Blue Rodeo

[surfndestroy]

Blue Rodeo, another Canadian I love and feel is under appreciated. They had a run where they were arguably the best Canadian band. They've gone through various incarnations, some better than other but the mainstays are their two singers and songwriters. One silky smooth and the other gruff. At their best they straddled a beautiful fine line between country, pop and rock, powered by vocals and harmonies. They've had a 35 plus year career and I am only going to cover the first fifteen years. That's seven studio albums and a live double album.

Outkirts, their debut album is full of promises but barring a song or two they fall short of this promise. The songs from this album on their live album recorded fifteen years down the road all sound better and a little fuller.

Heart Like Mine - A nice introduction to the band. Beautiful harmony vocals with a keyboard underlay to open the song and record. This is the strength of the band up until the time this keyboardist left. In my books, they were never quite the same band afterwards. A nice upbeat song that shows the promise of their future. The song really opens up after the first chorus which just elevates the song.

Rose-Coloured Glasses - A good song that is better in the choruses than the verses. They were still learning their craft but the passion is apparent.

Rebel - Not the world's greatest song but I am a sucker for the old school country guitar in the song.

Joker's Wild - After a James Bond-ish intro the song turns in a nice rockabilly number

Piranha Pool - The intro is so good. The keyboardist, Bob Wiseman should be heralded. Legends goes he never played the intro the same way twice during his eight year run with the band. I like this song and it has what I think of as a film noire-ish vibe.

Outskirts - Why this was chosen as the lead off single I have no idea. Maybe they were going after the country market. I think it's the worst song on the album. It doesn't really hit on the band's strengths.

Underground - The vocals are interesting, I love his voice. The keyboards are nice and everything is forgotten quickly.

5 Will Get You Six - I can hear there being a good song in there somewhere but it's not executed.

Try - A gorgeous ballad. The vocals soar and dive, the guitar is sublimely understated and the keyboards kill. Organ at it's best. A five star song. How it took the label seven months to release this as a single is beyond me.

Floating - Continuing with the understated guitars and keyboards you can float away on. I really like this song. By the time the harmony vocals kick in I am smitten.







Piranha Pool, an alternate take with completely different intro.

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Diamond Mine, the beginning of my love affair with the band. They weren't great yet but the highs are awesome. A big growth in sound. A cd era album, a little long at 57 minutes. At 40 minutes it would have been a much better album. Successful in Canada but left the band pretty much unknown internationally.

Swells - A short interlude type song to open the album. Pleasing but not sure why it's there.

God and Country - An upbeat song that doesn't quite fully connect but it's still worth a listen. This sound will be attempted and mastered later on in their career.

How Long - A great song that bounces between influences. Springsteen-esque at time, others recall The Byrds.

Blues Piano - A short piano track, goes nowhere but damn he's good.

Love and Understanding - Not much I can say about this song. Lacks a little substance.

Girl of Mine - A ballad that falls a little flat but the vocals are it's saving grace.

Diamond Mine - The masterpiece of the album. An 8 minute plus brooding epic. The guitars sound like they could be coming from Neil Young and Crazy Horse was playing a country bar a la Blues Brothers. Like nearly every song during Bob Wiseman's time with the band, the keyboards are phenomenal.

Now and Forever - Pretty country and forgettable.

Percussive Piano - Another short piano interlude. Not sure if it was needed.

House of Dreams - A ballad that tries to be lush and falls a touch short. Worth listening to for the reach they are making.

Nice Try - A minute plus intro that is divorced from the song. Going for that film noire sound again. The weakest track on the album.

Fall In Line - Mid-tempo and enjoyable. The singer is just in a groove at this point.

One Day - Punk rockabilly. Surprisingly authentic sounding.

Florida - The keyboards and vocals do it for me. Uptempo and fun.

Fuse - Never connected with me. Not sure what they were trying to get at with this song.

The Ballad of the Dime Store Greaser and the Blonde Mona Lisa - Fuck yeah. This could be a Springsteen song and a damn fine one.I know why songs like this aren't hits but in a just world they would be.

[philpritchard]

I mostly just know the hits, but they're great. Bad Timing is one of my favourite songs.

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Casino, a step up from Diamond Mine with some great songs on it. Twenty minutes shorter than Diamond Mine and better for it.The start of a three album run that is the heart of this band's catalogue. The live album at the end of this album run is so good.

Til I Am Myself Again - "I want to know where my confidence went. One day it all disappeared. Now I'm lying in a motel room miles away, the voices next door in my head. Well daytimes a great, nighttime is worse." This is how you kick off an album. Great lyrics and storytelling detailing the frustration they were feeling as a band.

What Am I Doing Here? - "On this useless night, with you so far away. I stand in front of this ferris wheel. I wonder what am I doing here?" More great storytelling and a damn fine song.

5 A.M. (A Love Song) - A little heavier than the opening duo. More reminiscent of there first album than anything else on the album.

Montreal - Great vocals in this slow burner.

Last Laugh - Among my least favourite songs on the album. Nothing bad about it, it's just a strong album. Nice chorus.

