Customer Reviews

Tremendous Efforts

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

 

 

This CD is very different from the previous two Sadies albums. There are fewer tracks (but the CD is as long as the previous albums: about 38min), and this album has the most about of songs with lyrics written by The Sadies.

A Canadian band, The Sadies have managed to grow musically: that much is very evident on this CD.

It is still a mostly instrumental sound, but there are more songs - and the songs are /good/. The instrumental tracks sill have that very distinguishabe "Saides" sound, and even though the tone of this album is much darker than the others, any Saides fan will recognize them.

They also use many more guest musicians than before. The previous two albums had a fair share of guest instrumentalists, but this album outstretches the previous two. Not to say that the music is not "Saides-like," they have done a brilliant job incorporating other instruments to their four member band.

The only complaint I have is the length of this album, like the previous ones, under 40 min. Very, very short. Also, track two, "Loved on Look" is not a very successful cover. The song is very different from their usual groove. But all the other songs are definitely worth the purchase.

I urge those wanting different, and very good music, this album, and their second, "Pure Diamond Gold".

These Canadians have as good a sense of Americana and its music as any other band out there. This album is musically fulfilling and flawlessly executed to boot. I can't stop listening to it. Styles cover the full spectrum: from Doo-wop in 'Loved on Look' to an epic western vibe (a la Calexico) in 'Empty the Chamber' to lounge flavored splendor in 'The Creepy Butler' and a psychedelic cover of Carole King's ballad 'Wasn't Born to Follow' all wrapped up with a good old cry in your beer country song at the end ('Before I Wake'). This combination makes this album the most diverse and interesting I have heard since Chocloate and Cheese by Ween. Unlike the brothers Ween, though, the brothers Good play and sing like grownups who have studied and mastered their craft of song for decades, thus achieving the kind of actualization most musicians are not even aware of (and their live show is extraordinary, for those who have the opportunity to see a gig). If you like American music at all, you will enjoy this album for its majesty, energy, and diversity.

Surf-a-billy meets the beatles. i love this disc and cant stop listening to it's infectious and moody treasures. One minute you're slow dancing at that sleazy bar on main street (you know, the one with the neon pool cue) the next it's a clam bake on the beach under a godzilla moon. I hated for this ride to end.

With eleven songs recorded in six days in late March 2000 under the tutelage of Blue Rodeo's Greg Keelor and with two tracks recorded in Moncton, New Brunswick under the supervision of Eric's Trip's Rick White, Tremendous Efforts is the product of a band feeling the pressures of being on tour but still being able to stop long enough and collect its' thoughts to deliver creative instrumentals, original songs, and a couple of nice covers without sounding forced or hurried. This record marked a significant departure from Pure Diamond Gold in that the tempo is more relaxed even on the rave-up instrumentals that have become the Sadies' trademark sound. Clocking in at just 35:55, Tremendous Efforts shows a young band that was growing and willing to try, if not entirely new, then at least different styles in the alt-country genre. Greg Keelor delivers righteously indignant and impassioned vocals on the great cover of Elvis Presley's "Loved On Look". The Sadies received 'tremendous' back up from all the members of Blue Rodeo as well as from their own relatives, The Good Brothers. Even their mother, Margaret Good, lends vocals on
"Before I Wake". The Sadies also do a very respectable cover of The Byrds' classic psychedelic country rock anthem "Wasn't Born to Follow". More of the instrumentals are acoustic bluegrass pickin' numbers than on previous efforts, but all are done tastefully. While not as zany an outing as Pure Diamond Gold, Tremendous Efforts shows a more mellow Sadies who can still rock out when necessary. A Good job!