Palace of Gold

Blue Rodeo

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 29, 2003)
• Original Release Date: July 29, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rounder / Umgd
• ASIN: B0000A5A3P
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #86,892 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Many years on, and Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor still function superbly as co-singer-songwriters--the former creating wide-eyed pop, the latter twangy country. And they still approach each record as a chance to stretch. Even longtime fans will find appreciable differences in sound on Palace of Gold, notably in the abundance of horns. While the group claims to have been gunning for a Stax vibe, several songs--Keelor's languid, trumpet-tweaked "What a Surprise" for instance--are more Herb Alpert than Otis Redding. Cuddy, the more versatile of the two, weighs in on both ends of the musical spectrum. The plaintive ballad "Bulletproof" is pure emotion while "Walk Like You Don't Mind" sounds like a fantastically hip outtake from Grease. As with past efforts, the tracks tend to be evenly split between the two singers, and each gets terrific support from the band. James Gray's organ on "Glad to Be Alive" adds testimonial fever to an otherwise straight-up country-pop declaration, while ex-Wilco multi-instrumentalist Bob Egan graffitis mandolin and steel guitar across these various tracks. Cuddy's "Love Never Lies"--a knock-kneed acoustic weeper--comes closest to marrying his and Keelor's divergent sensibilities, throwing in a string section for good measure. And people worship the Hip.... --Kim Hughes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something new on an already great sound., July 29, 2003

By	Pauly walnuts "bluesbrother37" (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews

The boys have added strings and horns to their sound on this album
and have got the mixture just right on most of the songs. If you
have heard anything by Blue Rodeo before you will be familuar with
Jim Cuddy's great country rock voice ,well it really stands out this time on "love never dies" and "cause for sympathy".Over all
about 90 percent of the tracks are great and meet "I want to hear
that again leave it in the CD player " mesure of a great disk.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another wonderful effort by a great bunch of guys!, September 26, 2003

By	OSErr - See all my reviews

I've been listening to Blue Rodeo since the 80's and have seen them a number of times live. This album is a very good effort and while not every cut can be considered a "HIT" like most of their other albums it's a very enjoyable listen. I like the horns and the extra cuts are cool...if you're a fan you will not be disappointed. (If you're thinking about a first purchase I recommend "Just like a Vacation", you'll be hooked and will eventually want to pick up all their albums.)

The 5 stars here is because this band really shines live and is a "must see". I saw them on the tour for this album in San Fransicso Sept 2003, playing a small club. Gregg was not there (his dad was ill and he flew home to be with him) but this didn't stop the guys from putting on a killer show (over 2 hours!). "Oh Susana" opened up (she has a great voice - check her band out), her guitar player sat in with Blue Rodeo. That kid totally rocked out, it was simply great -- apparently he picked up the parts the day before or something like that. These guys played in Toronto to 450 000 people along with the Stones and AC/DC and in San Fran they play a 250 seat club. Figure that out. They deserves so much more recognition! Thanks guys, keep on rockin' and don't forget us canucks on the west coast...sometimes we really need a fix...and some whisky of course.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too many chiefs, not enough indians, August 23, 2003

By	Brian Kious (Saint Charles, Missouri United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is not the first album that Blue Rodeo has produced. They have had the credit with the stellar 1994 release "Five Days in July". So this cannot be blamed for the muddy sound of this album. First off let me say that the songs on this album aren't really that bad. There were a lot of high points writing-wise. Most of the high points belong to Greg Keelor on this record (as was the case on their last outing "The Days In Between"). In fact, this has been the case as Blue Rodeo has moved forward. Keelor has stretched his wings further this time creating not only a well-written song, but adding to those songs wonderful mental landscapes with just the right usage of instruments.
Keelor alone could not carry this album. Cuddy had some fair additions, but they could have easily been the same songs he was offering up back in 1994.
The most notable difference that anyone educated in Blue Rodeo will notice is the addition of the Bushwhack Horns and the string section. The only problem with this is that when added to a full on rock assault like "Walk Like You Don't Mind" or "Clearer View" (which are Cuddy's better offerings) it served only to make a cluttered cachophony with badly buried vocals. The lesson here is just because you have these at your disposal doesn't mean you should always use them.
Maybe it was a case of having too many ideas or just not having the technical knowhow of mixing. When listening closer, there are many parts that were buried that would have just put certain songs over the top, like the female echoed vocals on "What a Surprise".
Over all, this is worth getting if you are a completist, but that's about it.