Trust Yourself - Within the Blue Rodeo world, this song is perfect. It hits on all their strengths, vocals, storytelling, nice guitars and keyboards that are criminally good (even when they're understated). The guitar has a nice Neil Young feel and this will not be the last time that occurs.

Two Tongues - Upbeat and fun.

Time - The other song that doesn't do much for me. Again, it's not bad but neither does it home home with me.

After The Rain - A piano ballad that would be at home on the second half of The River.

You're Everywhere - A short, upbeat rockabilly number to wrap the album. Fun and concise.





A nice version here from Late Night With Davis Letterman

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Lost Together, another long album at 66 minutes. Possibly a touch all over the map but the high points are so fine. Not quite as good as Casino but it expands the band's musical palette.

Fools Like You - Not near as a good an opener as 'Til I Am Myself Again' but a nice little song that highlights the band's country roots. They are not making a repeat of Casino.

Rain Down On Me - An intro that would be at home on an early Springsteen album. Not in a derivative way though. The vocals and phrasing are so good, I can't help but love the song. They make it sound so effortless.

Restless - They're rocking out here. More Stray Cats inspired than anything in their past.

Western Skies - A little too twangy for me but well executed.

The Big Push - One of the weaker songs on the album.

Willin' Fool - This is more like it. The film noire groove is back. This is the keyboardist's last album with the band. Better enjoy this kind of song while you can. There are no more after this album.

Already Gone - Love this song. A beautiful little song. On the next album they take this style of song to new and great heights.

Flying - A touch rockabilly. A touch fun.

Lost Together - The centrepiece of the album. 'No Woman, No Cry' inspired chords with another great story of hardship and friendship being sung on top of it. "I stand before this faceless crowd. I wonder why I bother.... Stumbling from one disaster to another."

Where Are You Now - A great little rocker.

Last To Know - The vocals are the song's saving grace. Not much else is great.

Is It You - A nice album track, Acoustic guitar with an accordion and lap steel accompanying it.

Angels - An electric rocker to close the album.

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Five Days In July, their best album. It has a crazy relaxed feeling to it. Laidback and with the loss of Bob Wiseman, a little less adventurous. They did pick up a lap steel player to help fill the loss.The great storytelling continues. An effortless album. Side A is one of the finest sides of vinyl there is. The band has talked about the recording of the album being magical, it shows in every note.

5 Days In May - How does a seven minute long song go by so fast. A five star song, It's perfect. The keyboard solo is beautiful and almost thinks Bob Wiseman won't be missed. Some of the vocal phrasing is pure delight and the lyrics are magical. After a harmonica solo and piano solo, the guitar solo comes in from left field and slays.

Hasn't Hit Me Yet - Is that mandolin? They are hitting on all cylinders here. When the chorus kicks in, I am transported.

Bad Timing - Wrapping up side A of the vinyl. Another masterpiece of storytelling. The harmony vocals are spot on and a beautiful piano solo only take the song further on towards greatness.

Cynthia - Lots of lap steel on display here. Their country roots are showing again but this time the band is taking control of the roots and making them work in the band's favour.

Photograph - Jaunty I think is an apt description of this song. Some really nice guitars, and as always a stellar vocal.

What Is This Love - You know you're on a roll when Sarah McLachlan drops by for a few days and adds vocals to a couple songs. Slow and haunting.

English Bay - A song about an area in Vancouver. An upbeat song with wistful lyrics. I like it. I like it a lot.

Head Over Heels - Is this the weakest song on the album? Could be and there is nothing wrong with it. I swear when you can harmonize like the two singers here that every song has a chance.

Til I Gain Control Again - This cover takes them back to their country roots. Seems to be pretty perfectly executed.

Dark Angel - Sarah McLachlan drops by for this song as well. Absolutely stunning in it's beauty. I always wonder if they appreciated at the time of recording this song just how beautiful it is.

Know Where You Go /Tell Me Your Dream - This song suffers from having to follow Dark Angel. They go out on a light note but not frivolous. The latter half of the song explores some of the harmony possibilities with Sarah McLachlan.

Twenty five plus years later this album still hits me. I could list a video for just about every song here. I'll go with the big four and one more.



A nice live version. Their voices are beautiful together.

[Higgs]

Just wanna say, I very much appreciate you doing this sort of thing, s'n'd. This is the exact idea of what OB should be about. Or aboot as the case may be.

[surfndestroy]

Just wanna say, I very much appreciate you doing this sort of thing, s'n'd. This is the exact idea of what OB should be about. Or aboot as the case may be.

Thanks. Greatly inspired by Liebzz's discography reviews and the Aussie band threads. I am really learning that I have a very limited vocabulary for discussing music. My hope is that there has been a discovery of a song or two.

[surfndestroy]

Nowhere To Here, a little more electric and slightly harder follow up to Five Days In July. I can't imagine trying to follow up Five Days In July but this is a good attempt at not making Five More Days In July. Sarah McLachlan is back for a few songs again. The loss of Bob Wiseman starts to show more on this album and especially the next. A running theme is this is another long album that would have been better being fifteen or twenty minutes shorter.

