Customer Reviews

We Were Born in a Flame

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a great great record and should be on any critics short list for best alternative record of 2004 (or 2003. Essentially the same album was released by Universal - Canada in 03 and it sold 50,000 copies winning Mr. Roberts a Juno award for the song Brother Down.) This cd is extremely well-conceived and is a finely executed work that deserves more attention than it is getting. There are some other bands that have the same type of groove (Jet, Powderfinger, Paris Texas - maybe) but Sam Roberts is probably the best of all of these.

He is an amazing songwriter and his tunecrafting skills stand up well next to early Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney (of course realizing that he is just a beginner.) His hooks are instantly catchy and you will find yourself tapping your feet within the first 30 seconds of "Hard Road" - the opening track. Along with Brother Down, Taj Mahal, and Every Part of Me, Hard Road is a stand-out track and contains some gripping and intelligent lyrics (something of a rarity in today's reductionistic and formulaic music world!) He is young but writes with eloquence about the ubiquitous human efforts at finding the easy life and avoiding the bumps of the real world. He opines, "There's no road that ain't a hard road to travel on." Like Pierce Pettis (another overlooked genius) he is able to chronicle the travails of life in this fallen world without offering therapeutic platitudes like "believing in yourself" or something similar. While true hope and significant answers are missing, art does not by nature have to be redemptive. On this record, Roberts chooses to narrate the problems of humanity and creation rather than offer solutions, but in doing so he manages to escape falling into the Disneyesque moralism so prevalent in popular media and music.

Along with compelling and inquiring lyrics, and great songcraft, Sam Roberts is also an interesting musician and decides here to play all the instruments except for percussion. This rarely works (Lenny Kravitz' "Let Love Rule" is the only other recent success that I can think of) but Sam Roberts pulls it off and the record ends up sounding like it was recorded with a talented studio band. Production and mixing efforts are handled by Brenndan McGuire, but to discover this you have to search; his name is buried in minute font in the credits of the Universal release. To my knowledge, he is a newcomer, but he is talented and should get some more work after this excellent outing at the helm.

Enjoy this record, Sam will be around for a while

Sam Roberts is a standout songwriter/guitarist whose first full-length CD is a rare gem in a bleak landscape of too-packaged, too-plastic pop tripe dominating the airwaves these days. I've read other reviewers' comparisons to other musicians; but he makes me think of Ben Harper without the reggae and all of the passion. His lyrics are full of soul and realism but still manage to resonate as deeply poetic: "We were born in a flame/we need a cool breeze and a summer rain/we are stealing from ourselves/we are feeding off ourselves." (from "Where Have All the Good People Gone?")

His style is mostly grass-roots rock with some folk and punk mixed in--with "Don't Walk Away Eileen" and "On the Run," he gives a tip of the hat to the post-garage bands that have been infiltrating the underground for the past few years. "Brother Down" and "Higher Learning" are standout songs, as is "Rareified" with its masterful integration of a rhythmic bassline and complementary guitar along with well-paced vocals.

Some of the songs are throwaway filler bits ("No Sleep" and the drudgerous "Dead End"); but overall, Sam Roberts proves himself to be a soulful and sincere voice that is refreshing and much-needed in today's overcommercialized music world. If you have to take a chance on one CD for which you haven't yet heard the songs on the radio, I definitely recommend it as a good purchase.

For anyone who's never heard of Sam Roberts and wants to take a chance on a promising new artist, this Bud's for you.

i first heard of Sam on a late night Canadian tv show that showcases up and coming Canadian filmmakers and musicians and i was impressed. later his 'Inhuman Condition' EP came out and i was amazed. based on those two experiences, i bought this album the day it was released and i was blown away. the three tracks from the EP that are featured here (Where Have All the Good People Gone?, Brother Down, Don't Walk Away Eileen) are all new versions, and are improvements on their earlier counterparts. Sam is a very proudly Canadian artist, with references to Canada in many of his songs (even singing in french for a few verses of one), but that certainly shouldn't limit his appeal to a strictly Canadian audience. i really hope he catches on in the US and elsewhere, because he is really a great talent. his songs (which are all penned by himself) are inspired, original, well written, diverse, and above all, catchy. some highlights include: the stunning first track, 'Hard Road'; 'Where Have All the Good People Gone?', my personal fav; the beautiful and Beatle-esque 'Taj Mahal'; and the uber-catchy 'Brother Down'.

