[andrew sharpe]

Yup. The three songs were all bunched together in one video. MM starts around the 7:39 mark. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLOSnXQle74">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLOSnXQle74</a><!-- m -->

I remember loving that visual of Gord on his bike, dragging his daughter's bike beside him. I think I love it even more now that he's gone. I wonder what ferry he would have been dropping her off for? They lived in downtown Toronto, right? Would the ferry to Billy Bishop Airport have been built then?

[Scotty12]

If you truly listen to the lyrics, there is very little that is uplifting on here. In fact, if you let your mind go there, the album can be downright depressing. Personally I rarely get that feeling when listening to it, but it is there, just slightly submerged below the surface of these songs. If New Orleans is beat, where does that leave you and me? Sounds like getting ready to throw in the towel if you ask me.

I have a similar impression of If NO is beat and would rank it as one of the Hip's underrated gems.

It was one of the "underdogs" I was hoping to be pulled out in Kingston. The others being Dark Canuck and Small town/Last American exit for their "Full circle" symbolism.

At the London 2016 concert, we got IBE and New Orleans is Beat is probably the performance that comes first to my head when I think back to that night. Such an amazing song, that I'm somewhat embarrassed that it stayed on the outer edges of my radar for so long. The fact that I now associate this album to my last time seeing the Hip live has just brings this album up to a new level for me personally.

I would have treasured that performance as well, and have similar feelings towards Toronto #4 (and to a lesser extent, puttin down) following the Kingston show

I hope New Orleans is beat doesnt suffer the same fate as throwing off glass in weakest link voting.

Even the album title raised similar eyebrows for me -- We've got an album called "Live BETWEEN Us"; we've got an album we just did called "IN Violet Light"; anyone got a third word? How about "In Between Evolution"

If I recall correctly the album was untitled, Rob saw a local artists work in a gallery and asked if it could be used for the coverart. They took the title of his painting as the name for the album.

A bit embarrassed that I didn't connect these dots at the time

Nice memories about your honeymoon. My wife and I drove through the east coast on ours with a burned CD that had two of her hip favourites on it - morning moon and you're everywhere. Didnt want to overdo it with the hip.

In hindsight I wished I had squeezed dire wolf and "Are we family" on there - but I still harboured fresh regret about my wife not letting us use that as our first dance song

I remember loving that visual of Gord on his bike, dragging his daughter's bike beside him. I think I love it even more now that he's gone. I wonder what ferry he would have been dropping her off for? They lived in downtown Toronto, right? Would the ferry to Billy Bishop Airport have been built then?

I believe they had a lake house in Cressy (prince Edward county) which would have required a trip on the Glenora Ferry if visiting the Bathouse or Kingston. So that's the Ferry I connect it to.

Then again, he did introduce last recluse @ massey hall 09 saying something along the lines of "every Toronto islander knows what I'm talking about" so perhaps it was Toronto island based or catching a flight

[gsmacleod]

I know that Rob has mentioned his love/hate relationship with the pedal steel but it fits so well here and I'm glad that they decided to go that route rather than some more basic slide work.

Here's an interview with Rob from around that time:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.musiciansfriend.com/resources/article/Interview-with-Guitarist-Bobby-Baker-of-the-Tragically-Hip/m710810">http://www.musiciansfriend.com/resource ... ip/m710810</a><!-- m -->

Shane

[andrew sharpe]

(the same is not true of that godforsaken abomination WC)

You don't just blurt "godforsaken abomination WC".

[sean.bonner]

Even the album title raised similar eyebrows for me -- We've got an album called "Live BETWEEN Us"; we've got an album we just did called "IN Violet Light"; anyone got a third word? How about "In Between Evolution"

The new Miss Emily album is also called simply 'In Between'.

[Chris Tanz]

(the same is not true of that godforsaken abomination WC)

You don't just blurt "godforsaken abomination WC".

points.

The kids don't get it.

ct

[Killer Whale Tank]

Ha ha, you're right that I don't "just blurt" that. Rather I say it as a considered opinion about a tasteless turd of a record - by Hip standards. (By the standards of normal bands, it's still unlistenable, but that hypothetical band would get points for having "good moments" on the four or five cuts that are actually worth bothering with).

