CD Odyssey Disc 255

This latest disc marks the second time in the Odyssey that I've finished all the albums by a particular artist - both times it was three albums by a Canadian folk artist (the first was Captain Tractor).

Disc 255 is...Tripping Up The Stairs
Artist: Spirit of the West

Year of Release: 1988

What’s Up With The Cover?: The band is seen sitting in some coffee shop. How very westcoast-folk of them! I like this cover. It edges close to pretentious, but stays far enough away to just feel appropriately artsy.

How I Came To Know It: I purchased this album after hearing it at UVIC back in the late eighties. I don't think this one had any hits, but I might have heard it on the juke box in the Student Union Building pub. Back in the day, the pub used to be in the basement, and you could play Tetris while having a pint. This was because the Tetris game was ALSO a table. Could a match be more heavenly? Those were heady days, my friends, heady days indeed. But I digress...

How It Stacks Up: I have three Spirit of the West albums, and they are all pretty equal in my mind - I like each for different reasons - but I'm going to say the other two edge this one by a hair, and so I'll reluctantly put it third. I still love you, "Tripping Up the Stairs" but hard decisions had to be made. Also, as per my Captain Tractor review, I'll now also give a synopsis of the full collection, in order of preference

1a. Save This House: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 91)
1b. Political: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 23)
3. Tripping Up The Stairs: 3 stars (reviewed right here)

Rating: 3 stars, but almost 4.

As I've already reviewed this band twice, I'll just summarize that Spirit of the West (SOTW) is a folk protest band from Vancouver, which had a degree of popularity in the late eighties and early nineties. Their lead singer, John Mann, has gone on to a small acting career (he plays a Viper Pilot in the Battlestar Galactica reboot pilot. Spoiler alert - when the cylons attack, it doesn't go well for him).

In any case, like the coffee shop they are seen in the photo above, I would suggest, SOTW is a fine blend - in their case of political commentary, Canadian folk sensibilities and more traditional Celtic sounds.

"Political" is their most protest filled album, and "Save This House" is their most radio friendly. "Tripping Up The Stairs" is their most straightforward folk album, with a much greater focus on traditional jigs and reels mixed in.

Listening to it with the benefit of hindsight, you might be tempted to say that this Celtic feel is because they are still finding their voice, but I think that would be a mistake. Yes, the album has a more traditional feel, but it is still very distinctly SOTW, with the liberal (and successful) use of penny whistle and Celtic drum mixed with Canadian pop sensibilities.

The arrangements are more sparse than later efforts, but I actually think this sparseness suits them well. It lets their natural energy flow through - almost giving the album a live feel without sacrificing any preciseness in the playing.

In particular, "Our Station" has a similar feel to the much more famous "Home For A Rest" from "Save This House". I am convinced "Our Station" is a song about the Railway Club in Vancouver. I've always meant to find out, but have never definitively proved the theory. In any case, it is a fun song, albeit a bit more gentle in tempo to "Home For A Rest".

I'm also a fan of "The Crawl" a song about a pub crawl through the North Shore by a bunch of good old boys on an autumn afternoon. If you've ever done a pub crawl with a bunch of buddies, this song will sound very familiar. To jog your memory, it starts like this:

"We planned to have a gay old time, the cash we did not spare,
We left all the cars at home and paid the taxi fare;
I got out to Horseshoe Bay a little after five,
From a table in the corner I heard familiar voices rise."

And it ends like this:

"We arrived out at The Raven just in time for the last call,
The final destination of this the first annual crawl;
We dug deep into our pockets there was no money to be found,
Nine miles home and for walking we are bound."

I would also not be completely honest if I failed to note that I love all these local references.

In addition to fun pub songs, "Tripping Up The Stairs" has the requisite amount of political music, including songs about the working class dream of winning the lottery in "An Honest Gamble", and a variety of other topics. As I noted back when I reviewed "Political" whether you agree with all, some or none of their opinions, you can enjoy a well written song regardless.

I'm not sure "Tripping Up The Stairs" has the polish of "Save This House" or the emotional depth of "Political" and so I ranked it slightly lower, but it is a good record, that I put on a fair bit - and will put on even more now that I've been recently reminded of its quality.

Best tracks: An Honest Gamble, Our Station, The Crawl, When Rivers Rise, Be Right.

CD Odyssey Disc 91: Spirit of the West

This disc was a return to an old favourite from my university days.

Disc 91 is...Save This House

Artist: Spirit of the West

Year of Release: 1989

How I Came To Know It: This album was absolutely huge back in 1989 when I was at university. I bought it then, loved it, and still pull it out from time to time. Like this time.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Spirit of the West (SOTW) albums. Last time I reviewed one back at Disc 23, I said that was the best (Labour Day), but listening to this album, I'm going to have to revise that and say that although I hate going with the obvious, "Save This House" is the best SOTW album. And I really mean it this time, since there is only 1 album left. Of course, if I decide that album is also the best it is going to be seriously embarassing. I'm willing to take the chance.

Rating: 4 stars.

