Road Apples (Remastered) The Tragically Hip

• 1 Little Bones 04:42
• 2 Twist My Arm 03:55
• 3 Cordelia 04:07
• 4 The Luxury 03:38
• 5 Born In The Water 03:23
• 6 Long Time Running 04:23
• 7 Bring It All Back 04:38
• 8 Three Pistols 03:46
• 9 Fight 05:54
• 10 On The Verge 03:52
• 11 Fiddler's Green 04:21
• 12 The Last Of The Unplucked Gems 02:02
• Total Runtime 48:41

Info for Road Apples (Remastered)

1991 breakthrough album from Canadian outfit, recorded in New Orleans featuring 'Little Bones' & 'Twist My Arm'. It was their first album to hit #1 on the Canadian charts.

On Road Apples we had the benefit of working with Don Smith and Bruce Barris again. We still had plenty to learn about studios and it made sense to team up with these guys, we really enjoyed working with them last time and there was one less unknown [a new producer] in the recording equation. We booked five weeks at Daniel Lanois's Kingsway Studio in the French Quarter of New Orleans. This studio atmosphere was way more relaxed and informal when compared with other he'd used. The studio is in an old mansion with 14-foot ceilings. The rooms have a terrific natural sound. Most of the time we all played in the same enormous room where Don and Bruce and the consoles were. When we needed a break the pool table and kitchen were close by.

New Orleans is a lively town and we're sure the whole vibe down there is on this record. We were really working hard and totally inspired by this sinking city. Road Apples is probably a grittier more urgent sounding recording than Up To Here. We were attempting to capture the sound of our live shows. During the first week of pre-production we had pruned the potential songs down to a manageable number. The only song that was born down in New Orleans that made the record was Little Bones inspired in part by a rather verbose taxi driver who drove us to Tipitinas one night.

At the time we thought long and hard about calling this record "Saskadelphia." It reflected, we thought aspects of our life on the road - the "where the hell are we now feeling" you can get near the end of a long tour. For different reasons no one else we told about this title was partial to it. In the end we opted for Road Apples and its' various meanings literally it means horse shit but there is also a reference to playing road hockey in the street. In the old days some kids would use frozen horse shit as their puck in a game of road hockey. So in a way we called the record horse shit a little jab at the folks that didn't like Saskadelphia as a title.

"The Tragically Hip have always taken a certain modest pride in their Canadian roots. The group wanted to title their third album "Saskadelphia," but the record label found it "too Canadian." The group then suggested Road Apples, local slang for frozen horse-droppings, and the record label, unaware of its meaning, liked it. Don't let the title fool you; Road Apples is some of the best of the Hip's best work. Recorded in New Orleans under the watchful eyes of producers Don Smith and Bruce Barris, Road Apples is a more polished effort than the group's previous two albums. Smith and Barris have created a cleaner, more efficient sound that complements lead singer Gord Downie's manic energy. Equally impressive is the work of guitarist Bobby Baker. The Southern twang on "Twist My Arm" as well as the raw power of "Little Bones" and "Long Time Running" illustrate Baker's skill and dexterity. The ballad "Fiddler's Green" is a pleasant departure and is as effective as any of the other tracks on the album. All in all, the straight-ahead roots rock of Road Apples is a perfect example of why the Tragically Hip are legends north of the 49th parallel. American audiences have yet to catch on, but they would be doing themselves a favor by not stepping aside Road Apples." (Jon Azpiri, AMG)

The Tragically Hip
Additional musicians:
Phil Jones, tambourine
Benmont Tench, piano
Malcolm Burn, accordion

Produced by Don Smith

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.