What does Tragically Hip sound like?

musicismylife78
musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
edited October 2006 in Other Music
The Tragically Hip, I know they have a massive 54 page plus thread started, but I wanted to get an idea of who their influences are. What does their music sound like?

They seem to have a very loyal following judging by the aforementioned thread.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • funkymonk
    funkymonk Posts: 279
    Check them out at: http://www.thehip.com
  • melodyman22
    melodyman22 Posts: 326
    There an amazing band with great lyrics, by Gord Downie. All there albums are very good including there new cd, that just came out this tuesday. Its caled World Container. Also I must add one of the best live bands you'll see.
  • Pearl Street Brewery
    Pearl Street Brewery Posts: 113
    They are the Canadian Pearl Jam.
  • DOSW
    DOSW Posts: 2,014
    Anyone have a good starting point for them? I would be up for some more good music to listen to.
    It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win
  • stu gee
    stu gee Posts: 1,174
    i started listening to sleater kinney and tragically hip after reading about them on here, and while i love sleater kinney, particularly the dig me out album, i just cant see anything in tragically hip. Certainly not a canadian pearl jam anyway in my opinion, for whoever said that. Ive found most of their songs rather boring and uninteresting to be honest.
    People say im paranoid. Well, they dont say it, but i know that's what they are thinking.
  • blacknapkins
    blacknapkins Posts: 2,177
    How did I miss this? Very, very cool site.
    "Information is not knowledge.
    Knowledge is not wisdom.
    Wisdom is not truth.
    Truth is not beauty.
    Beauty is not love.
    Love is not music.
    Music is the best."
    ~ FZ ~
  • bubbamackdaddy69
    bubbamackdaddy69 Posts: 576
    DOSW wrote:
    Anyone have a good starting point for them? I would be up for some more good music to listen to.

    Before buying any albums I would suggest downloading some fron the internet first. For me personally they are in my top 10 bands of all time..even top 5...seen them live 15 times and adding to that next month twice..

    The lyrics are really good and Gord Downie's presence live is amazing..
    Download them and check em out...alot of people like them...but like any other bands as well alot of people don't..just people have different tastes
    Master of Zen
  • DOSW
    DOSW Posts: 2,014
    bubbamackdaddy69 wrote:
    Before buying any albums I would suggest downloading some fron the internet first. For me personally they are in my top 10 bands of all time..even top 5...seen them live 15 times and adding to that next month twice..

    The lyrics are really good and Gord Downie's presence live is amazing..
    Download them and check em out...alot of people like them...but like any other bands as well alot of people don't..just people have different tastes

    Alright, cool. I get a bunch of free streams with Rhapsody so I'll be able to get a nice free taste. How about some 'essential' tracks?
    It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win
  • lukin14
    lukin14 Posts: 287
    DOSW wrote:
    Alright, cool. I get a bunch of free streams with Rhapsody so I'll be able to get a nice free taste. How about some 'essential' tracks?


    Fireworks
    Bobcaygeon
    Fiddler's Green
    New Orleans is Sinking
    Poets
    Courage
    Fifty-Mission Cap
    Boots or Hearts

    Check out their best of cd called "Yer Favourites"
    life is the study of dyin'
    and how to do it right
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • bubbamackdaddy69
    bubbamackdaddy69 Posts: 576
    DOSW wrote:
    Alright, cool. I get a bunch of free streams with Rhapsody so I'll be able to get a nice free taste. How about some 'essential' tracks?

    wow..so many to chose from...but I'd go with some of these...

    Grace Too
    NauticalDisaster
    Three Pistols
    Thompson Girl
    Fight
    Pigeon camera
    Sherpa
    Vapour Trails
    Chagrin Falls
    The Luxury
    Cordelia
    Bobcaygeon
    Highway Girl
    Giftshop

    man I can go on for ever there are so many..but these are the ones I can think of this sec
    Master of Zen
  • direwolf74
    direwolf74 Posts: 1,622
    Pearl Street Brewery wrote:
    They are the Canadian Pearl Jam.

    Actucally, Pearl Jam are the Tragically Hip of America. (the Hip have been around longer). All kidding aside, I don't think the two bands sound very much alike, other than the fact that they're both alternative rock bands made up of drums, bass, two guitars, and a singer.

    What to the Hip sound like? They've been called many things over the years. Alt-rock, hard-rock, art-rock, etc... After so many years, all these labels have kind of bled into one another. The Hip can play anything: rock, hard-rock, roots/folk, punk-rock, blues, piano ballads. They can pretty much do it all. The heart of this band lies in Gord Downie's incredible lyrics. The dude can write. In Canada he's right up there with Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell as one of the greatest lyricist/poets this country has ever produced, and he's arguably the best frontman in rock. There's really nobody out there like him. He's a true rock n' roll original. His weird spasmodic dancing and cryptic mid-song rants are always worth the price of admission. During instrumental breaks in songs you'll hear him tell stories, improvise new lyrics on the spot, rant about current events, or have heated arguments and fights with his microphone stand. (the mic stand usually ends up losing). And of course he's backed by five excellent musicans who can rock out like nobody's business.

    As a starting point, I'd suggest picking up their 2-disc greatest hits collection "Yer Favourites". That'll give you the best indication of what they sound like. Either that or just download a few songs. Their new album "World Container" is the best thing they've done in years.
    "I try my best to chug, stomp, weep, whisper, moan, wheeze, scat, blurt, rage, whine, and seduce. With my voice I can sound like a girl, the boogieman, a Theremin, a cherry bomb, a clown, a doctor, a murderer. I can be tribal. Ironic. Or disturbed. My voice is really my instrument."