"Save This House" is one of these seminal albums if you were at university in the late eighties and early nineties.

Of course if you went to school in Florida, you'd think I was talking about the Florida State Seminoles - but you'd be wrong. For one, I'm talking about Canadian university. For two, Florida State's got nothing on the University of Miami (Go 'Canes!), so if I was going to talk about US Colleges, you can be sure I'd be talkin' about "The U" not some other Florida Team. For three, I'm not even talking about that kind of Seminole. It's called a homonym, people.

But I digress...

This album is seminal because you couldn't go into the university pub back in the day and not hear it played on the jukebox at some time in any given evening. If it wasn't on the bar-staff's rotation, somebody would pay a quarter to play it.

"Save This House" has one of the greatest party tracks ever written - the instantly recognizable "Home For a Rest". A song that to this day, when it comes on, no matter where it is played, will more often than not inspire some lonely table of drunks to start singing in unison:

"You'll have to excuse me
I'm not at my best
I've been gone for a month
I've been drunk since I left."

More often than not as you listen to the drunks chime in happily, you'll realize that you're one of them.

"Home For A Rest" is a five star anthem, which has so permeated the Canadian consciousness, it can be easy to forget the rest of this record is great in its own right.

As with most SOTW albums, this one is replete with political protest music. Where the previous album "Labour Day" can come across as angry, "Save This House" manages to capture the same activist sentiments in a less threatening way.

This isn't to say this record doesn't hit hard - it does. Consider the first words you hear when you put it on, from the title track:

"I'm not worried, it's a million miles away
Yeah I saw the news, it happens every day
Some Cronkite look a like
Numb from what he's reading
Wake me up! Wake me up!
It's one of us that's screamin'!"

It's just that the record also has a humour and a joy to it that "Labour Day" is missing. Songs like "Home for a Rest" have a festive vibe, which basically says that while the world isn't a perfect place, it is OK once in a while to just let your hair down and have a good time.

There are a couple of sour notes, particularly the maudlin "Last to Know" in which the last person to notice an affair is the person being cheated on, and the overly silly communal-farm anthem "Water In the Well" which is hands down the worst SOTW song I know.

But these are very rare low points in an album that, for the most part, alternates effortlessly between hard social commentary, and what can only be described as sentimental unity.

I particularly like the tongue-in-cheek "The Old Sod" which is a song about how many Canadians are proud not only of being Canadian but also of whatever other heritage they identify with (in this case Scottish):

"There's a bar in the rec room
In the basement of our house
A little shrine to Ballantynes
Haig and Famous Grouse
There's a sprig of purple heather
From the land that once was mine
And Robbie's on the t-towel
With the words of Auld Lang Syne"

"There's none more Scots
Than the Scots abroad
There's a place in our hearts
For the old sod"

The song reminds us that while we are all proud Canadians first, we often feel the need to remember our other heritage as well. These two tendencies come together in the song's final verse:

"I'm a citizen of both countries
And I'm very proud to be
The thistle, and the maple leaf
Are the emblems of the free."

As a self-identifying "Italian-Canadian" who has never been to Italy, and can't speak a word of the language, I can only say, "guilty as charged."

So in closing, the first song on this album, "Save This House" is a powerful political song about how we are all in this together. The last song, "The Old Sod" pokes gentle fun, while at the same time reminding us that...we are all in this together.

Best tracks: Save This House, Home For A Rest, (Putting Up With) The Joneses, Sentimental Side, Sentimental Side, The Old Sod

CD Odyssey Disc 23: Spirit of The West

Disc 23 is...Labour Day
Artist: Spirit of the West

Year of Release: 1988

How I Came To Know It: I got into Spirit of the West at University. Labour Day was the first album of their's I heard. They were a big campus protest act in the day.

How It Stacks Up: I have the three SOTW albums worth having (the first three). I think Labour Day is probably the best, although they are all good in their own way.

Rating: 3 stars.

I really like Spirit of the West (SOTW) whether I am sharing their opinion or opposing it. They are good either way.

I have fond memories of this album, hanging out at Felicita's and drinking cheap draft beer, debating how to make the world a better place.

It is a strong album with some kick-ass penny whistle (yeah, you read that right, tough guy). The songs are all catchy and the musicianship is strong. The lyrics are a little bit "beat you over the head with the obvious" but remember - this is protest folk/rock, and that is how it is supposed to sound.

"Labour Day" is by far SOTW angriest protest album. They pick a fight with Margaret Thatcher, sing about rundown inner city neighbourhoods, complain about Expo '86 and generally champion the cause of the downtrodden.

Whatever you may think about their topics, or their particular opinions, the bottom line is, they make their points well, and the songs are catchy. Good art should help you see a point of view well - it doesn't matter if you share all, some or none of it. Labour Day succeeds at this.

In particular, I really like the song "Political". It reminds me of how rotten it feels to be judged based on your politics instead of who you are. Next time you meet someone and you don't like their politics, ask them what they like in music - maybe you'll find you share something with them after all.

Best tracks: Political, The Hounds that Wait Outside Your Door, Gottingen Street, Darkhouse