Hot take.

[theweaselking]

The Tragically Hip are a garbage band that is only famous because of CanCon laws. When Gordon Downey's brain cancer was revealed, the tragedy was "The Tragically Hip will continue to perform", not "their singer is dying". In a just universe ruled by a loving god, the opposite would be true: Gordon Downey would live a happy life in obscurity with nobody ever hearing him "sing", and The Tragically Hip would never have performed any shows, ever.

Comments

[matgb]

Proof, from someone who's never heard any of their music.

Until tonight with all the pics doing the round of Trudeau wearing their shirt and going to the gig, I'd never heard of them. Now, for me to have no heard of a rock band that's relatively recent is a normal thing, for me to have not heard of a band that's been around that long? That's weird.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

They're a "legendary" Canadian band. The problem is, the Canadian Content laws requiring the a certain percentage of all broadcast media be Canadian: Desperate for blandpop bands from Canada, megacorp radio stations played the Tragically Hip, Alanis Morissette, and TheoryOfANickleDefault on infinite repeat, and their boring-as-fuck rules somehow produced the popular "canadian sound": the tragically hip, alannis morissette, nickleback, william shatner, and creed.

While leaving aside actually DISTINCTIVE Canadian sounds like Skinny Puppy, Rx, Stompin Tom Connors, and a Toronto crowd kicking the shit out of Creed.

[matgb]

I dug them out on Spotify and have listened to one track in full (the serial killer one) and hit skip on three more out of boredom.

Even Alannis-without-the-Chilli-Peppers isn't this dull.

[aeduna.livejournal.com]

I only know about them because their lyrics were used liberally in White Wolf stuff earlier on. I got an album as was definitely underwhelmed. Tho, you know, I was expecting something gothpunkyish. :)

[harald387.livejournal.com]

I found that The Tragically Hip (and for that matter, Alanis Morissette and Nickelback) all became much better listens when I *stopped listening to the goddamn radio*.

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

Dude... pretty harsh way to say "I don't like 'em."

Not, you understand, that I particularly like their music either.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

If I can't use hyperbole then I might as well be literally set on fire.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I like The Tragically Hip.

Having said that, I've never understood why people like Bryan Adams and Alanis Morissette got to define the Canadian sound when so many bands like Low, Breeding Ground, National Velvet and Sons of Freedom sank without a trace.

[frith]

I like the Tragically Hip (I have four of their disks) but mainstream radio is so deep in a rut that the wheels don't touch the ground anymore. There are two stations I used to listen to. One was fresh in 1970 and hasn't changed since. The other, an "alternative" station was fresh in 1992 and hasn't changed since. 9_9 So bugger that scene, I get my music from the My Little Pony fandom. It's a lot of work cherry picking from thousands of tracks in all possible genres, but it's fresh.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

None of you people have mentioned Rush, the best Canadian band of all time.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

The category is "awful Canadian bands".