[jeromio]

I'm afraid to say the hip "jumped the shark" with the album Music @ work. I have always been a huge hip fan but since that album, their writing, recording and performing have been weak in comparison to projects like day for night, or the trouble at the henhouse tour. It has taken me a long time to get over the denial, but the truth is that great bands seem to have a solid lifetime of 10 years, after these years bands seem to tread water before drowning with age. I would like to see Gordy D fully and completely focus on his solo career and poetry. It seems as a unit they are floundering, but Gord's potential is untapped. Heres to the beginning of the end.........I hope!

[Summiteer]

This is indeed your perception, back in tha day these guyz made a pact to see this thing they created to the end becuase they have what very few bandz can even hope to have and thats LOVE, a love for what they are doing, fortunately for us they don't do this for money or even to hope to make us happy or impress a critic they do it for themselves first and foremost,i know someone can sit back and say they do it for the fans but no. this is i think the reason why some bandz with still alot of fuel in them like big sugar give in and start to believe they will become a parody,and forget the reasons why you get in a band, you start worrying more about what other people think,which is total bullshit. and i said it once and i'll say it again i LOVE M@W :jump When a group of musicains sits down and records a record I'm sorry to say my friend but they aren't thinking about what if jeromio doesn't like this cratch: Gord will never up and leave the Hip, these guys don't think In terms of themselves ,its a group thing, a state of mind where they institute the universal mind way of thought,did you ever see that pic of all there faces/head/minds combined into one........thats them,ya gord will do his solo thingz and thats great they need to do that but hey the Hip are doing great man and they'll keep doing great inspite of what anyone thinks of this musical journey they be on

[jen]

Well said, Summit :thumb:

[Summiteer]

and also just got to add that the Hip are a group that are and have evolved,sure you wish somedayz that you could have the Gord of old back when he was rocking the joint with Killerwhaletankz and Highway Girlz but as we know life goes on and we are as everyone knows always striving to improve/change for the better the way in which we live our lives. Don't you find that one of the coolest thingz about them? They do not follow or certain trend or pigeon hole them into a spot,they developed their own style, i've seen some wicked Hip gigz but some of their recent tourz have left me gasping for air when I left the building, so I can't see your point when you say they're floundering in an ocean.especially edmonton evening with tour hock: me, i'm just riding this wave with them.

[jen]

:jump

[Summiteer]

:oops: Thanx Jen :wink:

[beanmedic]

They do not follow or certain trend or pigeon hole them into a spot

you could say they avoid trends and cliches and don't try to be up to date...


...ironically from the M@W album... :wink:

[grooveless touque]

M@W ROCKS. Lemme just say that now. It is by far their most UNDERRATED album. I know a lot of people don't like it because it lacks the fluiditiy and inherent coherence between the tracks that every album before it expressed so well, but taken as individual songs, Music @ Work does indeed work. There are some superb moments, like Sharks and Lake Fever and Stay and Toronto No. 4 and the overlooked The Bear, and there are (what I perceive to be) weaker moments like Tiger the Lion, The Pines, The Completists (all of which I liked at first but now have gotten sick of).

However you must SURELY agree that M@W is a lot better than what 99% of the music out there today is, ESPECIALLY coming from a band with such longevity that had already accomplished so much. Now, in my opinion, IVL is a major misstep I would like to see corrected by their next album. If they manage to make another brilliant album, which I have full faith in - because this band has proven itself SO many times - I will not hesitate to chalk IVL up to artistic uncertainty, Gord's blooming solo career, whatever. But I'm reserving judgment on that for after their next record.

But there's one thing you can't substantiate: that the Hip are past their prime. They have evolved in many stages through different types of rock music, and in their maturity they are discovering new and exciting annals of music heretofore unsung. But you know what they say "Tomorrow has not yet begun". The future can hold anything. But I'll still pay to see this band live, I'll still buy their next record, not because I am blinded to their faults by idolatry, but because they are an immensely talented group of musicians and songwriters, a Canadian institution with full bragging rights, and they will continue to (if not "improve"), change. And change is good...

I predict exciting things for their next record. Yes, I know, every fan will say such things about one of their favourite bands....but I think Gord's solo career, as well as his small-venue solo tour, will bring about a major revival in the band. After what I consider the relatively uninspired and overproduced efforts on IVL, I think Gord will bring to the band a new and profound sense of rediscovery of the roots of music, and the roots of the audience. I think Gord's solo tour will be GREAT for the development of the Hip, and I would hate to see them break up and have him go it alone because then a massive piece of the future of Canadian music would always be missing.

Ich Bin Ein Hipster...

[arseface88]

M@W is a hard album to like. It's dense, overlength and overproduced. Gord sings some difficult lyrics with a carelessness that suggests he doesn't know or care what they mean any more than the audience does. But don't be fooled. Gord may expect the listener to do most of the work - for those who aren't willing, the record mostly just slips by without making an impression - but this is a man who loves words and uses them like nobody else does. Find your own meaning in the songs and this becomes a rich, rewarding and complex album. It ain't perfect, but the second half in particular is full of underated gems.

