Categories : Country + Western, Featured Review, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 Reviewer: Trent Depue |
After listening to the first two tracks (and a brief detour to the ninth to see how Live at Massey Hall DVD highlight ‘Don’t Let The Darkness In Your Head’ turned out in the studio) of Blue Rodeo’s twelfth and possibly most ambitious studio record The Things We Left Behind, it was an almost knee-jerk reaction to say, this could be Blue Rodeo’s best record. Well, it doesn’t take long to come down from the clouds – the two disc, sixteen track record does level out. But that being said, The Things We Left Behind succeeds in combining what you would expect from the long standing country rock quintet, with some surprises that define new boundaries of musical experimentation for the band.
While Blue Rodeo can’t, by any means, be looked at as a one trick pony, there is a certain sound associated with the band. And while they have never shied away from trying new things, there is a certain stylistic safety net the band never veers too far from. This net rears its head often on such tracks as ‘Waiting for the World’ and ‘Arizona Dust,’ and while there is nothing particularly wrong with any of these songs, the real story on this album comes from the band’s attempts to free themselves from its confines. The orchestral title track which opens the album manages to stand as the singular illustration of this, while other prime examples include Jim Cuddy’s most adventurous effort ‘One More Night,’ a pair of nine-minute-plus Keelor tunes ‘Million Miles’ and ‘Venus is Rising,’ and ‘You Said’ with it’s beautiful addition of flute, played by Great Lake Swimmer and talented multi-instrumentalist Julie Fader, one of the many musical guests that appear on The Things We Left Behind.
In fact, it comes as no surprise to see Blue Rodeo bring in a few ringers from the Canadian music scene. After Greg Keelor produced their recent 2009 release Way Down Here, Cuff the Duke front man Wayne Petti returns the favour by lending his voice on damn near every track on this record, but on none more noticeably then ‘Don’t Let the Darkness in Your Head.’ While Suzie Ungerleider (Oh Susanna) and regular collaborator Travis Good (The Sadies) lends their voice and guitar respectively. Add to that a number of guest musicians who bring Wulitzer, organ, and string arrangements to the table to add a musical dynamic the record would certainly be worse off without.
One of the biggest downfalls of being one of Canada’s longest-standing and prolific musical acts is being trapped by your own reputation. This album’s highlights hint at the possibility that Blue Rodeo has something more to offer, but too often drifts back toward a their more standard fare.
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