Safe As Milk (12 Song Version) (©1995 VIA Records)

Tracks: Holy Day / It's For You / Sneakers / The Stellazine Prophecy / Hold Dearly To Me / I Need God / I Want Never Gets / Smile / Go With God But Go / You Leave Me Homeless / Till Jesu Comes / Ache Beautiful

Wow. This was a complete and wonderful surprise. I'd heard snippets of 77s stuff from a couple of compilation discs, and of course Mike's stuff with Lost Dogs. But I'd not had the chance to hear any of his solo stuff. The guy's a musical chameleon. At times he's rock funk, folk, soul, spiritual. He does a passable Van Morrison. Sneakers is the best song Steve Taylor never recorded. He's got a great voice, and is a pretty good working man's guitar player, and he burps too (actually it was an embarrassing burp; I'm sure he could have done better. But a real man isn't afraid to be wimpy).

He's also a wickedly funny man (well I found his humour funny). No wonder his stuff is constantly being edited and censored. He does like to push buttons. I like it, people need to lighten up, and listen to what he's really saying. There are some real gems here. My favourite tunes (today) are Holy Day, It's For You, Sneakers, Hold Dearly To Me, hold on a second … maybe it'd be easier to list the one song I don't like that much, it's a smaller list. The Stellazine Prophecy (even that one has its redeeming qualities). There, that was easier.

What a great album. What a great artist. Looks like I reviewed this on a good day. Normally I'm not so gushy.

Reviewed November 5, 2002

The Boat Ashore (©1996 Innocent)

Tracks: The Boat Ashore / Honey Run / Love Like Gold / Blue All Over / Some Kind Of Dream / Billy Paul Said / Tum Tum Tum / I Buried My Heart At Bended Knee / Thanks A Million / Instrumental / Tall Trees

This is an interesting "solo" effort from Mike Roe, considering his band mates Mark Harmon and Bruce Spencer from the 77s are backing him. Whatever, if it's a Mike Roe album, it's a Roe album. I picked up this one, and Safe as Milk at the same time, and although this is a really good album, I like Safe as Milk more. But then again, it's really an apples and banana's comparison.

Musically this is a very solid pop / rock effort with Mike blending bits of R.E.M. and the Stones, along with his occasional nods to Mister Garcia. Mike has a very emotional voice, and to simply blow him off as a Stipe wannabe is grossly unfair. The "77 songs" joke is thin with tracks 12 - 76 featuring 5 seconds of silence before the final song. Hard to pick a favourite moment, they're all good.

Heck, the play on words in the title is worth the price of the disc.

Reviewed October 25, 2002

Safe As Milk - LIVE Cornerstone '97 (©1997 Millenium 8)

1: The Boat Ashore 2: Billy Paul Said 3: Blue All Over 4: I Buried My Heart At Bended Knee 5: Love Like Gold 6: Honey Run 7: Some Kind Of Dream 8: The Stellazine Prophecy 9: Tum Tum Tum 10: I Want Never Gets 11: Flowers In The Sand

Mike Roe opens the concert by saying, "This is not the 77s." To which the audience gasps, and there's even a faint voice crying out "What?"

True enough this is not the 77s, but they were all there: Bruce Spencer, Mark Harmon, and Scott Reams. Along with Michael Gregory on guitar and Carey Avery on percussion.

This is one hell of a concert recorded at the near legendary Cornerstone festival, and it makes me wish I'd have been there. Mike Roe and the band, who rumour has it had little time to rehearse, pulled out all the stops and clicked along like a well oiled machine. Loaded with songs from Mike's two solo efforts this really is an amazing album. I hate it when I start to gush, but this guy is a freakin' talent.

Thankfully the sound isn't perfect otherwise I'd be gushing over that too. It's a live from the board recording, and is a little muddy at times, and bottom heavy, but it sounds great none the less (only a minor gush).

The biggest surprise for me was the live punch The Stellazine Prophecy packed. Man it knocked me on my ass (bottom, it knocked me on my bottom. I've really got to watch my language, I'm getting very sloppy lately). This song cooks, and I'm even looking on the studio version with fresh ears.

There were only 2000 of there babies made, and it's a sad commentary on a great artist when I'm able to buy this new five years later. Come on people, what's the matter? Go to his site right now and lay down some cash and buy up the remaining copies.

Reviewed August 23, 2003

It’s For You (©2000 Fools of the World)

(Disc 1) 1: Mike's Ad For Himself 2: Smokescreen 3: MT 4: It's For You 5: Nobody's Fault But Mine 6: Cold Cold Night 7: King Of The Road 8: Men Are So Busy 9: Beyond The Sunset 10: Limelight 11: Mezzo 12: The Jig Is Up 13: For Crying Out Loud 14: Uuuu 15: Snake 16: I Walk The Line

(Disc 2) 1: This Is The Way Love Is 2: Perfect Blues 3: Nuts For You 4: John Lee's Blues 5: Self Made Trap 6: Sneakers 7: Go With God But Go 8: Love Like Gold 9: I Need God 10: Eve Of Destruction/The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes & The Pride Of Life 11: Do It For Love 12: Ache Beautiful 13: Smokescreen (Slight Return) 14: Goodnite Irene 15: [Answering Machine Message For Aaron Smith]

Mike Roe is something of an enigma. He the brooding young man, in a middle aged body. He’s sarcastic, funny, and appears to wear his heart on either his sleeve, or the soles of his shoes. He’s seen the brass ring up close, and has lived to tell the tale.

