Search - Grapes of Wrath :: These Days

Nice little jewel from1991

Stewart W. Brown | 02/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Memories are what good recordings conjure up for us. Where were you when you first heard this song or what were you doing when it came out? For me when I first heard the single "You May Be Right" off this album by Canadians Grapes of Wrath, I thought what a great tune.



I still remember working in a newspaper darkroom in a small town in Espanola, Ont. listening to the local AM station and hearing more and more of this album over the radio.



I always found this album to have a nostaligic feel to it on three levels: I) The band I think was capturing the sound of a Beatles lp (my favourite band), II) it takes me back to that time when I was a young, aspiring, newspaper reporter and my first time away from home, III) for Canadians it contains the sounds of summer at the cottage [A good example being "A Fishing Tale"].



Amazingly I find that this album, years and years later (it was released in 1991), still sounds fresh. I particularly enjoy the lead guitar of Kevin Kane on this album.



This album contains a certain sentimentality and whistfulness, that I've enjoyed on may other artists' recordings, but the band doesn't really sound like any particular band per se (well except the Beatles, maybe). Many of these songs are in the vein of recollection and memory and longing maybe even for home. Titles like "Away", "I Can't Find My Home", "I'll Be There", and "I Am Here", all recall a location or place (in most cases "home") that the singer wants back to, and even the "love songs" conjure up the idea of "loss" or "getting things right" and then all will be well.



Unfortunately, I believe the band broke up shortly thereafter and never attained the quality that was evident on this recording."