We Are The Same (Remastered) The Tragically Hip

• 1 Morning Moon 04:01
• 2 Honey, Please 04:00
• 3 The Last Recluse 03:49
• 4 Coffee Girl 03:46
• 5 Now The Struggle Has A Name 06:04
• 6 The Depression Suite 09:27
• 7 The Exact Feeling 03:55
• 8 Queen Of The Furrows 04:12
• 9 Speed River 04:28
• 10 Frozen In My Tracks 04:04
• 11 Love Is A First 03:43
• 12 Country Day 05:18
• Total Runtime 56:47

Info for We Are The Same (Remastered)

Recorded in 2008's year of continental excess and governmental Spending Gone Wild, The Tragically Hip's latest album, We Are the Same, brings its listeners something beyond the unexpected: actual hope. Gord Downie's lyrics' backed by a band ripe with confidence and skill'tackle what we might assume had passed far under the bridge. Should a first listen be given to a person recently hatched from a time capsule, or a pod sent from beyond Mars, she might believe that our essential uniting tenet, faith in humanity, still exists. We are, indeed, the Same, and when this is recognized, a bit of that space between us all shrinks.

We Are the Same isn't only levity and light, though. The band exposes our black eyes and our crushes, the struggle of the worker in places as far flung as New Orleans and Athabaska or as close as a Lake Ontario shore is to the shore of Chicago. A trio of 'Depression Suites' examines people trapped in menial jobs. Part of the magic, however, is that The Tragically Hip has never lost its working man's roots; from their start in the tiny clubs of Kingston and Toronto and Halifax and Vancouver to the world stage, Gordon, Paul, Rob, Gord, and Johnny continue to sweat hard, and the triumphant and often chilling trilogy is an ode to those who keep the rest of us content.

Several of the tracks address a desire for escape, possible or not, and most take a look at our sense of self worth, both as individuals and as a larger community. We're asked, point blank: Don't our First Peoples deserve reconciliation? The Hip is neither apologetic nor afraid to question the state of our natural environment, and our internal environments don't escape unexamined either. The inability to undo time and the idea of reflection also appear again and again: how we reflect one another, how the moon bounces back the light of the sun onto our communal view and our communal problems, how mirrors give us more than just ourselves.

There's melancholy and anger here, driving guitar, and absolutely unforgettable melody. The Hip, with songs like 'Morning Moon' and 'The Last Recluse,' could even have somebody like Stephen Harper humming along in the back of the limo. The powerhouse legend Bob Rock, once more on the dials, tunes the words and music of one of our country's great enigmas and talents into something completely new and yet immediately recognizable. This band, a dozen albums and 26 years in the making, shows us once again not only why they are but who they are, snowshoeing through new land while sowing seeds for all of us secret musicians and poets and citizens hungry for a chance. And a change.

"Initial reaction to We Are the Same among longtime fans seemed to range, according to chit-chat on various blogs, from halting acceptance to outraged disdain. There is no denying that the latest from this now 26-year-old Canadian band bears little resemblance to the rawer, rootsier sound of the Hip's earliest works. But it's by no means a radical departure from 2006's World Container; it's more of an incremental step toward something less distinctive and more universally appealing in a commercial sense. Producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Mötley Crüe), who also took the reins for that last album, returns here on the band's 12th studio effort, applying a polish to these generic arrangements of largely uninspired lyrics and hackneyed tunes that undeniably takes the Hip closer to a mainstream -- or, rather, an edge-free, knuckle-dragging -- pop/rock sound. Some might call it a bloated overproduction and leave it at that, but the malaise is deeper than over-ambition, approaching something closer to creative bankruptcy. Perhaps it shouldn't be so surprising that, after so long in the game, the Hip might harbor a desire for greater recognition and choose a producer who can deliver what's been elusive all these years. And at isolated moments the drive to reinvent as something more consumer-friendly succeeds: while there is a definite softer edge to most of these tracks, and an overall tameness, although that's not to say that theTragically Hip has abandoned everything that's identified them until now. Paul Langlois' and Rob Baker's guitars still scream and shout, or glimmer and shine, when required to, the rhythm section, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay, can kick up dust when given a chance, and Gordon Downie, when he's not over-emoting, still delivers his words convincingly and with emotion. The problem is more with the songs themselves and the gloss within which they are bathed: there is a derivativeness to much of the record, and a silliness to the fancy-pants settings they are given (strings abound, ballads plod, layers of unnecessary window dressing are added), a feeling that too many of these tunes were created with the sole desire to find a larger audience rather than to reflect what Downie and the band are really about after so much time together. It opens with a promising enough country-rocker, "Morning Moon," that would, in a more just world, be a huge hit single. And "Coffee Girl" too, with its bold, tasty trumpet, is the kind of perfectly crafted gem these guys have time and again proven they can turn out. But it quickly descends into pretense and earnestness with the back-to-back treacly "Now the Struggle Has a Name" and the nine-and-a-half-minute "The Depression Suite." With its oft-repeated tag line "Don't you wanna see how it ends?" the epic only has the undesired effect of causing the listener to say, "No, I don't, just end it already." From there, it stays in an abyss, as songs like "Love Is a First" (the first single), despite an attempt at rhythmic punch, and "Speed River" fail to drag the album back from the pit of mediocrity it's plunged into. At this point in their career the Tragically Hip should be making grander, more honest statements than this. We Are the Same is obviously meant to resurrect the band's fortunes rather than to further their artistry. Whether it does or doesn't find what it's seeking, its main accomplishment is that it drives the Tragically Hip closer to irrelevancy. And that's tragic." (Jeff Tamarkin, AMG)

The Tragically Hip

Produced by Bob Rock

Digitally remastered

The Tragically Hip
Critically acclaimed for more than three decades, The Tragically Hip has been at the heart of the Canadian musical zeitgeist, evoking a strong emotional connection between their music and their fans that remains unrivalled in this country. A five-piece group of friends including Rob Baker (guitar), Gord Downie (vocals, guitar), Johnny Fay (drums), Paul Langlois (guitar) and Gord Sinclair (bass), who grew up in Kingston, Ontario, The Hip has achieved the enviable status of a band that enjoys both mass popularity with more than 8 million albums sold worldwide, as well as peer recognition through 16 Juno Awards - and the fourth-most ever for an artist – picking up their last two in for Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year for Man Machine Poem. Their studio catalogue includes their self-titled debut album The Tragically Hip (1987), Up To Here (1989), Road Apples (1991), Fully Completely (1992), Day For Night (1994), Trouble At The Henhouse (1996), Phantom Power (1998), Music @ Work (2000), In Violet Light (2002), In Between Evolution (2004), World Container (2006), We Are The Same (2009), Now For Plan A (2012) and Man Machine Poem (2016). Through their career the band became a cultural touchstone in Canada; receiving the distinguished Order of Canada and even being featured on a set of postage stamps. The band’s final concert in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario took place on August 20th, 2016 and was broadcast nationally on CBC to a record breaking audience of 11.7 million, the second highest audience ever in Canada.

This album contains no booklet.