[andrew sharpe]

1. The first two cuts. "Heaven" is a disaster, and "Summer" is such a bizarrely ungainly construction that it is bound to put people off - even though I quite enjoy its total madness. When an album disappoints early, it is very hard to recover in the eyes of many fans.

Great point. This has to be the reason. But Vaccination Scar should have been the opening track, not Gus. "So the chemistry's set" is almost "He said I'm fabulously rich."

2. The raw production, which I totally love but, again, which tends to be off-putting to people who aren't expecting the Hip to sound like a lo-fi independent band. Never a fan of slick production, this is a positive virtue as far as I'm concerned.

Agreed again. I LOVE the rawness of this album...this is what the band sounded like live. Polished, professional and ordered preparation, but raw and frenetic sound.

As for Gord's vocals, there's nothing wrong with them; it's just that by this album he is pretty much in "late-model Gord" mode, with a thinner and less robust Rawk voice, wobblier pitch. This had really begun with IVL, and it continues pretty much thereafter.

Yeah, but I've grown to appreciate "late-model Gord" vocals as much as "young Gord" vocals. There's less "tonal" range but more "emotional" range. His growls, yelps and cracks are all employed purposefully, and feel more necessary.

After M@W and IVL, I wasn't too sure about the Hip any more. IBE blew away all doubts for me. And I've always been disappointed that I seemed to be one of the only fans out there who "got" this one.

I'll admit it's taken me more time to warm to IBE (probably because I too was disoriented by IVL), but I'm all in now. Same with World Container. Both took time, but are now top half in my rankings.

[cochise]

As a few others have said, I always felt this was an underrated album deserving of more accolades.

To me it is a pretty strong album and a bit of a detour back to more of the original Hip sound that they had begun driving away from at the release of Trouble At The Henhouse. To me, this album would fit between DFN and TATHH if I was looking at a natural, linear transition/progression in their sound.

I love the raw energy sound. Was never a huge fan of Heaven as an overall song, but did always like the "American Girl"esque opening riff, it overall sets up what the album is all about in my opinion. The song as a whole is meh, but the opening I always liked.

Summer has always been a skipper to me, never really understood why it was ever selected as a single or received much airplay.

Aside from that, I love the rest of the tracks. I actually like Vaccination Scar, a little surprised to read some of the dislike above. Every time I hear it I remember it being played for the first time on Hockey Night in Canada just before a playoff game between the Leafs and the Sens (I think it was game 6 of the first round?). Also surprised to hear some dislike for Gus as well. The opening is such a killer, dirty, gritty riff, just love it, classic Hip.

Personally I would rank IBE as my favorite 2004-2016 release. As mentioned above, I felt this was a small detour back to their original sound. After this, they began their straight drive away from their original sound, never to really, fully return to it. Not that progression/growth is a bad thing, but they just seemed to go in a bit of an alternate route than their original path.

On a side note, this seemed to be the album where they gave up on music videos as well? I remember Vaccination Scar being just animation of the album cover? Maybe I am wrong, but I do not believe there really did much for videos much after IVL? Yes there was "In View", but that wasn't the whole band, just Gord. I wonder if they just got sick of it and realized it was a lost art anymore.

[Moof_Milker]

On a side note, this seemed to be the album where they gave up on music videos as well? I remember Vaccination Scar being just animation of the album cover? Maybe I am wrong, but I do not believe there really did much for videos much after IVL? Yes there was "In View", but that wasn't the whole band, just Gord. I wonder if they just got sick of it and realized it was a lost art anymore.

They made a video for It Can't Be Nashville too -- although I don't remember seeing it when it came out. I only recent saw it for the first time.
I remember first hearing/seeing Vaccination Scar (the video) when it premiered during Hockey Night in Canada. Anyone else remember that? My girlfriend (future wife) and I had recently bought a house and our living room consisted of a dirty old couch, a beer-stained coffee table, a small tv, some chairs, and a HUGE old wooden floor model hi-fi stereo that was connected to the aforementioned tv. That old hi-fi was at the centre of many a house parties in 2004. RIP old girl. To this day, when I hear Vaccination Scar I have warm fuzzy memories of hearing it punching out of those old, musty and dusty hifi speakers.

As for videos, The Hip website has them all posted: http://www.thehip.com/videos/ (<- although I don''t see Yer Not The Ocean nor do I see the We Are The Same video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLOSnXQle74. It would be fun to a do a Weakest Link poll for videos once the album polls wrap up! My favs would be Poets, My Music at Work, The Darkest One, and In View. But I digress.

