AWmusic

The latest album from The Tragically Hip entitled “We Are The Same”; a misleading title as although the band may not have changed, their music certainly has.

The Good: Songs are still as poetic and ambiguous as ever, songs that stick out: “Coffee Girl”, “Country Day”, “The Last Recluse”, some more amazing guitar work by Rob Baker, Gord Downie, and Paul Langois, memorable drum piece work by Johnny Fay, vocals are spot on as usual, very solid album by one of Canada’s foremost leading bands

The Ugly: Still working with Bob Rock

One of Canada’s foremost leading bands has released their twelfth studio album following their 2006 release “World Container”. “We Are The Same” is the second album the band has worked on with music producer Bob Rock who in my opinion has had a big tendency in the past to drastically change a bands musical path and has ended up hurting the band more so than helping. It feels as though he has done the same thing working with The Tragically Hip on the past two albums, and I feel The Hip may have lost their way.

The Tragically Hip being one of my utmost favorite bands in the world, I am proud to say that I really enjoyed the album as a whole, but being The Hip fan that I am, I have to say that it really didn’t live up to what I was hoping for. The Tragically Hip must get back in touch with their roots and link back to such masterpieces as “Up To Here”, “Fully Completely” or even “Phantom Power” or else I feel that they might completely end up losing what made them so unique as a band in the first place.

Gord Downie being the poetic genius that he is, has kept the album fresh with his ambiguous and creative lyrics and puts his own perspective into light be it anything from politics to the state of the world. His voice is top notch and spot on singing beautifully as ever and changing up his style of singing ever so often, which can be clearly be heard on the single “Love Is A First”. When it comes to Gord Downie, there is definitely nobody else out there like him, and he above all is the focal point of attention when it comes to The Hip. His presence is loud and clear on the album and made the album into something completely different than what is usually expected from the band, but with the intervention of Bob Rock time will only tell if Gord will be able to fully take back the reigns or not.

The one thing I have always loved and respected about the band is their shared efforts in putting forth great guitar riffs, melodies, and solos, and although the solos are not as noticeable as they once were, Gord, Paul and Rob have put together and wrote so many great guitar pieces for this album that it’s somewhat mind blowing at points. To be completely honest though, the guitar work here is nowhere near as close to as good as it used to be especially when compared to songs such as “Courage” or “Little Bones” off of previous albums.

The drumming is also quite memorable, especially when listening to the song “Coffee Girl”; you can just feel the rhythm and the beat the entire way through. The drumming on that song actually stands out at times on that song more so than the lyrics or the singing itself. Johnny Fay is just able to put pieces together that for the most part work with every song the band has ever written. The more you listen to the album the more you notice Johnny Fay’s presence and once he gets in your head, your foot starts tapping away and he just never leaves after that point. An excellent drummer, who although takes a backseat to other members such as Gord Downie or Rob Baker, is a huge part of what makes the Hip’s music so great and helps to make this album one of the more solid albums as of late.

The songs on the album have their high points and their low points with some being as fresh, new and satisfying as some of their older pieces while some of them just feel completely out of place not knowing what to exactly make of themselves. I felt that “Coffee Girl”, “The Last Recluse”, and “Country Day” just stuck out the most in my mind listening to them over and over again. Those three songs I have found to be the most catchy, addicting and ear grabbing, as they each have this unique sound to them while also reminding me of previous songs such as “Thompson Girl” or “Don’t Wake Daddy”. There are also the songs that just don’t meet up to my expectations such as “Now The Struggle Has A Name” or “The Depression Suite”, which I felt the album could have done without and held the album back from being any better.

One thing I generally hate is how the radio can ruin certain songs for you by overplaying it a good thousand times or so in one day leaving the song with no more meaning and has sucked the joy and satisfaction it once had at one point. It happened here with “Love Is A First” and “Morning Moon”, which although both really well written and well played songs, they were just way too overplayed on every radio station out there and just sucked every bit of life each song once had for me. It hurts to be subjected to this oversaturation by the media when it comes to singles off albums, if you listen to either of these songs for the first time, be sure not to let the radio ruin them for you, because they are truly two great songs that should be kept respected instead of listened to in indifference because of the constant radio play every single day.

Another thing I would like to note about The Hip is that generally their album art is above par and I am also interested in seeing what new work they have for me to look at when I first open the album. Looking to the artwork in “We Are The Same” I was generally intrigued by what I saw but compared to the artwork in “Fully Completely” and “In Between Evolution” this was a complete letdown just like with the previous artwork in 2006’s “World Container”.

This is definitely not the old Hip that I grew up with and listened to every waking hour of the day. They have lost their way and must look to their roots for guidance instead of Bob Rock or else I believe the Hip may just become a fond memory of what once was. Hopefully the boys learn that Bob Rock is holding them back from their true potential and loosen the grip that he has over them before he completely changes them around as he did with Metallica before them. I’m looking forward to what the future has in store for the band while also a little scared for what may lay ahead as well. “We Are The Same” is a solid album by far, but nothing in comparison to their earlier works.

7.2/10

Love Is A First by The Tragically Hip
Morning Moon by The Tragically Hip
Coffee Girl by The Tragically Hip

Tags: album