Song ideas are now brought into the studio, or are boiled down from 3-minute jam sessions." Sinclair continued, "The songs now reflect the collective nature of the band. In the last three or four years, our songwriting system changed." Renzhofer wrote, "Band members were forced out of an individualist style. It's been a conscious effort in every sense. Discussing their changes in a 1994 interview with Martin Renzhofer in the Salt Lake Tribune, bassist Sinclair said, "It's more a question of evolution. As they have grown up together, the Hip's music has also grown and developed. In their place were almost reluctant melodies that stuck in the memory and lyrics, set in a psychological landscape of detached emotions and suppressed violence, that crept into dreams."Īlthough Downie receives most lyrical credit, the rest of the band functions as a democracy, with everyone having input. confirmed the change: gone were the hook-laden FM tunes and compressed, often funny lyrics. The changes Corcoram heard in the band were obvious to listeners, although most were more positive than Corcoram.
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In 1996 Foran wrote, " lyrics, once scrupulously crafted, are now more free form, more 'trusting of the moment' of creation, and he isn't always sure where they come from." The American Statesman music critic Michael Corcoram loved Road Apples, although he "didn't care much for their experimental forays and the way lyrics started getting real artsy." In his opinion, the band "went alternative" with 1993's Fully Completely and 1994's Day for Night.ĭownie, who is generally credited with lyric writing, had wanted to be a poet in college, but eventually decided against it.
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The album is full of tales of hard-luck Kingston lives." It remains perhaps the most popular recording with fans.īoth Up to Here and 1991's Road Apples contained some pretty hard rock or "fist-pumping riff-rock," opined the Los Angeles View. Charles Foran of Saturday Night wrote that "Up to Here, their 1989 breakthrough album, was happily mired in the pathology of an unnamed Kingston. Up to Here, the band's first full-length album, was released in 1989. On hearing that record in 1988, MCA Records quickly signed on the Hip. The band self-released a six-song EP entitled The Tragically Hip in 1987. 'One of the worst names in the annals of rock history,' said a critic." "In Canada, people loved the name, but when we came to the U.S., everyone hated it. According to guitarist Baker, "We thought our musical taste was far too sophisticated to be successful," he told Musician's Jon Young. The video contained a clip asking for contributions to The Foundation for the Tragically Hip-poor, afflicted people in need of jacuzzis, Lamborghinis, and cocaine. The name of the band was taken from music video pioneer and former Monkee Michael Nesmith's video called Elephant Parts. They played their first gig at the Kingston Artists Association. Since all the clubs in town had nothing but cover bands, the Hip "wanted to provide a suitable soundtrack to hang out with their friends and drink beer," according to Locey. Although some of the members had known each other much longer, they mark their year of formation as 1986. The members of the Tragically Hip-Bobby Baker, Gordon Downie, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois, and Gord Sinclair-went to high school together in Kingston, Ontario, which is about three hours east of Toronto. The five-man band produces loud but melodic rock music, with Gordon Downie's emotional lyrics riding out a deep and roiling musical sea." Gannett News Service's Daniel Aloi, for example, remarked that the band, "long considered the most popular and beloved band in Canada, are still something of an anomaly to many Americans." His opinion?: "It can't be their music-hard-edged, emotional and carefully wrought songs with as much appeal as any current stateside alternative act. Addresses: Record company-Atlantic Recording Corporation, 9229 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90069.Īccording to the Los Angeles Times's Bill Locey, the Tragically Hip "have long been the biggest band in Canada, where they have won lots of awards and sold even more albums." And although it is not necessarily every Canadian band's goal to be "big in America," critics there wonder why the Hip is not more successful in the United States. Members include: Bobby Baker, guitar Gordon Downie, vocals Johnny Fay, drums Paul Langlois, guitar, vocals and Gord Sinclair, bass, vocals.
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