CD Odyssey Disc 162: Stan Rogers

A good, long run has been brought to a halt by a mediocre album.

Disc 162 is...Turnaround
Artist: Stan Rogers

Year of Release: 1978

What’s Up With The Cover?: A classically bad folk album cover. Stan sits in a dingy looking room with bric-a-brac on the wall. Why is it that the last album featuring a similar picture for Lucinda Williams was so cool, and this picture is so lame. Quality, my friends, quality.

How I Came To Know It: As I explained when I reviewed the live album, "Home in Halifax" back at Disc 100, I discovered Stan Rogers through a pub in Ottawa called the Heart & Crown. This particular album was me looking for more music beyond the 'best of' feel of "Home In Halifax". I chose it because it only had one song that I knew from my other album, "Bluenose".

How It Stacks Up: Technically this is my only Stan Rogers studio album (I believe he only has three). Of the one I have, I'd put this one last - I'd rather listen to the live album.

Rating: 2 stars.

Followers of this blog will know that I am not too keen on 'best of's even though I've reviewed a few, and there are more to come. This is because I am a devotee of the album as a work of art beyond simply a collection of songs.

Also, once you buy a 'best of' there is that trap of not buying anything else, because every studio album you pick up will have a couple of tracks you've already got. It takes a bit of dedication to break through this inertia.

I recently succeeded at it with Gordon Lightfoot, buying a bunch of his studio albums, and then parting ways with the awfully produced "Gord's Gold Vol. 2". I also recently gave up on the Eurythmics Greatest Hits album after I finished my collection of their studio work, and liked what I heard.

That is what makes this review so painful, because I'm having the opposite experience. "Turnaround" makes me realize I'd rather own a 'best of' instead of this record, which has a lot of what sounds like filler. The only song that is a real keeper is "Bluenose", which is a song in honour of the famous schooner of that name that fished cod and raced off Canada's east coast. I've already got that one on the live record, and I actually prefer that version anyway.

The other songs are for the most part fairly...boring. Usually, I find a real attraction to folk music because it takes the lives of ordinary people ('folk') and makes us appreciate them, and care about their stories.

The stories that should fit that bill are on this album, but they aren't good enough to make me get involved like I usually do. I found myself thinking about all the great blue-collar anthems on "Home in Halifax" like "The Idiot" or "Field Behind the Plow" and finding this album wanting by comparison.

When he tries to branch out and incorporate other musical styles like gospel in "Try Like the Devil" it just sounds out of place. Again, I found myself making unflattering comparisons with artists like Lyle Lovett, who is a master of bringing gospel sounds into his music in just the right amount.

Finally, the production on "Turnaround" is really lacking. I realize that this was produced for record, and never remastered, but even when turned up, there were places where it is so quiet I had to strain too hard, only to be bowled over when Rogers' rich baritone hit full throttle. I can only assume it sounds markedly better when heard on the original vinyl (what doesn't?).

I've been wanting to purchase another Rogers album, given the number of other good songs on "Home In Halifax." I hope his other two records are a lot better, and I still really want a copy of "Northwest Passage" because I love that song, but after listening to "Turnaround" I'm a little gunshy.

"Turnaround" it is the exception that proves the rule. Instead of buying more studio albums, I'm going to part with this one, and stick with my greatest hits package for the time being. Wow - I think I need a shower after typing that sentence.

I still love you Stan, and I admire everything you've done for the Canadian folk movement, which is considerable. I just didn't love this record, and I'm not gonna pretend I did just for the sake of my preconceived notions.

Best tracks: Bluenose