Top 10 Canadian Albums, Last 25 Years

kimmy · July 4, 2015

That's what I was wondering. People are angry that Rush isn't on this list... but when was the last significant record they released?

One glaring omission, however, is Robin Sparkles' "Sandcastles In the Sand." Conceived as a more mature followup to "Let's Go To The Mall", Sandcastles was intended to mark Robin's progression from teen pop to a more adult sound. It didn't achieve the commercial success of "Mall", but still stands on its own artistic merits.

The title track:

Bonus: Robin Sparkles and her friend Jessica Glitter performing a duet!

-k

Edited July 4, 2015 by kimmy

WestCoastRunner · July 4, 2015

I was never a big fan of Rush but they certainly contributed to the Canadian scene. I've never heard of Robin or Jessica.

Edited July 4, 2015 by WestCoastRunner

Mighty AC · July 4, 2015

Wow....Sandcastles seems something like a Lonely Island parody of pop music. Kudos to your musical range Kimmy.

I love that Alan Thick is the narrator stating that 'every beaver's favourite food is wood.."

Edited July 4, 2015 by Mighty AC

WestCoastRunner · July 4, 2015

Wow....Sandcastles seems something like a Lonely Island parody of pop music. Kudos to your musical range Kimmy.

I love that Alan Thick is the narrator stating that 'every beaver's favourite food is wood.."

hehe, AlanThicke. His son is a chip off the shoulder!

Mighty AC · July 4, 2015

hehe, AlanThicke. His son is a chip off the shoulder!

What a tool...but if you can find financial success selling crap to teens....then exploit it.

WestCoastRunner · July 4, 2015

What a tool...but if you can find financial success selling crap to teens....then exploit it.

Exactly. Exploit what you can. We all would, given the chance.

Edited July 4, 2015 by WestCoastRunner

Mighty AC · July 4, 2015

Exactly. Exploit what you can. We all would, given the chance.

Hey have you found Jesus?

WestCoastRunner · July 4, 2015

Hey have you found Jesus?

Nope.

Mighty AC · July 4, 2015

Nope.

lol...good for you.

WestCoastRunner · July 4, 2015

lol...good for you.

Makes no sense to me.

Mighty AC · July 4, 2015

...and to a growing population. Keep on, keepin' on...we need more like you.

WestCoastRunner · July 4, 2015

...and to a growing population. Keep on, keepin' on...we need more like you.

Rock on!

Mighty AC · July 4, 2015

Of those that would put The Hip in their top 10 of the last 25, who would choose Road Apples and who would choose something other? The Hip would be in my top 10, I have seen them perform many times, though I think they are a band that has to be consumed outdoors. I have watched them perform in stadiums as well as fields. I even once had a chance meeting with Gordy through a friend of the Rheostatics, but he had done one too many rails to make it a fulfilling converation. Never meet your heroes, I guess.

Though I love Road Apples, I could easily substitute Fully And Completely, which was the contemporary album when I first latched on to the band.

poochy · July 4, 2015

It helps when listening to Rush to consider just how good the musicianship is and how big they can sound with only 3 members, and maybe to ignore the keyboard years.

WIP · July 4, 2015

Sacrilege!!!

2112 was my first Rush tour, and the two other albums you mention were two other tours I saw of theirs...Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves. Moving Pics was incredible! Well, they all were.

Maybe it was Geddy Lee's screeching on those earlier albums, or I didn't get that Ayn Rand crap that Neil Peart was writing lyrics about; but whenever someone wanted to play 2112 on my stereo, I'd say:'pick a different Rush album....anything!' That middle period..actually from Hemispheres to Signals were my favourite Rush albums...and I'd go see them tour regardless of what album they happened to be promoting at the time. And I was really thrilled by how solid their Snakes and Arrows album sounded....and like I said, disappointed that they followed up too soon afterwards with a mediocre effort...oh well!

I hated 90210, but saw them play at Exhibition Place for that tour. Chris Squire's bass solo stood out from that show. RIP Chris.

Just dawned on me, we must have crossed wires with that stupid high school show from 20 years ago! The actual title was 90125. It wasn't my favourite Yes album....that would be "Fragile", the album that featured "Roundabout." But until 90125, my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) wouldn't have agreed to go with me to see them in concert!

It was sad to hear about the passing of Chris Squire....as much as I've admired Geddy Lee's ability to play great bass lines while doing vocals and keyboards too, I would still say Chris Squire was the greatest and most innovative bass player in the rock n roll era. Also sad to see how little notice his death received online or especially MSM. Among the highlights of one of the brief bio's it was noted that he was the only one of a frequently changing cast of players who was with the band from their beginning 47 years ago until now. Another fascinating little factoid that I wouldn't doubt, was a claim that he almost singlehandedly saved the Rickenbacker Guitar co. from bankruptcy because of his choice of a Rickenbacker 12 string bass as his main instrument. During that 90125 tour, he was playing Amazing Grace for his solo.

Genesis is another band I saw too late. Phil Collins is an incredible drummer, but damn I hated him fronting Genesis. Saw the Mama tour. Like I said, much too late.Gabriel live is still one of the best shows I've ever seen.

