I Mother Earth/Dig I Mother Earth's first full length release didn't garner many followers at first, the album released at the tail end of heavy metal's peak. The first two singles, Rain Will Fall and Not Quite Sonic established the band as one of Canada's top rock groups, including a Juno Award victory for Best Rock Album. Marketing of IME strengthed in the US with the release of So Gently We Go and IME really took off when hard rockin' Levitate came out. 1. The Mothers 2. Levitate 3. Rain Will Fall 4. So Gently We Go 5. Not Quite Sonic 6. Production 7. Lost My America 8. No One 9. Undone 10. Basketball 11. And The Experience 12. The Universe In You Ginger/Far Out When vocalist/guitarist and founding member Kevin Kane left Canada's acclaimed Grapes of Wrath due to the cliched musical and personal differences, the remaining members -- Chris Hooper (drums), Tom Hooper (vocals, bass, guitars), and Vincent Jones (keyboards) -- carried on with the like-sounding and equally enjoyable Ginger. The band returned to Nettwerk Records (Grapes of Wrath's original label), releasing a self-titled, Canadian-only EP in 1993 and the full-length Far Out in 1994. Far Out was eventually released in the U.S. in 1995. The band followed with Suddenly I Came to My Senses in late 1996 for EMI Canada. Far Out is a well-paced album that clearly stands alongside the finer moments of Grapes of Wrath, alternating quieter, introspective moments with upbeat rockers and pure Beatle-esque pop. 1. Far Out 2. Solid Ground 3. Feel Like Falling Down 4. Saying Sorry Again 5. Keep Looking Back 6. On The Road Yet Again 7. Ocean Drain 8. The Earth Revolves Around You 9. Mr. Attitude 10. Darkside Of My Mind 11. The One Who Fell From Grace On The News Big Sugar/500 pounds Led by Toronto's subtle-guitar whiz Gordie Johnson, Big Sugar cover a dizzying number of bases on their second effort. The group kicks out the jams for a pair of mutant, acid blues in "Ride Like Hell" and "I'm A Ram," stokes a hypnotic, National Steel groove on "Sugar In My Coffee," wails out a lurching Tex-Mex riff for "AAA Aardvark Hotel," and fascinates with an open-prairie/R&B fusion on "Wild Ox Moan." Impossible to pigeon-hole and freshly uncentered. 1. Ride Like Hell 2. Standing Around Crying 3. I'm A Ram 4. Sugar In My Coffee 5. All Over Now 6. AAA Aardvark Hotel 7. How Many Times 8. Deliver Me 9. Still Waitin' 10. Wild Ox Moan 11. Ride On Big Sugar/Big Sugar Big Sugar, as a "band" was formed in 1991 with Johnson (Infidels, Molly Johnson, Watertown), Cross (Jane Siberry, Don Freed) and Wilkins (Rough Trade, David Wilcox) though the three musicians had worked together at impromptu jam nights for 5 years at the Hotel Isabella. Wilkins and Johnson were also members of a later day version of Downchild. With the help of singer Molly Johnson (Alta Moda, Infidels), the band drew the attention of Tom Treumuth's Hypnotic Records who signed them and stuck them in a live-off-the -floor setting to do what they do best - improvise. 50 songs were recorded and 12 were released on their eponymous debut in 1991. 1. Sleep In Late 2. Come Back Home 3. Motherless Children 4. So Many Roads (For Clive) 5. Bemsha Swing 6. Stardust 7. Ground Hog Day 8. Just About Sunrise 9. Goodbye Train 10. Nowhere To Go 11. 'Round Midnight 12. Devil Got My Woman The Killjoys/Melos Modos Since Evan Dando seems to prefer bongs nowadays to songs, Killjoys' frontman Mike Trebilcock should be crowned power-pop's new heavyweight champ. The belt would certainly fit. Trebilcock might not be as dreamy as the Lemonheads' Dando, but he pens the crispest, most effortless melodic rock on this side of the Big Star galaxy. I thought Gimme Five, Killjoys' ultra-solid sophomore record, might have drained Trebilcock's songwriting well. But Melos Modos proves the thing's damn near bottomless. Like Gimme Five and Starry before it, Melos Modos is as catchy as a soda-pop jingle and as sharply observed as a self-portrait. Trebilcock continues to write about relationships gone wrong with a richeye for bitter detail and a heart full of resignation. On the sonic side, he, bassist Shelley Woods and drummer Gene Champagne have shaken things up, throwing some slower tempos and the occasional country infection into the crunchy, hyped-up guitar mix. For example, Sandalwood and 50, a bass-heavy lament that unfurls at the pace of an afternoon nap, might be the best thing Trebilcock's ever written. And that's saying something. Through 11 songs, the trio builds up its perfect house of cards and then blows it down with the album-closing Rocketsleep, a mid-tempo gem that degenerates into caterwauling noise. It's six minutes of guitar heaven that'll make you forget Dando was ever on pipe 1. Perfect Pizza 2. Beckon Call-Girl 3. Honesty Mistake 4. I've Been Good 5. Sandalwood and 50 6. That's All 7. One Goodbye 8. Unpaid 9. Lucky Me 10. Cheerleader Type 11. Weeds and Worms 12. Rocketsleep 13. Hang-Up Mystery Machine/10 Speed (Multimedia track not included) Moving away from the higher volume that marked their first album, 10 Speed also starts to show less reliance on the band's early influences (although the very beginning sure sounds like Husker Du, doesn't it?). It's a solid album pretty much all the way through, with more of the band's own personality. It's also a notable release for another reason: it was one of Nettwerk's initial forays into the world of mixed-media compact discs, and Nettwerk was one of the first labels to try it, meaning, this was one of the first commercially available multimedia audio compact discs. Not all of the copies released to the public had the multimedia portion, however; those who didn't get the multimedia instead got an excellent cover version of Blondie's "Heart of Glass" with Kristy Thirsk of Rose Chronicles on guest vocals. 