Customer Reviews

Outskirts

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was introduced to Blue Rodeo in the spring of 1988. They played a gig during my school's (Lake Forest College in Illinois) spring wing-ding weekend (you know the type). While most of spoiled preps ignored them, they blasted out a series of smart, honest, hook-filled songs that left me transfixed. After they ended their set with a mind-bending, feedback-filled 10-minute freakout jam, my roommate and I approached them to let them know that some people appreciate good music. They were great -- Greg and Jim chatted with us and their road manager gave us a cassette of the first album, "Outskirts." I thought it was tremendous then and I still do today. Imagine if -- back in the spring of 1966 -- John Lennon and Paul McCartney had hooked up with Bob Dylan and the Band. That's basically the sound and feel of Blue Rodeo on "Outskirts", and its successors, "Diamond Mine" and "Casino". After that, they started to grow more in the so-called "alt-country" direction, which isn't really my bag, I'm afraid. But their first three albums are classic rock music.

Would I have to select 10 of out of my 500 CD treasures and then quit to nowhere out-there, I'd go for 5 Blue Rodeos, 3 Steve Earls and 2 Todd Thiebauds. Non-purists should keep away from Outskirts because they do not deserve such great stuff. From inner kicks (Try, Piranha Pool) to the velvet bite of Outskirts and the many bluesy rollers make this CD probably the most quite of all the Blue Rodeos but also one of the most genuine. Go also for the latest CD "The days in between" from 2000 - its great too! The problem is to get it. Sad to say that these guys are literally unknown in Europe. But then, we are always one step behind. Just for fun, I already booked 2 flight tickets to London from Geneva when I realised that these guys play in London/... U.S.A. - Damn! Have good fun!

Blue Rodeo is one of the greatest rock bands to come out of Canada. And 15 years later, they are still going strong, as well as Greg and Jim having some solo outings along the way. This is a terrific debut that hinted at the greatness to come. Every song here is good, no filler. The gorgeous ballad 'Try' is one of the nicest ballads I have heard, and is also popular on country stations as well as rock. Hence the 'Rodeo' in the bands name. Jim said in an interview that it's to highlight the little bit of country that they put into their albums. The other hit was 'Rose-Coloured Glasses'. Greg and Jim take turns throughout the album on lead vocals, which gives their albums variety, as each have a different style of singing. If you don't know this group yet, what are you waiting for?

Outskirts was Blue Rodeo's first release (1987) and I fell in love with it. It's been over ten years since I bought "Outskirts" and my feelings for it having changed a bit since. Back then I had only heard the song "Try" but upon listening to the entire CD, I was shocked by it's greatness. From the very first cut "Heart Like Mine" with it's slow a cappella beginning; building to a crescendo with the words "I just want to find...a heart like mine, accompanied by Bobby Wiseman's outstanding syntheseizer, this album soars. Greg Keelor's low gravelly voice hamonizes well with Jim Cuddy's silky tenor voice. Greg takes the lead on the moderate tempo Rose Coloured Glasses, Upskirts and the uptempo Joker is Wild. Jim whose voice I absolutely love does a beautiful rendition of the ballad Try and Rebel as well as Underground. For a first album this one is shockingly good . I highly recommend it and the newer releases as well. Bare Naked Ladies get international acclaim but the best kept secret here in Canada is my favourite band Blue Rodeo.

I don't understand what everyone above is talking about! Outskirts, Blue Rodeo's debut album is just incredible. Right from the get go, Jim and Greg display how well their voices blend on Heart Like Mine, and Rose Coloured Glasses pushes the album to even greater heights. The rest of the CD keeps the momentum and sometimes even surpasses it. Songs like Joker's Wild, Five Will Get You Six and Floating are great experiments in improv blues, Bobby Wiseman's piano parts really stick out here. But above all, this is an ALBUM, not ten singles stuck together like so many others groups do today. If you listen to it in its entirety, you'll come to understand what this album is all about and the rest of the songs will definately grow on you. Buy it for Try and Rose Coloured Glasses, and you'll be sucked in by the rest of the songs when they take their hold of you and never let go!