In fairness, the sellout wasn't all Phil Collins fault....even though he gets 99% of the blame. By about 1975, Peter Gabriel had taken over Genesis completely, and although the album credits always listed all five members for songwriting credits, it was generally believed that Gabriel had written the entire "Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" album and even put down most of the keyboard tracks before Tony Banks even got to the studio. So, in a band that worked as a collective, writing and arranging songs together, it was inevitable that Gabriel was actually asked to leave! And on those early albums, Phil Colllins does backup vocals and even a couple of lead vocals.

The real stylistic change likely occurred after lead guitarist - Steve Hackett apparently lost the battle with Collins and Rutherford to keep working along the same lines and Genesis went pop r&b while Hackett has had a more modest music career, playing music on his own terms:

Tool and the Mars Volta are two newer prog bands I can't stop listening too, even though TMV are now defucnt.

Thanks for the tip! I guess if Rush grew up in Mexico instead of Canada, this is how they would sound.

WIP · July 4, 2015

I was never a big fan of Rush but they certainly contributed to the Canadian scene. I've never heard of Robin or Jessica.

Girls don't get Rush!

WIP · July 4, 2015

hehe, AlanThicke. His son is a chip off the shoulder!

I got to meet Alan Thicke once back when he started doing that series "Growing Pains." All I can say is that he's as shallow and self-centered as he appears on TV!

drummindiver · July 4, 2015

I'm extra lucky...mine does!!!

GostHacked · July 4, 2015

Kimmy, Clockwork Angels was their last album I think.

kimmy · July 4, 2015

Yeah, but was it any good? I can't recall any singles from it or anything... the last Rush single I can recall is "Nobody's Hero" (which IMO was awful and not exactly top 10 of the last 25 years type material...)

I admit I never "got" rush. I do like a few of their songs. The 2112 Overture, Subdivisions, ... uh ... maybe Closer To the Heart? Trees? uh, I'm sure there must be more, but I honestly can't think of them right now. There's a whole bunch of them, like Tom Sawyer and Spirit of Radio and New World Man that get on the radio all the time that I'm like "uh-huh" that I don't mind, but if I never heard them again there wouldn't be anything missing from my life.

-k

Moonlight Graham · July 4, 2015

I didn't ever understand the attraction to Rush...but hey people like them. Still, have they produced a top 10 album sometime in the last 25 years?

I'm not a big fan of Rush. Maybe it's the vocals.

cybercoma · July 4, 2015

I used to hate Rush....like really hate Rush. Then a couple years ago I sat down and listened to 2112 and had some sort of epiphany because it hit me that this is one of the best albums of all time. The section where he finds the guitar and learns how to play....pretty creative.

Here's the Wikipedia description of these two sections of the song that are in the YouTube video below.

III Discovery[5]

The Protagonist finds the guitar—the life-changing thing[13]—in a cave by a waterfall. He figures out how to tune and play it—enabling him to make his own music: "How different it could be from the music of the Temples!" He decides to perform it before the Priests, believing they will "praise my name" for letting "the people ... all make their own music."

In this song, guitarist Alex Lifeson builds up from simple open string guitar playing into increasingly complex patterns and chords, showing the man's progress as he teaches himself to play the guitar.

Note: Printed on the album were the lyrics "Chords that build high like a mountain" and Geddy sang it this way for the 1996 live album, but the original recorded lyrics were "sounds" instead of "chords" ("sounds that build...").[12]

IV Presentation[5]

The Protagonist performs before the Priests, but they—particularly Father Brown—express not "grateful joy" but "quiet rejection": They tell him that "we have no need for ancient ways", and dismiss the instrument as a "silly whim" that "doesn't fit the plan"—in fact, "another toy that helped destroy the elder race of man." Not believing "these things", the Protagonist tries to explain, "our world could use this beauty; just think what we might do"—to no avail. Father Brown stomps on the guitar and destroys it, and the Priests tell him, "Don't annoy us further."

Vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson alternately represent the Protagonist—with gentle, low-pitched vocals and clean, soft rockguitar—and the Priests—with harsh, high-pitched vocals and distorted, hard rock guitar. The song ends with a guitar solo outro similar instrumentally to the chorus of "The Temples of Syrinx".

Edited July 5, 2015 by cybercoma

poochy · July 5, 2015

I really like A passage to Bankok from 2112 as well.

GostHacked · July 5, 2015

Yeah, but was it any good? I can't recall any singles from it or anything... the last Rush single I can recall is "Nobody's Hero" (which IMO was awful and not exactly top 10 of the last 25 years type material...)

I admit I never "got" rush. I do like a few of their songs. The 2112 Overture, Subdivisions, ... uh ... maybe Closer To the Heart? Trees? uh, I'm sure there must be more, but I honestly can't think of them right now. There's a whole bunch of them, like Tom Sawyer and Spirit of Radio and New World Man that get on the radio all the time that I'm like "uh-huh" that I don't mind, but if I never heard them again there wouldn't be anything missing from my life.

-k

That is a problem with corporate radio. You are only going to hear the more popular ones. A total shame in that we always hear the same things over and over again on the radio.