But this is an IBE thread! Let's save the vitriol for the WC thread :lol:

[Tomacco]

I really like WC. Excited for that thread/poll.

[gsmacleod]

I really like WC. Excited for that thread/poll.

I also like WC; along with WATS and NFPA. Not that they are without flaws but I enjoy listening to them all.

Love MMP.

Shane

[nestene1]

Yeah I really like WC and WATS - both over NFPA or IBE actually.

It took me a long time to ‘get’ IBE. Personal preference and all, but for me it’s only ever been an ‘OK’ album.

[direwolf74]

I really like WC. Excited for that thread/poll.

I also like WC; along with WATS and NFPA. Not that they are without flaws but I enjoy listening to them all.

WC and IBE are pretty equal for me in terms of overall quality. They're both fairly decent albums with an equal number of great songs mixed with a few clunkers. Although I definitely prefer the production on IBE. WC could have been so much better without Bob Rock's involvement...but now's not the time to talk about that. I'll save my venom for the WC thread.

[potsie]

This is an American album. If Fully Completely arrived packaged in the Maple Leaf, the Stars n’ Stripes cloaks IBE. I mean this is not in a nationalistic sense, but rather in terms of content and commentary. Looking for meaningful Canadiana? Look elsewhere. It’s scant on this album, which really makes it an outlier in terms of lyrical composition on Hip albums. Gord has his sights trained almost exclusively south of the border on this one.

1. Heaven Is a Better Place Today
A song about a hockey player (+1C) who played for an American team (+1A) with a clichéd football reference (+1A).

2. Summer's Killing Us
“Canada lost, go home” (+1C)

3. Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park
A New York setting (+1A), with an “us vs. them” mentality that well describes U.S. foreign policy (+1A). It’s been mentioned that Gus is a metaphor for Bush, but I think it’s more general… he’s an embodiment of how the world (or at least Gord) viewed America at that time (+1A).

4. Vaccination Scar
“To forget the American word” (+1A), Tacoma Narrows Bridge (+1A). More anti-war sentiment (+1A).

5. It Can't Be Nashville Every Night
Tennessee setting (+1A)

6. If New Orleans Is Beat
Louisiana setting (+1A). This song sums up the “world is going to hell and America is driving the bus” vibe on the album.

7. You're Everywhere
Another anti-war (anti-media?) screed (+1A)

8. As Makeshift as We Are
“Let’s shake some snow off his shoulders” (+1C)

9. Mean Streak
“It’s the way the dust clings to the air, after a stranger’s been there” could be a 9/11 reference to the dust that filled lower Manhattan on that day, or could reference the intrusion of American soldiers into Middle Eastern areas where their presence was unwanted and/or unappreciated. The latter interpretation would fit well with the image of ‘boot-clad’ American soldiers walking through villages: “The sssh sound of the bottoms of their boots On the tops of the grass As the haywagon rolled past”. (+1A)

10. The Heart of the Melt
A hockey reference (“I could dance with the puck”) (+1C), and a Canadian songstress (+1C)

In a rough count, I’ve got Americana topping Canadiana on this one. Off the top of my head, I don’t believe that happens on any other Hip album.

[Escape@Hand]

I really love this album and wish they did more recordings with Adam Kasper. There is such a raw energy on IBE that I really love; a bit punk rock in it's attitude. This tour was the first time I travelled to see the Hip; I went to Rochester NY to see them and it remains to this day one of the best shows I've ever seen. They opened with You're Everywhere, which is my favourite song on the album, and the only time I got to hear it live. I feel as though IBE, along with IVL, never got the attention it deserved in their live sets (outside of the album tour).

[edgoffin]

I really love this album and wish they did more recordings with Adam Kasper.

I agree -- I find their producer choices were always interesting, and in the context of their career generally made sense. M@W sounds a bit disjointed to me, IVL seems to be an effort to make a tighter, more concise album. It was maybe a bit too sterile in places. With Kasper, it sounds a lot looser, with less perfection and production.

[Moof_Milker]

Gord in 1989: "New Or-LEENS is sinking man and I don't wanna swim"
Gord in 2004: "If New OR-lee-yuns is beat..."
That is all.