Customer Reviews

Navy Blues

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you are interested in Sloan and are looking for a body of work to try-out I would like to offer up "Navy Blues" as your inital outing. There are rabid Sloan fans out there who all fight tooth and nail over which Sloan album is the best. Some say "Twice Removed" which I rank as their 2nd best and some say "Between the Bridges" which I feel has little cohesion and ultimately fails as a "Long Player" which is also how I feel about their latest offering, "Pretty Together". That's why I feel so strongly towards this album. It works as a whole work where the sum parts smoothly create the whole. This is a buzzy late 70's California driving bubblegum fm radio album. From the very first guitar lick of "She Says What She Means" to the closing bars of "I'm Not Through With You Yet" this is feel good music at it's core. it has humor and heart and clever arrangements that homage it's inspirations and imbibes with originality. Track 1 is my absolute favorite mix cd track. I always get comments about that track. I don't know how true popularity eluded dear Sloan during the release of this album but it did. The world isn't ready for these prime time players. This is a strong album all in all but if I must highlight the standout tracks...
1. She Says What She Means
2. C'mon C'mon(We're Gonna Get It Started)
3. Iggy & Angus
6. Money City Maniacs
9. Stand By Me, Yea
12. I Wanna Thank You
I really love them all, but if you are looking for songs to sample...try these.

Sloan's "Between The Bridges" is probably their most immediate album but "Navy Blues" grows on you until you cannot help listening to it.It probably represents Sloan at their most rocking.The album opens with a real killer track "She says what she means" which contains a middle bridge which sound like a cross between Def Leppard and AC/DC.It really is one of the most heartstopping moments on the album.The second song "C'mon C'mon" is a lot more lighthearted but contains a tack piano reminiscent of 70's bands like Sailor."Iggy and Angus" is pure old fashioned rock a la Slade."Money City Maniacs" opens with a flurry of police sirens which set the scene for a frantic,heads-down rocker which is very catchy.The quality control rarely dips over the rest of the album either and there are numerous clever,catchy songs to follow. In all, this takes a while to get into but after a few repeated listens it becomes apparent that there are few bands who can match Sloan over this terrain.If brilliant guitar chops, marvellous harmonies and pop ingenue are what you are after,this is the place for you.My only advice is invest in a good quality CD player with a decent treble bass and crank up the volume if you want to do this wonderful piece of work any justice!

If John Lennon, Nick Lowe, Elliott Smith, and Keith Moon met along the space-time continuum and formed a Halifax-based pop-supergroup, it would sound an awful lot like Sloan. And this is the album they would record after a long night of listening to the MC5 and trading spoonerisms. If that doesn't sound like a flattering description, then maybe this is not for you. If you're into riff-driven, lyrically adventurous pop songs, then maybe it is.

Previous Sloan albums have leaned towards pure pop song production. This has that too (see 'Keep on Thinking', and 'Chester the Molester' for good examples of this). But it also has really adventurous songwriting ('Sinking Ships') and riff-rock monsters laden with pop-tune harmonies and 'I Am The Walrus'- lyricism ('Money City Maniacs' and 'She Says What She Means').

This album stayed in my CD player for months. It has that kind of staying power.

Navy Blues is a classic Canadian album fusing many styles together. This album almost depresses me because it has unrealized potential, especially in Britian. Fortuantely, for people who have heard Navy Blues, we are a privileged bunch.

The first single "Money City Maniacs" is a powerful song with a chorus that is catchier than the common cold and harder to cure. One listen and you will be hooked on Sloans sound. Another definite stadout track is the Beatles esque "C'mon, C'mon, were gonna get it started" which would have easily been a huge hit back in the sixties, yet Sloan is able to revive that sound and make it fresh. The second single "She says what she means" which also begins the album has an infectuous rock sound to it.

There are no stale tracks on Navy Blues. Some albums are only good for one or two songs, other albums are good all the way through because they are conceptual. Navy Blues can serve both voids. Make an investment on Navy Blues, and pump the stereo loud, and be proud you are one of the few who are priveliged enough to experience the most inspired band in Canada and beyond.

...that is, it REMINDS me of 70's music; I read somewhere that their previous album "One Chord to Another" evoked the 60's, and "Navy Blues" progressed to the 70's--OK supposition, I guess. All in all, it's good music no matter what time period it's placed in. Very catchy, singalong stuff which reminds me a lot of Sweet, but with more adventurous arrangements and a lot of different styles--I think they're willing to try most anything, and most of the time it works. Another plus is that I think all of the members write and sing, so you get this wonderful variety of tunes, from the foot-stompin' hand-clappin' ones like "She Says What She Means" and "Money City Maniacs" (having one of the dumbest refrains you'll ever mindlessly sing), to the lazily strummed "I'm Not Through With You Yet", to the gently grooving string arrangement of "I Wanna Thank You" (what a nice surprise--and it sounds great!). The lyrics are mainly a goof, but if it's poetry you want, visit a library...I can't fathom the hostile reviews submitted by mainly Canadians (ironically); if you don't hold at least a little affection for these ditties, you don't have much joy inside--either that, or I need to get "Twice Removed" so I can hate this disc.

There is a HUGE difference between derivative and inspired, and Sloan are totally inspired to write and record amazing records. If you do not "get" this record, perhaps you should give up listening to music altogether. A classic for the top shelf!

This gem takes the direction that the Beatles and Small Faces invented around 1966. Those bands, particually the Beatles, were growing too fast to fully mine the possibilites of the styles they were inventing, but Navy Blues does, brilliantly.

The songs are mainly fast, blues-based pop, with lots of melodic chord changes, maraccas, and some horns lovingly placed to add flavor. Sloan play live and loose, with lots of big fat bass slides and jangley guitars. The production is warm, with no digitized perfection.

This record is something really special and it would be perverse not to like it.

This album is wonderful. It is a breath of fresh air, especially if you are burnt out on Guttural Gloom Goth Rock. The music is poignant and well done. It is not the individual songs but the overall atmosphere one of wit, cheer and thoughtful lyrics is very good! Just Amazing, it is like a better day. Makes you feel cheery and that things, especially music still works.

This is probably my pick for the best Canadian album ever. Instrumentally, these guys are miles ahead of most of their peers (I love Oasis, but can you imagine Liam playing drums, piano AND guitar?) and write witty, clever lyrics that are like Morrissey without the depressing bits. A great choice for fans of quality rock n roll everywhere.

I actually give this 4.5 stars, but hey, who needs half stars? Well, while this is not as good as "Twice Removed" (what is?), it is, nonetheless, a very very good album. "She Says What She Means" is a fun song with good lyrics. A great deal of these songs are just genuinely fun recordings. They are not necessarily lyrically deep, but having heard almost all of these songs live, the band succeeded in making an album that makes their concerts enjoyable. Needless to say, I believe that that is a band's first duty--To put on a good show. I enjoy hearing their evolution as they develop as a band. "Navy Blues" is retro without sounding self-deifying and it's fun without being trite and bubblegum. A good buy for the Sloan fan. "Sinking Ship" is my personal favourite.