    -Tom Waits
  • soulsinging
    soulsinging Posts: 13,202
    direwolf74 wrote:
    As a starting point, I'd suggest picking up their 2-disc greatest hits collection "Yer Favourites". That'll give you the best indication of what they sound like. Either that or just download a few songs. Their new album "World Container" is the best thing they've done in years.

    yes, that album provides a pretty solid overview of their career.

    i may have to check out their new album. ive not been keen on their work since phantom power.
  • direwolf74
    direwolf74 Posts: 1,622
    bubbamackdaddy69 wrote:
    wow..so many to chose from...but I'd go with some of these...

    Grace Too
    NauticalDisaster
    Three Pistols
    Thompson Girl
    Fight
    Pigeon camera
    Sherpa
    Vapour Trails
    Chagrin Falls
    The Luxury
    Cordelia
    Bobcaygeon
    Highway Girl
    Giftshop

    man I can go on for ever there are so many..but these are the ones I can think of this sec

    Great list! Here's a few more:

    The Dire Wolf (hence my username)
    No Threat
    At the Hundredth Meridian (try to find a live version. I guarantee it'll knock you on your ass)
    Springtime in Vienna
    Ahead by a Century
    The Lonely End of the Rink
    Wheat Kings
    Emperor Penguin
    Escape is at Hand for the Travellin' Man
    New Orleans is Sinking
    Tiger the Lion
    Lake Fever
    The Drop Off
    Family Band
    The Kids Don't Get it
    Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park
    It Can't Be Nashville Every Night
    The Heart of the Melt
    It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken
    Toronto #4
    Flamenco
    Yawning or Snarling
    Fire in the Hole
    An Inch an Hour
    Looking for a Place to Happen
    Little Bones
    Twist My Arm
    Opiated
    38 Years Old
    "I try my best to chug, stomp, weep, whisper, moan, wheeze, scat, blurt, rage, whine, and seduce. With my voice I can sound like a girl, the boogieman, a Theremin, a cherry bomb, a clown, a doctor, a murderer. I can be tribal. Ironic. Or disturbed. My voice is really my instrument."

    -Tom Waits
  • mookie blaylock 10
    mookie blaylock 10 Posts: 4,042
    http://www.myspace.com/thetragicallyhip

    you can check out four of the new tunes on their myspace...


    the lonely end of the rink
    fly
    in view
    yer not the ocean

    HIP!
  • mookeywrench
    mookeywrench Posts: 6,076
    saw them live @ sasquatch........got bored pretty quick.
  • bubbamackdaddy69
    bubbamackdaddy69 Posts: 576
    direwolf74 wrote:
    Actucally, Pearl Jam are the Tragically Hip of America. (the Hip have been around longer). All kidding aside, I don't think the two bands sound very much alike, other than the fact that they're both alternative rock bands made up of drums, bass, two guitars, and a singer.

    What to the Hip sound like? They've been called many things over the years. Alt-rock, hard-rock, art-rock, etc... After so many years, all these labels have kind of bled into one another. The Hip can play anything: rock, hard-rock, roots/folk, punk-rock, blues, piano ballads. They can pretty much do it all. The heart of this band lies in Gord Downie's incredible lyrics. The dude can write. In Canada he's right up there with Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell as one of the greatest lyricist/poets this country has ever produced, and he's arguably the best frontman in rock. There's really nobody out there like him. He's a true rock n' roll original. His weird spasmodic dancing and cryptic mid-song rants are always worth the price of admission. During instrumental breaks in songs you'll hear him tell stories, improvise new lyrics on the spot, rant about current events, or have heated arguments and fights with his microphone stand. (the mic stand usually ends up losing). And of course he's backed by five excellent musicans who can rock out like nobody's business.

    As a starting point, I'd suggest picking up their 2-disc greatest hits collection "Yer Favourites". That'll give you the best indication of what they sound like. Either that or just download a few songs. Their new album "World Container" is the best thing they've done in years.

    Good review and description of the band to give someone that wants to know more about the band.....you should work for the HIP...lol
    Master of Zen
  • funkymonk
    funkymonk Posts: 279
    Starting with their greatest hits package, Yer Favourites it definitely a good place for a casual fan or someone who wants to get a good feel of what the Hip are like. As for actual albums check out Phantom Power (my personal fave), Fully Completely, and Road Apples. They have other great albums but IMO these are some of their finest and most solid.
  • Igottago
    Igottago Posts: 483
    Listen to Fully Completely, Day for Night, and Trouble at the Henhouse. 3 of the best rock albums of the 90's.
  • clutching_benjamin
    clutching_benjamin Posts: 95
    Are they any non-Canadians out there who actually like the Hip? Are there any other Canadians who dislike them? I'm not a fan myself. I will give Gord Downie some credit for being charismatic, but in my opinion, he is not in the same league as Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen as someone else stated. To me they are the classic example of being a big fish in a small pond.
  • rebornFixer
    rebornFixer Posts: 4,901
    clutching_benjamin wrote:
    Are they any non-Canadians out there who actually like the Hip? Are there any other Canadians who dislike them? I'm not a fan myself. I will give Gord Downie some credit for being charismatic, but in my opinion, he is not in the same league as Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen as someone else stated. To me they are the classic example of being a big fish in a small pond.

    The Hip have by no means reinvented the wheel or anything, but they are a very, very solid rock band. That guy who called them boring probably lacks a pulse. Personally, I really like Rob Baker's guitar work ... Classic bluesy rock sound, Stones influenced ... But he's not a one-trick pony either, quite versatile. I also think that Jimmy Fay is a very underated rock drummer. Gord may not be Leonard Cohen, but he stands head and shoulders above people like Chad Kroger. Canada is a bit of a small pond, music-wise, but the Hip deserve their legendary status, IMHO.

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