1. Cd-Rom 2. Pound For Pound 3. Horn O' Plenty 4. Brand New Song 5. Gouat Eeyesss 6. Phantom Tollbooth 7. Just A Sec 8. Sinker 9. Neither The Players 10. Mouser 11. Chihuahua 12. Neath 13. Pothead 14. Time Killer 15. One Hour Action/Drama Bootsauce/ The Brown Album Formed in Montreal in 1989 through a chance meeting between Drew Ling and guitarists Perry Johnson (who'd go under the pseudonym of Pere Fume) and Sonny Greenwich, the original group was rounded out with Alan Baculis on bass and drummer Rob Kazenel. After quickly becoming staples on the Ontario/Quebec circuit they were signed to Vertigo Records, releasing their debut in 1990. Corky Laing was called in, who'd earned a name as the drummer for Mountain and established himself as a renowned producer, working with the likes of Wilkinsons and recording with practically everyone who was anyone. THE BROWN ALBUM was a unique mix of funk and hard-driving rhythms, capturing the airwaves by surprise. The first two singles "Masterstroke" and "Scratching The Whole" paved the way for the all-out assault Canadian radio would endure with the remake of Hot Chocolate's "Every One's A Winner", and then "Play With Me". Basically overnight sensations, they hired new drummer Marc Villeneuve and hit the road, including a European tour opening for The Cult. Their debut soon went gold, with the group's image translating well to video as well - scoring them awards from MuchMusic as well as winning a 'best single' Juno for "Every One's A Winner". 1. Let's Eat Out 2. Scratching The Whole 3. Sex Marine 4. Catastrophe Seas 5. Everyone's A Winner 6. Play With Me 7. Lovin' Pain 8. Payment Time 9. Catcher In The Raw 10. Masterstroke Monkeywalk/ More Montreal baritone vocalist Bil Ringgenberg and bassist Andrew Frank played in the funk band Seven Sisters from 1982 to 1987. They were growing tired of the British funk sound they'd been playing and moved towards a more R & B feel as Monkeywalk. In 1992, the duo released their self-titled debut album which featured the addition of dozens of musicians to flush out their sound by including ex-Triumph guitarist Rik Emmett and Ellen McIlwaine. A tour featuring the duo with three sidemen followed. 1995's 'More' repeated the groove formula with Rik Emmett and Randy Cooke among others adding their veteran faculties, but the disc failed to gain the duo any notoriety or airplay. In 1996 they re-invented themselves again as a '90's version of Bourgeois-Tagg under the name Driving Blind. Rik Emmett returned once again to help the duo recreate their vision. 1. Panic Temporary 2. Release 3. That's Not Love 4. All I Want 5. Faith Luck And Power 6. Sneaking Suspicion 7. Everywhere 8. Louder 9. More 10. Morning's On Time Driving Blind/Driving Blind Bil Ringgenberg and Andrew Frank have spent a lot of time listening to contemporary pop and rock, and you hear it on their debut album under the name Driving Blind -- the distorted guitar sound of alternative rock, the dry, stuttered percussion (sorry, "rhythm programming") of hip-hop, the throaty earnestness typical of John Hiatt in Ringgenberg's vocals. Such trendy musical elements are all the more apparent in the duo's spare arrangements, in which each instrument can be heard clearly, but they don't overwhelm the songs. What's curious in these underproduced tracks is that, while they are so much more about feel and groove than they are about meaning, the presentation tends to focus the attention as much on what Ringgenberg is singing about as the soulful way he's singing it. 1. Crown 2. Fly 3. Hypnotized 4. Contradictions 5. It Matters 6. Anything Can Happen 7. Love Dies Laughing 8. Next Fool 9. Boomerang 10. Cover Your Eyes Colin James/ Colin James This Canadian guitarist, singer and songwriter is Canada's answer to the U.S.'s Chris Duarte or Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Colin Munn grew up in Saskatchewan, listening to folk and blues. After learning the pennywhistle and mandolin, he quit school and worked with a succession of bands, among them, the Hoo Doo Men. When he was 19 years old, he moved to Vancouver and joined the Night Shades. About two years later, performing under his changed name, Colin James, he was lucky enough to be noticed by the folks at Virgin Records, who signed him. James's 1988 self-titled debut was the fastest-selling album in Canadian history, and he followed that in 1990 with Sudden Stop, and Colin James and the Little Big Band in 1993. In 1995, James switched over to Warner Music Canada, and released Bad Habits. On Bad Habits, James is teamed with some good company: Bobby King and Terry Evans, Mavis Staples, guitarist Waddy Wachtel, Lenny Kravitz and former Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble keyboardist Reese Wynan 1. Five Long Years 2. Voodoo Thing 3. Down In The Bottom 4. Chicks 'n' Cars (And The Third World War) 5. Why'd You Lie 6. Hidden Charm 7. Bad Girl 8. Lone Wolf 9. Dream Of Satin 10. Three Sheets To The Wind