[gsmacleod]

No surprise to see Small Town Bringdown go (although I do enjoy it).

14 - Small Town Bringdown

Vote for the song you believe is weakest from the lead singles and after 24 hours, we'll eliminate the song with the most votes and move on to round 3. In the event of a tie, both songs will be eliminated.

Voting will end on Friday at 10:54am Eastern.

Happy voting,

Shane

[NWOntario]

Well, this is gonna be brutal.

[Moof_Milker]

I may not have the strength to pluck a grape, but I do have enough strength to vote for Love in a First.

[chancellor]

I can't see LIAF making past this round.

[Tthip]

I can't see LIAF making past this round.

It is a pretty horrible single. But I just LOVE it live here:

[youtube]Izd8dDAVKDY[/youtube]

[potsie]

I can't see LIAF making past this round.

It is a pretty horrible single. But I just LOVE it live here:

Is 'Love is a First' a horrible lead single or is the lack of excitement over this song emblematic of the album as a whole? I don't think too many would argue that Morning Moon should have been the first single, or maybe Recluse, but after that if I'm the record company suit-and-tie guy, I'm probably going with Love is a First. In general, I just don't hear a lot of singles on WATS. There are some songs on there that would 'fit' on rock radio (like 'Speed River') but there aren't many that would burn up the charts.

I also think I'd enjoy Love is a First more if it was situated in the second half of the heavier World Container. It doesn't feel quite right on WATS.

[andrew sharpe]

[youtube]Izd8dDAVKDY[/youtube]

Poor Billy Ray at the end of that...trying to predict what GD will do is like trying to chase the wind lol.

What's the correct word for the demeanour that Gord exhibits here? He was like this a lot...even in interviews...that sly smile, raised eyebrows, a tone that sounds sarcastic but still sincere...like he's playing a character but he knows that you know. Sardonic? Ironic? Some other kind of -ic? It's classic Gord and I can't pin down what's so appealing about it.

BTW LIAF > MMAW by far. Has the whole world gone crazy?

[andrew sharpe]

Is 'Love is a First' a horrible lead single or is the lack of excitement over this song emblematic of the album as a whole? I don't think too many would argue that Morning Moon should have been the first single, or maybe Recluse, but after that if I'm the record company suit-and-tie guy, I'm probably going with Love is a First.

They always seemed to go with uptempo lead singles, presumably because their most success came as a rock band. Morning Moon is too mellow to fit this trend.

[edgoffin]

[youtube]Izd8dDAVKDY[/youtube]

Poor Billy Ray at the end of that...trying to predict what GD will do is like trying to chase the wind lol.

Watching live is what gets me for the majority of songs on that album -- I dismiss them, but then listen and think "hmmm, that's not as weak as I recall". I wonder how much could have been different on that album if they'd one and done with Rock and gone a different route.

[daylight]

Are we doing a reverse weakest link (or actual weakest link I guess) for worst song on each album? Or can we just agree on Pretend?

[potsie]

Is 'Love is a First' a horrible lead single or is the lack of excitement over this song emblematic of the album as a whole? I don't think too many would argue that Morning Moon should have been the first single, or maybe Recluse, but after that if I'm the record company suit-and-tie guy, I'm probably going with Love is a First.

They always seemed to go with uptempo lead singles, presumably because their most success came as a rock band. Morning Moon is too mellow to fit this trend.

Agree that leading off with a rocker meets expectations at radio. And looking at the above list, that's what they did 90% of the time. However, they occasionally side-stepped the hard rock expectations, for example when they released ABAC and the poppy 'In View'. Love is a First is probably a safer choice as a lead single, but I believe it was the wrong choice. Morning Moon could have been a cross-over hit and played across different formats, exposing them to a whole new audience, even more so than 'In View' did.

[andrew sharpe]

Love is a First is probably a safer choice as a lead single, but I believe it was the wrong choice. Morning Moon could have been a cross-over hit and played across different formats, exposing them to a whole new audience, even more so than 'In View' did.

I agree with 99.9% of everything you post...but, cross-over hit? Meaning you think MM would have gotten played on country radio?

[potsie]

Love is a First is probably a safer choice as a lead single, but I believe it was the wrong choice. Morning Moon could have been a cross-over hit and played across different formats, exposing them to a whole new audience, even more so than 'In View' did.

I agree with 99.9% of everything you post...but, cross-over hit? Meaning you think MM would have gotten played on country radio?

It's the 0.1% that keeps things interesting!

I think there is a chance that Morning Moon could have gotten play on stations where the Hip (excepting ABAC) don't typically get play. For example, there is a station in Halifax called Mix 96.5, part of whose tagline is "no hip-hop, no hard rock". They play mostly terrible music (think Hootie and the Blowfish, Kelly Clarkson, etc) but MM would have fit well within this genre of station. This is the type of thing I was referring to with "cross-over".

Country radio would have been difficult to crack. Based on the sound of MM, there is really no reason that it couldn't have gotten play on any station where Blue Rodeo gets played, including country radio. However, given the "baggage" of being labelled as a "rock" band, it probably would have taken the concerted and calculated effort of a full alt-country album (which would have been fantastic) to have any made any in roads on country radio. Bon Jovi and Steven Tyler have made these type of blatant (and dreadful) plays for the country genre. Had the Hip done this it would have been quite interesting as, commercially, it might have left them in a wasteland in between alienating hard rock/classic rock stations and being unable to gain acceptance to the alt-country genre.