Of course, this music is neither as deliciously gritty as D4N or as immediate as Up2Here, so some fans, like jeromio, are bound to be disapointed. This just might not be your band anymore, man. As Rob Baker has said many times, they've grown. They're not interested in the same things.

IVL is a tighter record, but basically the same deal.

[Cappuccino Bandit]

c'mon man,

do you want the hip to stand still ?

i think time will reveal the quality of IVL and M@W.

its like someone back in the day turning up their nose at Sergeant Pepper because they're a "Love Me Do" or "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" kinda guy..... their entitled to their opinions but superior songwriting isn't "jumpin the shark" in my book.

everyone has their own reasons for liking the hip and have their own favorite era. however, me personally, when i try to push hip on a non-hip fan i have to get around the stigma of the old stuff. its only when i play new tracks like "dire wolf", "stay", "sharks", "the bear", "good life", "use it up" etc. that they change their perceptions for the better.

i think the gordo and the band is growing creatively (obviously) and certain fans are growing with them. the ones who don't get stuck on an old album and can't get around it.

just my opinion.....

[beanmedic]

in my opinion, its like the hip are 3 different bands - the early stuff is one band, the mid-90s stuff is another band, and the recent stuff is another band. the strange part is that all 3 bands are awesome for completely different reasons.

like you were saying, a person might be a mid-90s hip fan, and when introducing the modern hip music to them you have to show how the bands are different and show how both are quality bands. it would be similar to introducing a beatles fan to the music of pearl jam. both are good bands with good music, but they have completely different styles. if a beatles fan expects pearl jam to sound like the beatles - they will be disappointed. he/she must accept the fact that the beatles will never write a song again (just as the hip will never write a song like New O again), but that doesnt mean the new stuff wont be awesome.

i admit this might not make sense to a lot of people, but for those who understand, they will really get it.

[Wheatking20]

I have one sentence that sums this up in my mind. "Change is nessary for the movement of time." You can't sit and wallow in the past. Yes the Hip's days might behind them or ahead of them. Nobody knows what the future brings. Thats what makes life such a journey. All I have to say is. Strap in and enjoy the ride :thumb:

[jeromio]

Everyone has brought up great points, all of which I have considered myself at points of time, and to change/evolve while only listening to the beat of your own drum is something I admire especially in a music industry driven by popular culture. I stick by my proclaimation that the quality of the recent 2 albums have diminished in comparison to their earlier work. Don't get me wrong though, these aren't albums i keep as coasters, they are great to listen to from time to time.

Another issue I think i have with the HIP is their choice of singles. Is there a reason that when i listen to the radio all day at work, I hear many hip selections but rarely are they from IVL or M@W? I can agree with good life and Music @ work but silver jet should not have been a single, darkest one maybe, but no way for Lake fever and puttin down. We can all say that record companys and exec's run the radio stations but ultimately its the listening audience who shows the demand. These last 2 albums are least demanded, they didn't sell nearly as many copies as the others , they didn't win any significant awards, they aren't attracting any new audiences. These are all materialistic warning signals, and mean nothing to a true fan, but they are indications that the music isn't measuring up to their earlier success's. The music feels too watered down, no edge.

[arseface88]

Actually, I have the same quibble with most of my favourite bands. The singles they chose, I mean.

But as I run over my mental list of favourite artists, albums and songs, I can think of very few that sold spectacularly well, garnered overwhelmingly good reviews or won many awards (in fact, I'll be seriously worried if the Hip are ever considered for a Grammy). Maybe that's just my taste.

It is inevitable that the Hip fade from the spotlight as they age. They don't have a young look, and they were never much for publicity in the first place. Expect it to get worse. This is not a reflection of the quality of the music.

Now, what do you mean by "no edge"? Do you want the Hip to start conforming to the trends that sell well?

I'd say that although a very different kettle of fish, IVL is about is good as, say, Trouble in the Henhouse.

[arseface88]

Actually, I have the same quibble with most of my favourite bands. The singles they chose, I mean.

But as I run over my mental list of favourite artists, albums and songs, I can think of very few that sold spectacularly well, garnered overwhelmingly good reviews or won many awards (in fact, I'll be seriously worried if the Hip are ever considered for a Grammy). Maybe that's just my taste.

It is inevitable that the Hip fade from the spotlight as they age. They don't have a young look, and they were never much for publicity in the first place. Expect it to get worse. This is not a reflection of the quality of the music.

Now, what do you mean by "no edge"? Do you want the Hip to start conforming to the trends that sell well?

I'd say that although a very different kettle of fish, IVL is about is good as, say, Trouble in the Henhouse.