Over the last year and a bit he’s become one of my favourite artists. I’ve met him, and was tongue tied to the point where I felt like an idiot. That’s the problem with meeting musical heroes, other than the music what would we have in common? Probably lots, but then the mystique and veneer would be gone leaving only a man who struggles to pay the rent, and has feet of clay like the rest of us.

Which brings to mind this album. It’s For You, takes the intimate and interactive approach of the small venue live performances to a dizzying height. This two disc set is chock a block full of songs from 77s, Lost Dogs and Mike's solo stuff. All treated with respect and a dose of self effacing fun. 77s alumni Dave Leonhardt, Mark Harmon and percussionist Brian Meyers round out the live band, and they're obviously having a blast with the music.

Many of Mikes songs have a spark and life not evident on the studio recordings. Which isn't to say that the originals sucked. There's something about the intimacy of Mike's voice that lends itself to live performance. He plays without a net, and when it works it's magic. When it doesn't, it's like a musical Pollock - which is still art, if hard to listen to (dear reader, no obvious examples spring to mind, I just really want to throw in the Pollock bit).

Mike's plugged in bits are full of energy and the blues tinged songs are among the highlights of the two discs. Nobody's Fault But Mine kicks ass here and totally wipes from memory the Led Zeppelin echo.

Mike has settled nicely into the role of singing minstrel. Here's to feet of clay and hearts of gold.

Reviewed July 24, 2003

Say Your Prayers (©2002 Fools of the World)

Tracks: The Itch Is Back / What Holds On / Sunshine Down / Sit In The Silence / 20 Years Gone / Lutheran Hymn / Say Your Prayers / Hobo Messiah

Say Your Prayers is a very quiet and introspective work from Mr. Roe. Over the last little while I've been listening a lot to this guy's work. I rarely play the fan and more seldom play autograph seeker. But I managed to see Mike play live with the Lost Dogs, and sheepishly asked him to sign my CD. He asked for my name, and I muttered Mmmujevon. To which he cocked his sideways and waited for me to repeat my name. So I did. "I've got a daughter named Devon." He says. To which I replied with great aplomb: Uh. I was struck dumb. What I really wanted to say was let's grab a coffee, talk about your detuning, your musical journey, your nods to The Grateful Dead, and how the heck do you manage to sound like Art Garfunkle without sounding sucky? Which just goes to show that I can be a stupid as the next guy - stupider even.

Back to Say Your Prayers. This is predominantly just Mike and a guitar. His voice and playing are top shelf. He is as always the musical chameleon. He takes and borrows from all over the map - the result is a unique blend of humble and vulnerable songs. If there's a criticism it's that much of the album is in the same key and tempo, which doesn't showcase Mike's range, but blends together into a prolonged experience.

Say Your Prayers is an excellent album. Hopefully it doesn't take five years for the next one.

PS Mike, if on the off chance I get to meet you again I'll try not to look like a deer caught in the lights of an oncoming car. Maybe I'll offer you a beer. Hmmm beer.

Reviewed November 21, 2002

We All Gonns Face the Rising Sun(©2009)

1: Jonah In The Wilderness 2: Dry Bones 3: Woke Up This Morning With My Mind 4: Come To The Saviour 5: You Can't Go Halfway 6: We All Gonna Face The Rising Sun 7: Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down 8: Paul and Silas In Jail 9: I Know My Time Ain't Long 10: I'm Goin' Home 11: We Need More Rattlesnakes

I knew before the first spin that this wasn't going to be a typical Mike Roe release. It was a deep delve into the lost and forgotten world of old spirituals - a few of the cuts are familiar, and some are loving reproductions - down to vinyl hiss, creaks, pops and vocal inflections. The result over the course of a 35 minute journey are at times wondrous, bewildering and touching.

While I tip my hat to Mike for daring to go further up and further in on these old gems, I'm left scratching my head a little wondering who this was aimed at - I know artists create for themselves first and their audience second - but with such a small base to try and recoup your costs from there must have been a pretty strong desire to get these songs down.

Now I will admit that I really enjoy this album, but this isn't something I'll play very often. It is a great bit of musical mimicry and I'm sure Mike was pretty nervous especially when cutting tracks like "We All Gonna Face the Rising Sun" and he does a wicked job - it's just that aside from the clever impression was it necessary? To be honest I listen to Mike Roe to hear Mike Roe be Mike Roe, and his voice is as powerful and emotional as anything he was trying to pay homage to. I'd have loved to hear these songs filtered through Mike's voice and playing - the closest to that is "Dry Bones" one of the few times where you hear Mike being Mike.

I don't often borrow from other writers but I will snag a little from Andre Salles' review regarding the album's closing track. For me it applies to the entire album. "This song made me wish, just for a minute, that Roe had not decided to be so faithful with his renditions – a Mike Roe song would have ended with the narrator asking for one more snake for himself."

In the end this is a beautiful recording and even though it's not something I'll listen to as often as his other offerings I have the feeling it will no doubt emerge as one of Mike's finest moments.

Reviewed October 6, 2009