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The Ghosts That Haunt Me |
| Produced by Steve Berlin | |
| Released on April 4, 1991 | |
| no chart information | |
| Find it at GEMM | |
| AC-8677 cover |
A folked-up debut by a Canadian foursome that leans to the left of normal. Possessed of a profound baritone, vocalist Brad Roberts sounds like the grim reaper come a-courtin’. His delivery is sweetened by a sense of humor and a sincere understanding of the human condition. “Superman’s Song” bespeaks this best, stripping the man of steel down to a level that resonates with our own daily challenges. (If you liked “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” you’ll like this too.) There’s also a refreshing honesty at work on “The Voyage” and “Comin’ Back Soon (The Bereft Man’s Song)” that makes The Ghosts That Haunt Me feel like an antidote to the overproduced music of the last decade. However, their debut couldn’t be called alternative rock, this despite a neat cover of The Replacements’ “Androgynous.” It’s closer in spirit to the acoustic music of Bruce Cockburn, with a pronounced Celtic influence some of the time. Violins, mandolins, banjos, accordions, penny whistles and harmonicas give the album the flavor of a folk revival, which fans of their followup might find offputting. Brad Roberts is the same songwriter on both, but the production is markedly different; hardly any folk traces remained for God Shuffled His Feet. If the idea of a banjo solo doesn’t turn you green, Ghosts shouldn’t scare you. Of course, no harm done if you just want to download “Superman’s Song” to your iPod. It’s a great song that revealed to me for the first time the parallel between Superman and our own fathers. It must be why Superman resonates with more people than Spiderman, an internal parallel for teenage boys (i.e., Why can’t they see how super I really am?, which lacks the emotional profundity of Why can’t everyone see how super my Dad really is?).
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| AC-8677 lyric sleeve |
TRACK LISTING
CREDITS
BENJAMIN DARVILL -- harmonica, mandolin
ELLEN REID -- vocals, keyboards, accordion, penny whistle
BRAD ROBERTS -- vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
DAN ROBERTS -- bass
Steve Berlin -- percussion
Thomas Sparling -- executive producer
Bob Doige -- engineer, recorder (10)
Vince Lambert -- drums
Greg Leisz -- pedal steel (9)
Garth Reid -- banjo (2)
Lynn Selwood -- cello (3)
Bill Zulak -- violin
Bob Shaper -- mixing
Mark Linett -- mixing (10)
Kevin Mutch -- design, photography
Gustav Doré -- illustrations
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| REGION | RELEASE DATE | LABEL | MEDIA | ID NUMBER | FEATURES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN/US | April 4, 1991 | Arista | CD/CS | ARCD/AC-8677 | lyric sleeve |
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