Current favs on IBE for me are: Summer's Killing Us, Nashville, You're Everywhere, and One Night in Copenhagen. The later I know gets overlooked/dismissed because of its size. It's a small song, sure, but I see that as a feature rather than a bug. Small can be great. I'm looking at you too Unplucked Gems, Eldorado, Toronto #4, among others. Short and sweet. Oh, and so many wonderful "fucks" in Copenhagen too!

[direwolf74]

The imagery throughout this song has always made me smile, from the museum after dark site, I got a kick out of this little tale:

Shane Kroeker added the following:
I was listening to a radio interview with Ian Thornley of Big Wreck discussing Gord Downie. He said that their kids were on the same basketball team together, and how it was nice to see each other at the games in a casual fatherly role setting. Making small talk about how tall your kid has grown, etc. Thornley goes on to say how Gord always had his notepad along with him at the courts, penning lyrics. Given these facts, I believe that the highlighted lines above in As Makeshift As We Are, were spawned from one of his son's inconsequential basketball games.

'You can't take your shots back
I have to watch them miss
The basketball rim
Shook like a tambourine
Not an unlikely event
In a game that means nothing
In a game that means nothing"

Great story! That definitely sheds new light on an already great song. Thanks for sharing!

[direwolf74]

As mentioned above, I felt this was a small detour back to their original sound.

When I spun IBE for the first time in 2004, the first thought that entered my head was that the band was purposely revisiting their roots, and the raw no-frills production really emphasized that. Many of the songs have kind of an old-school Hip vibe as well (Vaccination Scar, Makeshift, Mean Streak, Heart of the Melt). I've always likened this album to R.E.M.'s Accelerate, which was similarly a conscious "let's revisit our roots" album. U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind is another one that comes to mind.

After IBE, that old-school classic Hip sound didn't really pop up again until NFPA.

[Tomacco]

This was my first album as a true Hip fan, following my first show ever (Canada Day 2004). Despite the romantic view I have of it given it was the first new album I had, I’ve never really loved it. Along with Music @ Work and Now for Plan A, it’s in my bottom tier of albums. All that being said, there are a handful of songs I really like, especially live versions (see That Night in Toronto). These are the gems, for me:

Summers Killing Us
Gus
It Can’t Be Nashville Every Night
Are We Family
Vaccination Scar
Goodnight Josephine

That second half is largely forgettable to me. Songs that still haven’t done much, if anything, for me:
You’re Everywhere
In the Heart of the Melt
As Makeshift as we Are
One Night in Copenhagen

The other unmentioned tracks are good, not great.

[potsie]

On a side note, this seemed to be the album where they gave up on music videos as well? I remember Vaccination Scar being just animation of the album cover? Maybe I am wrong, but I do not believe there really did much for videos much after IVL? Yes there was "In View", but that wasn't the whole band, just Gord. I wonder if they just got sick of it and realized it was a lost art anymore.

I think the mid 2000's was a strange time for videos. Their power as a promotional tool for bands waned as MuchMusic moved away from regular video rotation. In addition, the nascent YouTube had yet to monetize their play. Record company budgets for videos was probably near an all-time low around the time of IBE and in the few years after. So I don't know if they got sick of it so much as they maybe didn't have the funds to make them. Afterall, this is around the time Gord appeared to get quite interested in acting and video would have been at least one outlet to scratch that itch, albeit a limited one.

[Tomacco]

I don’t remember any Hip music videos post-IBE aside from In a World Possessed by the Human Mind.

[Joe]

I don’t remember any Hip music videos post-IBE aside from In a World Possessed by the Human Mind.

There were a trio of vids for WATS-- Last Recluse, Coffee Girl, and Morning Moon, I believe.

[Killer Whale Tank]

Who could forget the video for The Lookahead? With the mariachi band :lol:

[direwolf74]

Who could forget the video for The Lookahead? With the mariachi band :lol:

That one is easily one of my favorite Hip videos. Love Johnny on the trumpet, lol.

[cochise]

Who could forget the video for The Lookahead? With the mariachi band :lol:

Yes, I that one popped into my head just a bit after making my original post/comment re videos. But I do think that is the only one with the entire band in it made after, probably the release of The Darkest One video from IVL?? I know I could go and look it up, but I am lazy this morning

[sean.bonner]

They're all in the video for Nashville and At Transformation.

[mark]

I don’t remember any Hip music videos post-IBE aside from In a World Possessed by the Human Mind.

There were a trio of vids for WATS-- Last Recluse, Coffee Girl, and Morning Moon, I believe.

there is a video for morning moon?

[direwolf74]

I don’t remember any Hip music videos post-IBE aside from In a World Possessed by the Human Mind.

There were a trio of vids for WATS-- Last Recluse, Coffee Girl, and Morning Moon, I believe.

there is a video for morning moon?

Yup. The three songs were all bunched together in one video. MM starts around the 7:39 mark.

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