CD Odyssey Disc 173: Gordie Sampson

Stuck in a massive track jam on the way home today allowed me to get through another album - and here it is.

Disc 173 is...Sunburn
Artist: Gordie Sampson

Year of Release: 2004

What’s Up With The Cover?: I have no idea, but I don't like it. It looks like a bad effort at artsy photography. There's a picture of Gordie Sampson on the back cover, but it isn't much better, so maybe this cover was the way to go after all.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila and I went to see Jimmy Rankin on his "Handmade" tour in 2004 at Camosun College (I reviewed Handmade back at Disc 130). It was a great concert, and Gordie Sampson was the opening act. We liked him, so I bought this album within a week.

How It Stacks Up: I only have this one Gordie Sampson album, and I'm not likely to get another any time soon. You can't really have a stack of one, so not much more to add on that front.

Rating: 2 stars.

When I first saw Gordie Sampson with Jimmy Rankin, I was quite impressed. He has a strong voice that is almost bluesy in places. His songs were sweet and the lyrics had more to offer than most stuff you'll find in this particular blend of pop-folk Canadiana.

Unfortunately, with the passage of time, that live show doesn't have the same resonance as it once did, and the album doesn't match the memory anymore. The record has too much overly-clever production: background 'ooh oohing' by a woman on the title track, and re-recorded refrains of the song played faintly in the background. That and just too much instrumentation everywhere.

I found myself just wishing it was Gordie Sampson, his voice and a guitar on a stage in front of 200 people, like it was when I first heard it. Alas, that is not this record. Even tracks that start out promising, like "Hangin' By A Wire", can't seem to resist adding layers of pointless production in a vain attempt to make the chorus have more resonance. It has too much pop, and not enough folk - so much so I decided to simply file it under pop.

The record also picks at a couple of my pet peeves. One, I've mentioned a few times on the Odyssey - the habit of some modern artists to think it is OK to not properly punctuate their song titles - typically by eschewing the use of capital letters. Capital letters are part of the English language, people - they aren't a font option. Please punctuate.

The other is a lot more obscure - one of the record's better songs, "Sunburn" makes reference to drinking a bottle of Wolfblass wine. I can't abide Wolfblass - and it was particularly bad in 2004 when it seemed everywhere you looked someone was ordering it in a restaurant. I'll take my Campofiorin Valpolicella anyday.

This album isn't all bad, and it delivers strong performances in places. It is unfortunate the excess production serves as a barrier to Sampson's promising writing; it could've been so much more, by doing a little less.

Best tracks: Sunburn, Don't Shoot the Messenger, Your Place In This World.