Blue Rodeo - Outskirts - Debut Album - Canadian Alt. Rock - LP
LP

Blue Rodeo - Outskirts



Label: WEA Music of Canada / Risque Disque
Catalog#: 25 47181
Format: Vinyl, LP

Vinyl: VG++
Cover: VG+ VG++ ringwear, cornerwear, edgewear
Includes original inner lyric sleeve: VG+ VG++

Country: Canada issue
Released: 1987
Genre: Pop, Rock
Style: Country Rock, Pop Rock


Tracklisting:

A1 Heart Like Mine 4:38
A2 Rose Coloured Glasses 4:25
A3 Rebel 3:47
A4 Joker 4:02
A5 Pirahna Pool 6:27


B1 Outskirts Of Life 4:45
B2 Underground 5:05
B3 5'll Get You 6 4:22
B4 Try 4:03
B5 Floating 7:32


Credits:
Producer - Terry Brown



The first Blue Rodeo album certainly gave us a hint as to where they were headed -- it's uneven and ranges from weird and interesting to just plain weird to kind of beautiful, but on the whole holds up very well. Of course, thirteen years later I may just be reacting to long exposure to the band -- but really, just hearing the opening chords of "Rose-Coloured Glasses" always lifts my spirits.


This album features less of Jim Cuddy's clear tenor voice than subsequent ones, but he and Greg Keelor share vocals to good effect on songs like "Heart Like Mine." "Rebel" and "Underground," while pretty good songs in their own right, foreshadow Jim's later development as ballad-guy extraordinaire. "Try" is, of course, one of those songs practically everyone in Canada knows -- again, a heartbroken ballad that is just beautiful to listen to.

Greg Keelor's shaggy vocals are perfectly suited to the strange swing of "Pirahna Pool" and "Floating." (Greg has always been a major reason these guys have such unpredictable moments -- and that's a good thing.) He sounds just disgruntled and disillusioned enough that his disbelieving "where does she get off telling me that love could save us all" in "Rose-Coloured Glasses" comes off as a head-shaking moment of admiration for the character he's singing about.

The songwriting hadn't yet reached the point at which the whole album shines, but the main elements were there. This was clearly a band with potential.



Blue Rodeo - Rose-coloured glasses

Blue Rodeo is a beloved Canadian group.. but maybe not well known in other places



Blue Rodeo - Try

Live performance from Live 8 Canada, 2004.




Blue Rodeo - Outskirts





Blue Rodeo - Heart Like Mine