Greatest Hits [Original recording remastered]

 

 

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It's a good primer for those not really familiar with Blue Rodeo, but the hits are not all here. The glaring omissions are Head Over Heels and Rain Down on Me. I still wonder about the strange decision to open with a cover...
Wait for a more comprehensive set -- this disc is skimpy.

Blue Rodeo's greatest hits package is a good sampling of the band's music over the last several years. It's hard to describe their music (sort of a weird rock-country hybrid), but it's certainly distinctive, and they remain a popular band and live act (in Canada especially). Unfortunately, they are not amenable to radio play, both because of the aforementioned hybrid quality of the music, and because their songs tend to approach 6 minutes in length. If you don't know the band, or are only familiar with a couple of their most famous songs (e.g., "Til I am Myself Again" and "Try"), I would recommend picking this up as a great introduction to the band. If you are a fan of the band, the two new songs on the album are great, and arguably worth the price of the disc on their own merits.

Unfortunately, since this isn't a major U.S. release, it's considered an "import" by Amazon, and therefore it's a little pricey. In addition, the songs that achieve high popularilty tend to have a similar "feel" to them, so the 14 tracks do not have the same variety as, say, the Barenaked Ladies recent Greatest Hits CD.

Blue Rodeo are not a Greatest Hits band. Indeed, before this album came out, Jim & Greg routinely used to say, "We'll only do a greatest hits when we're finished." Well, record company pressure must have gotten to them, and they released this typical hits comp: 12 hits and 2 new songs, just like every other band's hits comp.

The problem with Blue Rodeo is that they are so much more than the sum of their hits. Sure, "Rose-Coloured Glasses" is a hit single, but what about "Rebel" or "Heart Like Mine"? (Please note, this is the album version of "Rose-Coloured Glasses", not the very rare single remix, only available on 7" single back in 1986). There's simply no room on a hits album for the songs that define the Blue Rodeo sound. Blue Rodeo were more about albums, the big picture.

Having said that, you do get a generous slice of hits here. You know these songs already, so I won't spend too much time talking about them. "Lost Together", the full length version of "Diamond Mine", "Bad Timing", "Try"...these are all songs that you know. Peppered along with them are tunes like "Trust Yourself" from Casino, a minor single that you may not know. I was pleased that "Side of the Road" and "Dark Angel" were here, which represent Blue Rodeo's less commercial side.

There is nothing present from The Days In Between, Blue Rodeo's most recent album at the time. I guess that's because The Days In Between just wasn't all that good. The US version subbed in Jim's hit ballad "Bulletproof" from Palace Of Gold instead of "It Could Happen To You" from Tremelo. (Palace Of Gold followed Greatest Hits, but not in the US where this was released afterwards.)

The two new songs are a revelation. Blue Rodeo had started experimenting with a horn section, and the Greatest Hits tour featured these additional musicians on their hits. The two new songs also feature the horn section. A remake of "After The Rain" benefits greatly from their soulful sounds. The Bee Gees cover "To Love Somebody" has ended up being one of the best covers Blue Rodeo has done to date, live or otherwise. The new sound with horns would be fully realized on the excellent followup, Palace Of Gold. However, fear not if you don't like this sound, they soon reverted to the classic configuration of the band.

I do own Greatest Hits, more for the 2 new songs and liner notes than any desire to have these songs all in one place. Out of context, they mean less to me. The liner notes are truly excellent though, featuring a reprint of a legendary rejection letter before being signed by Warners.

My best advice is, if you like Blue Rodeo but only know the hits, pick up the first 4 or 5 albums one by one when you find them cheap (it's not hard to do). If "Try" is your favourite song, pick up Outskirts, and then explore the rest of the gems on that classic record. Likewise if "Lost Together" is the only song you know, pick up that album and be surprised by the deep album cuts that you would have missed otherwise. And most of all, see the band live.

3 stars.

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