Music Review: Spirit of the West - Star Trails

As promised, here's another review, this time of the same band as the last. Won't happen often, I'm sure, but nevertheless, here it is. This time around, it's Star Trails, their latest release and is my first studio album of theirs.

As I said in the last review, I'd been meaning to get an album from this band and Hit Parade was a great way to sample their wide range of music styles from their different albums, and now that that is done, it was time for me to pick up a studio album. I mainly wanted to get this one first because it had caught my eye. Beautiful cover isn't it? In essence, it captures the name of the band perfectly. Here we have tents lit up at a star party in Northern Canada, possibly at one of the big summer Star Parties that happen every year. Time lapse photography has caught the star trails using a long exposure of many hours. And on the horizon, the greenish glow is not nuclear fallout due to a failing nuclear power plant, but an Aurora Borealis, something which is very distinctive to the north. The further north someone goes, the better chance of seeing an Aurora you'll get. And in some native communities, Auroras are considered to be the doing of spirits. So, as you can see, with this cover being as catchy as it is, it also has quite a bit of meaning towards the band's name. A well chosen picture for their cover.

Well, enough talking about the cover. Onto the music! So, how does it stack up? Well, I'd have to say in general, the whole album has a sort of retro 80's feel to it. I'm not sure why, but whenever I listen to it, I certain vibe from it that feels like something from that era. There are certain songs that sound like more modern of course, but there are also some songs that sound like they'd almost been done before, and songs that sound like they're from other bands of the 80's like Chicago. Perhaps it's simply the style they chose to do them in, but I can easily picture Chicago doing some of the songs on this CD, particularly 'King of Scotland' which sounds like a signature Chicago song. And the song 'July' is something I swear I heard before by a different band but, again that probably is just attributed to the style itself. Overall, I was a bit disappointed in the CD in that it sounds kind of familiar but isn't, almost like a deja-vue. Maybe I expected too much after hearing the fantastic Hit Parade and was spoiled by the range of style in that one, but it left me a bit to be desired. Does that mean it's not a good CD? Of course not. I still like it, but not as much as I hoped I would.

Album: Spirit of the West - Star Trails
Label: Universal Records (Canada)
Release Date: 2004
Bonus Material?: No
Site: www.sotw.ca

Music Review: Spirit of the West - Hit Parade

It's been awhile since my last review and I've been meaning to post something, so I won't delay any longer.

Spirit of the West has quickly become one of my favourite bands over the years, but I hadn't actually bought an album of theirs until recently. I'm not sure which song I heard first. It was either "Home for a Rest" or "And If Venice is Sinking". But by either one, I was hooked!

"Home for a Rest" is one of my favourite drinking songs, and is often mis-attributed to Great Big Sea. Funny thing, considering these bands sound nothing alike aside from their Celtic roots. Sometimes I wish Great Big Sea would just cover it to get it over with and say that they've actually done it.

"And If Venice is Sinking" is a beautiful love song in the style of romantic ditties of the venitian era, complete with accordion, as well as a tuba as bass. Essentially, it's about wanting to stay in Venice even if it sinks and going under with it, since it's so beautiful.

I'd been searching for the best album to get and I'm pleased to say that this is a great introduction to the band (I've bought another of their albums since) and these favourites are just a few of the many good songs on this album, including orchestral versions of "And If Venice is Sinking" (as if it wasn't beautiful enough!) and a few others. And if you haven't guessed by now, this band isn't a polka band like the cover would seem to suggest, but rather a Celtic based band, which has progressed into more of a rock band, and this album showcases the range of songs that they have very well. It definitely is a great album to have.

So, what are you waiting for? Don't walk, but run to the store to pick up a copy!

Album: Spirit of the West - Hit Parade
Label: Warner Music Canada
Release Date: 1999
Bonus Material?: No
Site: www.sotw.ca