Sam Roberts is as Don Cherry would say, "A good Canadian kid." Over the last few years he's turned out a number of pop gems. By all accounts he's just getting started and will only get better. He's hit a bit of a plateau here at home, and unless he manages to break wide open he'll end up being yet another of Canada's great bands that you probably haven't heard of joining the ranks of Sloan, and The Tragically Hip.

The Inhuman Condition (©2002 MapleMusic Recordings)

1: Don't Walk Away Eileen 2: Brother Down 3: Where Have All The Good People Gone? 4: When Everything Was Alright 5: My Love Is Freeing 6: This Is How I Live

Everything old is new again. This is an infectious ep, and is solid from beginning to end. Although young Sam will learn that screaming Mother Fudger at the end of an album is a sure fire way to really piss off the older prudes who really liked your stuff, and basically prevent your album from being played anywhere where younger kids are listening.

Stupid Sam. Since my little kids were dancing around the living room the first and last time I first played this on the family room stereo. It would have seen a lot more play with the big speakers - oh well, the PC speakers are pretty good too. There, I've officially turned into an old fart, but Sam, this is the stuff I cut my teeth on, and as good as you are it's all derivative. But you're in excellent company now along side bands like The Soundtrack of Our Lives, and even the wankers in Oasis (who appreciate a good hook, and a loud guitar, and a dose of the rock and roll spirit). I hope you can keep it up as this one is just an ep for crying out loud, let's see what you can do with a full release.

Anyway thus endeth the lecture - like he'll really give a crap about what I think. Brother Down got a lot of attention but it's not the best song on the ep. That honour goes to Don't Walk Away Eileen. I also really like the wandering bridge on Where Have All The Good People Gone. The first time I heard it I thought it was too long and boring, but after a listen or two it really gets going.

So, I take my hat off to you, and wish you more success than a bag of hammers. To quote Don Cherry, "He's a good Canadian kid, this Sam. He'd have been a hell of a hockey player." (Sigh, okay Don didn't say that, but he could have - maybe)

Lord knows we need more real rock and roll in the world.

Reviewed May 2003

We Were Born In A Flame (©2003 MapleMusic / Universal)

1: Hard Road 2: Where Have All The Good People Gone 3: Brother Down 4: Higher Learning 5: Dead End 6: Taj Mahal 7: Every Part Of Me 8: The Canadian Dream 9: Rarefied 10: On The Run 11: Don't Walk Away Eileen 12: No Sleep 13: This Wreck Of A Life 14: Paranoia

Dig out the granola and pass the pipe dude, Sam Roberts is in the house.

Sam once again assumes most of the musical duties this time around, and shows us old farts that the spirit of rock and roll isn't dead, it's just undergoing a facelift, and a nip and tuck. Sam has a great feel for melody, and despite the rocker look to this guy We Were Born in a Flame is a surprisingly subdued effort. It's a long slow burn which occasionally flashes into a full fledged scorcher.

Unlike his previous release Sam has reigned in some of the musical meandering. Which depending on your point of view is a good thing. I kind of liked the loose feel to the ep, but can appreciate Sam tightening things up a bit. A few of the songs from the last one make an encore appearance here, but there are still ten songs here that deserve attention. There are some really good songs here, dare I say excellent without sounding like some paid sycophant? From start to finish it doesn't have any filler.

I've been waiting a while to see how long this one would hold my attention. I bought it the day it was released, and read a number of the early reviews, and they were gushing to the point of being kind of embarrassing. With the first couple of listens I figured it was a worthy step forward but it wasn't sinking in. So I let it play off and on for a couple of months, and this one really does have some longevity.

Hopefully Sam's image doesn't get the better of him and that he is able to age in to the music he so obviously loves. Oh to be so young and full of vigor and vim. Not to mention a heaping helping of naiveté. Socialism indeed. Grade 10 stuff at best.

I suspect in the next year or so we'll be treated to a full on band effort. It will be interesting to see what the influence of other musical voices will bring to his sound.

So far the kid is hitting all the right notes.

Rock on Sam.

Reviewed August 19, 2003

Chemical City (©2006)

1: The Gate 2: Bridge To Nowhere 3: With A Bullet 4: Mind Flood 5: Uprising Down Under 6: Mystified, Heavy 7: An American Draft Dodger In Thunder Bay 8: The Bootleg Saint 9: The Resistance 10: A Stone Would Cry Out

Okay okay so I'm a little late, but what the heck - it was just released a month ago in the UK, so I'm not that far behind. Heck, sometimes it take me 20 years to write something up. In my defense I did pick this up the week it came out, and it spent months playing around the house. I really liked it, but I couldn't get my thougts together: It was more of the same, yet it was a departure from his last album. It was deeper, more artistic, and more mature. I know of a few people who expected more songs like "Brother Down" or "Don't Walk Away Eileen" and didn't like this one that much.

So here I am, listening to it again for the first time in a while, and I was struck by how cool many of these songs are. Sam really pulled out the stops and went all out. This is an album full of rich textures, and like his Swedish contemporaries TSOOL (The Soundtrack of out Lives) he's putting out some of the finest new classic rock you're likely to hear.

It would be too easy to dismiss poor Sam as a derivative little wanker without an original thought in his head - it would also be unfair. Sam lives this stuff - and the band he's put together was an itegral part Chemical City, and you can hear the cohesiveness the guys have brought with them for their time on the road. They're able to complete each other's musical thoughts.

This is a kick ass record.

Reviewed December 21, 2007