Music legends sometimes are born with their debut album and such was the case with Canada's Blue Rodeo. Blue Rodeo had been creating quite a buzz from their energetic live performances in Toronto since 1985, but with the release of Outskirts in 1987, the band's distinctive musical vision came together on ten of the best songs recorded in the 1980's. As soon as I heard the first chords of "Heart Like Mine" from a cassette my brother gave me, I knew I was hearing a great band. Tremendously melodic, each song pulls one in and once there, the lyrics fascinate and hypnotize with tales of hard luck, reckless abandon, the need to connect romantically, seemingly unexplainable self destructive behavior, low men in high places, distorted views of reality, lost possibilities, and the unending struggle to clarify feelings and relationships. The song writing credited to Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor was razor sharp in its' attention to details that make memorable often times ordinary events, "These late night conversations leave a strange taste like French cigarettes." Keyboardist, Bob Wiseman contributed inventively weird piano and organ fills that give these songs an added depth of mystery ("Floating", Piranha Pool"). Reviewers at the time compared Blue Rodeo to The Band, The Byrds, and Elvis Costello and the Attractions and one can hear these influences on Outskirts. But what made this record so smart was that young ambitious musicians had synthesized the best of what they heard and liked and forged a unique and distinctively exciting post new-wave rock sound that emerged from the then happening scene in Toronto, Canada. Blue Rodeo's sound and style would, evolve into a more alternative country rock sound in later years, but Outskirts still stands as the testament of a very talented young band who were fairly bursting at the seams with musical energy. A promising start for a unique band. "And when they ask you why, you say the joker is wild!" Outskirts captures this energy and then some and it still sounds as fresh now as it did twenty years ago.

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 ("5 Will Get You Six" sounds the most dated, and probably sounded uninspired even in '87) but the main elements were there. This was clearly a band with potential.

Hack Bauldie is far too harsh on the Rodeo's first album. "Heart Like Mine" kicks it off in fine fashion (and, if you care to use his comparison, launch the Heartbreaker's first album and see which comes out ahead: no contest). "Rose Colored Glasses" continues to set a tone which far more resembles the Bodeans (if we are doomed to compare bands) than Elvis Costello (remember, the Rodeo _like_ their listeners!). This comes to fruition in "Rebel," a song which conveys that "yeah, I've heard that somewhere before" notion, whether it's true or not. By this point we're flying high. Suddenly the jazz instincts take over, and before "Joker is Wild" is through, the good times are gone. The rest of the album is so-so. But the first ten minutes are breath-taking: anyone can see they're on the right track; now, can they _sustain_ it?

Their debut album is great. The often over looked song Underground is by far the best song on this album and easy to play on the guitar.

This is with no doubt the best Blue Rodeo album ever. Although, it was not their best selling album. Believe it or not, my mom bought this album right after she bought Diamond Mine (another good one) and I was only 2 years old. I play the guitar now (Blues, Rock, R&B) and I feel, because of this album (being the first music I ever heard) totally helped to change and influence my direction in my guitar playing and taste in music. I was singing and playing around with these songs at an earlier age than anyone could imagine.

Blue Rodeo is definetly not the band they used to be. Now, they play irritating pop and country music. 5 Days in July was not a bad album, but I feel it was in a whole new direction. They seemed to have wanted to do 4 albums with more of a rock feel and now (because of 5 Days in July) got carried away with the country and pop feel. Their second-last album released (The Days in Between) was definetly a good example of pop (but wasn't too extreme). The Days in Between was not a horrible album. It was a very different type of feel, but it was far too different.

Palace of Gold (their latest album) couldn't have been worse. Greg Keeler used to do much more of a rock feel, but still maintained the ability to express his feelings in a such a way that does not have anger. Greg has changed tremendously (physically, musically, and mentally) because of the fact of him finding out he was adopted a few years ago and the terrible feeling of diabetes. Jim Cuddy tends to write pop songs in which he trys to express himself poetically but fails. Jim Cuddy's songs (I feel) have no actual meaning in them.

Blue Rodeo achieved greatness a long time ago. No matter how hard they try now, they will never achieve it again. Then again, we will always have precious memories of their first few albums which carry greatness. Blue Rodeo was the best Canadian band that ever existed.