Save Myself - A slow, country laden ballad. Whole not my favorite Blue Rodeo song I truly appreciate they did not try to replicate the last album on this opener.

Girl In Green - A great song that is a hurt a little by the band's decision to move a little out of their comfort zone. This song is stellar on the still to be reviewed live album.

What You Want - I like this song, especially the latter half. The first half's arrangement or something could be a better.

Side of The Road - An effortless electric guitar opening. The song follows a repeated pattern of building up and then pulling back.

Better Off As We Are - The best song on the album? For sure my fave. I love the mini piano fill at the seven second mark so much. Like 'Girl In Green', this song gets better on the live album. To me that's a sign that something was missing during the recording and mixing sessions.

Sky - Slow and a little space-y. It is songs like this make albums an important format. This isn't a single, it's not going to show up on playlists but there is a slow beauty to it that I am better off for hearing.

Brown-Eyed Dog - A deep album track. Another slow song that while pretty doesn't add anything to the album. Not filler but far from essential.

Blew It Again - A piano based, country song that starts out slow and stays slow. Some nice guitars but I've never felt that their country inspired lead guitar was their strong point. They do much better in the Neil Young realm of guitar solos.

Get Through To You - It's getting a touch formulamatic at this point. A sparse, ballad like entry into a song that build to something a little more. This is Blue Rodeo on autopilot and where the los of Bob Wiseman is most apparent. His playing would most definitely have elevated the song.

Armour - The album starts to run a little long now. It doesn't have enough really good songs to justify it's length. A mid tempo, by the numbers song.

Train - An interesting acoustic guitar based song with a nice country drenched vocal.

Flaming Bed - A long, brooding song. Bob Wiseman is sincerely missed here.

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Tremelo, the final album in their heyday run. There are hits and strong songs in the future but not at the same consistency as during this run. They're still exploring their rockier side here. The live album that follows, 'Just Like A Vacation' is a beautiful encapsulation of the band to date.

Moon & Tree - I love this as an opener. A band very comfortable with who they are and where they are as a band. The country-er side of the band on display.

Shed My Skin - No new ground covered here but the execution is perfect.

No Miracle, No Dazzle - An upbeat song that harkens back to the early days. Would not be out of place on either Outskirts or Diamond Mine

Falling Down Blue - Stunning. From the first note to the last, it has me hanging on.

I Could Never Be That Man - Fun, a fun little song.

Beautiful Blue - Plodding where it should be brooding. Not much I can say that I like about this song.

Fallen From Grace - Like on 'Nowhere To Here', there is something missing from their A grade songs. A better version is on the live album but I do love the guitar solo here.

Me & Baz - I love this kind of album track. Solid songwriting and performance on display.

Disappear - See 'Beautiful Blue'.

It Could Happen To You - See 'Fallen From Grace'.

Dragging On - A good description for the next few songs.

Brother Andre's Heart - Pretty. a little lush and a little paint by numbers.

Frogs' Lullaby - See 'Beautiful Blue'. If too sparse is possible, this song is it. It's such a fine line and this is on the wrong side of that line.

Graveyard - A real rocking number. The album could have used a little more of this vibe. It's too bad they make you sit through the previous three songs to get to it.

[surfndestroy]

Just Like A Vacation, their double cd live album. The perfect place to jump into this band. Has all their hits and catches the band in their prime. Execution is great on every song. So many songs are better on this album than their studio version. They sound so comfortable and are firing on all cylinders. They do a great job of bringing very diverse songs into a cohesive set of songs.

Til I Am Myself Again/What Am I Doing Here - The opening duo from Casino open this album. The pedal steel guitar addition is great.

Better Off As We Are - So much better than the studio version.

Floating - I love this version. From the organ solo in the middle section to the end of the song, everything is pure gold. Eight minutes go by like a dream

After The Rain - By the time I get to this song I am ready to declare "Damn, I love this band." Perfectly executed. The falsetto at the 2:45 is delicious.

Fallen From Grace/The Ballad of the Dime Store Greaser and the Blonde Mona Lisa/ It Could Happen To You/Girl In Green - Every song in this run beats the studio version.

Try - Fifteen years in and the singing is still impeccable. They must be tired of performing this song but it sure doesn't sound like it.

Trust Yourself - Nice honky tonk piano addition here before a descending bass line has the song take flight.

Dark Angel/Cynthia/Montreal - A nice run of songs. The vocals in Montreal would have had me entranced live.

Piranha Pool - The intro, fuck me. I love that they can still replicate their early film noire-ish sound, just wish they could still write like this.

Hasn't Hit Me Yet/5 Days In May/ Bad Timing - Side A from Five Days In July. The execution is sublime and you can hear them having fun. This is the band the Stones dreamed of being live while playing side B of Exile. Yeah, I went there. The outro guitar solo in 5 Days In May is amazing, Neil Young would be proud.

Diamond Mine - Epic in it's delivery.

Falling Down Blue/Lost Together/Florida - Every song is better than the studio version. I love this longer version of 'Lost Together'.

It's a shame this band isn't better known.