Customer Reviews

We Are the Same

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you are looking for a revisit to the hip of old like how In Between Evolution was likened to Road Apples, you will be disappointed. But the good news is that althought there are few "Rockers" on the cd, it grows on you. I found myself HATING the CD after the first listen, except for "Morning Moon" and "Love Is A First".
However, I am no fairweather fan, I have seen them 30 times in concert and met them 4 times so as with any release since Phantom Power, I had to go back and give the other songs a second chance. That's where "Now The Struggle Has A Name", "Coffee Girl", "Honey, Please", "Frozen In My Tracks", "The Exact Feeling" took on a new face for me.
After the 4th listen of the CD I was hooked. As with anything new, we usually dismiss it and like our old tried and true ways and means.
That being said, this is always the case for me with the Tragically Hip. Songs and albums that I thought were less than their best have stood the test of time. I can look back on Music at Work (2000), In Violet Light (2002) & World Container (2007)and appreciate them all the more. I think their earlier stuff like Up To Here (1989), Road Apples (1991), Fully Completely (1992) and Day For Night (1994) were easier cd's to play for someone and have them be blown away.
So I will say maybe this isn't the CD I would introduce someone to the HIP, but I will say I am glad they don't just turn out the same CD every two years with just a new title and album art. There are organs, horns, violins and some cool chants even on this album.
So who knows maybe this is a good album to introduce someone to the HIP, there certainly are some universal themes of struggle and it is VERY MELLOW. I certainly know it is something I could play for someone like my Mom and she would like it, which is something I wouldn't have been able to do with say, Day For Night. Maybe that's a bad thing for some people but I see it as a group that I already viewed as well rounded and eclectic showing me that they can still evolve and mature as a band.
That's saying a lot for a band that has been around since 1983, is already in the Canadian rock and roll hall of fame, has released 12 CD's and could rest or settle for the tried and true. Not this band, they forge new trails still and I am severely impressed. But maybe it's me becoming more mature as I get older? HHHMMMM. Nah! ;)

Being one of the few south east usa fans of the hip, I've been addicted to their unique sound since the early nineties,but have only been fortunate enough to see them once in concert,so every new c/d is eagerly awaited. Each release has a different angle of attack, and this one is yet another shining example of the Hip's craft.
Much softer than any other Hip c/d, yet it keeps your attention throughout the entire recording. Is that a Flugelhorn? In a Hip song? Not bad. Not bad at all...
And "Frozen in my tracks", is as rockin as anything they've put out since "Hundreth Meridian"
Buy it.

Wow! I have been progressively more and more disappointed by The Hip since "Phantom Power" - although there were flashes of brilliance, the old panache wasn't there. But, The Hip are back in a big way. This is their best album since "Henhouse", and it contains one of their best songs ever, "Depression Suite". What a magnificent effort this entire album is, though. From "Morning Moon" through "Country Day", this is the band many of us love and miss. Welcome back, Kingston Lads!

I've been listening to the Hip for years and years, and I've always loved how they give you something different every album. This one is no different. They've gone down a folk alt road with We Are The Same, and the results are amazing, amazing!!! Fantastic songs, incredible lyrics, insightful music, everything you expect from the Hip. The Depression Suite is an incredible three-part piece. I love their use of the strings and organ in this album. It's a MUST HAVE for any Hip fan, and for those just discovering this amazing group. I think the songs the Hip are writing are getting better and better as time goes on, especially these last two albums produced by Bob Rock. You'll be listening to this album over and over again.

The cd is great! I bought it for my boyfriend and we both enjoy it!

I've been a fan of the hip since a friend played me the "Phantom Power" album and a couple of choice tracks like "New Orleans is Sinking".

I really loved the Phantom Power album and I have always found a number of new favorites on their subsequent albums (tracks like "It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken'" from the "In Violet Light" album and "Vaccination Scar" from the "In Between Evolution" album). However, when I heard their last album "World Container" I was completely blown away! Every track on that album sounded fantastic and stuck in my head.

I really thought that it would be the high point for the Hip and as such I was worried about "We are the Same" - could it be as good? The answer is YES! Wow..."We are the Same" is a fantastic album filled with great tracks such as "The Last Recluse", "Morning Moon", and "Honey, Please". It's distinctively a tragically hip album, and yet it's different to anything else that they have done. This feels like a more mature album that takes you through so many different styles and moods - there is something for everyone here! The beauty is that the hip have experimented and grown as a band, while keeping all of the fantastic qualities that set them apart from other bands. I mean seriously, can you beat these vocals and lyrics??? :)

Fantastic - highly recommended.

This album has been haunting me ever since I started listening to it a couple of months back. The lyrics are masterful at times: "Bring on the requisite strangeness. It always has to get a little weird" in `The Depression Suite' precisely verbalizes how I've felt many times in my own life when the dynamic of a relationship shifts - I've just never heard it put quite so eloquently. The band reveals a little more soul in this album than album's past, and like the song lyric - at first it's a little weird, but then disappears.

Like most Hip albums, "We Are The Same" needs to grow on you. The Hip try some different directions on this release, from the almost country sound of "Morning Moon" to the spoken word elements in "Love is a First", and long-time fans may need a few listens to embrace some of the new elements.

As always, the lyrics are intriguing and thought-provoking, with far more depth than the typical pedestrian pop.

If nothing else, you should listen through "The Last Recluse", an emotional and soulful hit.

A lot of good songs. A good variety, the more you listen the more you'll like it.

Another great album from the hip! I'm looking forward to seeing these new songs performed live... I think they'll translate well into the live show.