like that they recorded Gord yelling/singing "YEAH". Like the end of Drop Off. He does that live but was good to get in the studio. Its emotion

[fingernailsonhull]

Only other note: I'm pretty sure it's Joel Plaskett Emergency.

[surferguy]

For me "World container" is one of the best Hip albums ever.

This album shows all the best of the Hip. And thank Bob Rock, it rocks !!
My favorites are At the lonely end of the ring, Luv (sic), In view, ...... ok, I´ll end the list here. I really like all songs. There is only one that I don´t like as much and that is The kids don´t get it. The melody is not so catchy.

But I did not understand the critics on In between evolution and In violet light. I really like those albums too.

What till you experiance it live!! Trust me...

[lindros]

Oh, I really hope to see it live, but how are my chances? The Hips don´t go to Germany very often. I saw them live in Cologne on their IVL Tour. That was the last time.

My dream is to see them live in Toronto one day. Like on the DVD. That was a wonderful gig.

[longseason]

Free place to stay here near Toronto if you ever come to visit!

[Shredd]

after tons of listens, I'm starting ot think " The Kid's Don't Get it" is the best track on this album.....

[The Darkest Canuck]

an excellent choice...at the very least it's the most heated moment...Drop-Off is pretty fuckin bitchin too though...Gord's vocals are in top form on both...nice and angry :twisted:

[Chris Tanz]

after tons of listens, I'm starting ot think " The Kid's Don't Get it" is the best track on this album.....

I'm agreeing more and more with every listen. It just leaves you battered and disoriented, like falling out of a car at 120 km/h.

Although, let's give some love to The Drop Off: "Personal stakes will get raised and get raised till your story gets compelling/If you lack the sense or were wilfully dense, is forever in the telling/The surface is green and the dark interweaves with its lonely iridescence/It's terribly deep and the cold is complete and it only lacks your presence/And nothing else"

I cannot stop those lines from racing through my head.

ct

[Flamenco]

after tons of listens, I'm starting ot think " The Kid's Don't Get it" is the best track on this album.....

Agreed!

[The Horrible Esthete]

Although, let's give some love to The Drop Off: "Personal stakes will get raised and get raised till your story gets compelling/If you lack the sense or were wilfully dense, is forever in the telling/The surface is green and the dark interweaves with its lonely iridescence/It's terribly deep and the cold is complete and it only lacks your presence/And nothing else"

I cannot stop those lines from racing through my head.

For me, the cadence / delivery of these lines is irritating, and thus diminishes my overall appreciation of an otherwise great song.

I wish he would've done something entirely different with chorus structure in TDO.

[direwolf74]

Although, let's give some love to The Drop Off: "Personal stakes will get raised and get raised till your story gets compelling/If you lack the sense or were wilfully dense, is forever in the telling/The surface is green and the dark interweaves with its lonely iridescence/It's terribly deep and the cold is complete and it only lacks your presence/And nothing else"

I cannot stop those lines from racing through my head.

For me, the cadence / delivery of these lines is irritating, and thus diminishes my overall appreciation of an otherwise great song.

I wish he would've done something entirely different with chorus structure in TDO.

It's interesting that what may be irritating to one person is total ear candy to someone else. I don't find that part irritating at all. In fact it's my favorite part of the song. It's a big, powerful, knock-you-on-your-ass rock tune, and I think Gord's vocal phrasing fits the song to a tee. If you listen to what the band is playing behind him during that particular part, I don't think you could sing those lines any other way and make them fit or get the same impact. The band would have to change the arrangement of the song, and if they did that it would ruin MY appreciation of an otherwise great song.

[tigerthelion]

Although, let's give some love to The Drop Off: "Personal stakes will get raised and get raised till your story gets compelling/If you lack the sense or were wilfully dense, is forever in the telling/The surface is green and the dark interweaves with its lonely iridescence/It's terribly deep and the cold is complete and it only lacks your presence/And nothing else"

I cannot stop those lines from racing through my head.

For me, the cadence / delivery of these lines is irritating, and thus diminishes my overall appreciation of an otherwise great song.

I wish he would've done something entirely different with chorus structure in TDO.

It's interesting that what may be irritating to one person is total ear candy to someone else. I don't find that part irritating at all. In fact it's my favorite part of the song. It's a big, powerful, knock-you-on-your-ass rock tune, and I think Gord's vocal phrasing fits the song to a tee. If you listen to what the band is playing behind him during that particular part, I don't think you could sing those lines any other way and make them fit or get the same impact. The band would have to change the arrangement of the song, and if they did that it would ruin MY appreciation of an otherwise great song.

I agree. I love the way Gord sings in THE DROPOFF.

[Chris Tanz]

^ 3 votes to 1. We win. (It was a best of 5). Kidding of course (it's a best of 7, so there's still time).

Q to Horrible Esthete, is it just that part you don't like or the initial one as well ("the fates are amok and spun ..."). I prefer the second one to the first, because Gord sounds just that much more demented on it, even though it lacks the "holy fuck, it's jesus" exclamation point.
ct