Sam rocks plain and simple, besides his music being the best thing to come out f Canada in a long time, he is simply the nicest guy! (as are his bandmates) everyone shoud own this CD and get the import if you want to hear The Canadian Dream (its only on the Can. CD) because its a great song!

I hadn't purchased this cd until I attended the Sam Roberts concert at the Commodore. I was blown away. It was one of the most energy packed shows I've ever seen. You have to see this guy live, he works the crowd like no other. I don't know what the people who say he isn't good live are on, because I liked every song I heard the first time and I'm very picky about music. I went out and bought the album and haven't stopped listening to it since. Talk about music that picks you up and puts a swagger in your step. The only thing I can really compare it to is the Beatles or Jane's Addiction. Great melodies, guitar riffs and rhythms. Watch this guy because he's going to be big, and go to one of his concerts now so that you can say you were there in the early days! This guy has breathed new life into a very dry, dull canadian music scene(SUM 41, Nickelback, Default haven't got anything on this guy)

Sam Roberts hails from Montreal, Quebec Canada. He found success with "Brother Down" last year on his EP THE INHUMAN CONDITION. On his first full length album WE WERE BORN IN A FLAME, released in Canada in June of 2003, we find the Canadian rocker spreading his wings. He will hopefully make an impact on the US like he has on Canada, if not it is a great injustice because this is a classic rock album in every sense of the word. From the single "Where Have All The Good People Gone?" with its catchy riff and memorable chorus, to the single "Don't Walk Away Eileen". There's some great moments here, like "This Wreck of A Life", "On The Run", "The Canadian Dream", "Taj Mahal", "Dead End", "Hard Road", "Paranoia" and many others. Give this newcomer a listen, you will be surprised I think.

On my recent trip to Toronto, I was listening to a radio station in Western Ontario and heard "Where Have All The Good People Gone." I then heard the song a couple of other times during my trip and really liked it, so I decided to pick up the CD while in Toronto. Man am I glad I did. It is a great CD, from the first song to the last. It's got kind of a retro rock feel to it, but it is different from anything else I have heard. I highly recommend this album to anyone that likes good rock music. I really hope he catches on in the US, because America needs some relief from all the garbage that is on the radio now days.

This is definitely one of the greatest purchases I've made this year. This album has not been ejected from my cd player in months now. I have been known to buy an album for a particular track, and this album was no exception. Brother Down blew my mind when I heard it for the first time. The driving rythms give you something that can loop through your head for days and continue to add a little spring to your step. Though it doesn't stop there. It is rare to find an album that you don't tend to skip a track here and there. This album is something that you'll listen to from beginning to end, over and over again. I am confident that if your musical tastes range anywhere from Janes Addiction to the Beatles you will definitely enjoy this album.

I bought this CD after hearing a "brother down" and "don't walk away eileen", and overall, it is very good. The album starts out with a bang as the first 6 tracks are possibly my favorite 6 songs that go in sequence on any album. He could have spread out the good songs with the not so great ones however. After the first 6, the only ones that are worth listening to are "rarefied" and "no sleep". What you do have here though is 8 very good songs that make purchasing this album worth while.

I listen to a lot of music, and I can honestly say that this is one of the most enjoyable albums that I've heard in quite a few years. I find a lot of music lately is just a copy of a copy of a copy. Sam Roberts' We Were Born In A Flame has a quality to it that seems to be missing from a lot of music lately. It's got a really personal feel, and I (as the listener) can relate very well to the themes of the songs.

I was given this album by a friend of mine, and cannot thank him enough. This album is great for listening to in the car, while working, or even as background music when friends are over. The instrumentation and melodies are relatively simple, but the lyrics are honest and from the heart. There's an optimistic melancholy poetry to a lot of the songs that just hits the mark; "Down/Down was only a direction/And sad/Sad was only on TV"

If you're into some quality "man and his guitar roots-rock," then definately pick this one up.