Sure, Canada has produced abominations like Celine Dion, Alanis Morisette, and Shania Twain. But they've also given us Rush and Triumph. And some middle-of-the-road artists like Sebastian Bach*, Bryan Adams, and Barenaked Ladies, who are hard to revile but haven't produced more than a decent song or two. I mean look at Bryan Adams. He had a couple of hits in the eighties with some passable pop songs and then completely shit the bed with everything starting with his contributions to the soundtrack to the Kevin Costner Robin Hood Parody.
Here are some Canucks who flew under the radar.
Killer Dwarfs - We Stand Alone
These guys are goofy, but it works.
Exciter - Violence and Force
Part of the thrash explosion of 1983, but never got any attention. Because they were from the land of the ice and snow. Eh.
Anvil - Metal on Metal
Apparently whoever posted this video couldn't find a clip that was performed in English. Even though the audio is in English, the band is clearly singing in Canadian, and that's why it's not synched up.
Annihilator - Syn. Kill 1
Much like Exciter, these guys had the chops but never got much publicity. Of the four bands this is the only one that's still going (as opposed to reunited). I think Jeff Waters kills and eats his band members after every tour, though.
*UPDATE: Dave rightfully pointed out that Jewel is, in fact, American, and therefore had to be replaced. So I had to find a different not-so-offensive artist from Canada. In reality, I like a lot of what Bach did with Skid Row (their Slave to the Grind album kicked serious ass), but then he did Gilmore Girls, so he gets demoted. That show sucked like Roseanne singing the national anthem sucked.
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6 comments:
Jason
As usual, thanks for trolling the Intarwebs for the unusual or unheard. FWIW, Jewel is not Canadian, though she grew up in Alaska (was born in Utah), so its damned near Canada. I know that you won't lose any sleep over that one (and neither would I, frankly).
Also, if I was going to list Canada's contributions to music, in addition to Rush as a great example, I would arguably add Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Robbie Robertson (The Band) at a minimum (and maybe Gordon Lightfoot and on a good day). Not that mentioning Joni Mitchell in the same breath as Killer Dwarfs really makes much sense, but in the sense of Canadian contributions to music, these are fairly major players (if old).
And then, of course, there is Avril Lavigne.......... and Loverboy ...... and .... ;-)
BTW, I like Barenaked Ladies, but I can see why others wouldn't, they are pretty dorky (if harmless).
Whoops. Jewel seems so Canadian I didn't even question that. And, yeah, I left out a bunch of prominent Canadians. I'd blame the need for brevity in such a list, but those didn't even occur to me. How could I forget Neil Young? I'm not a big fan, but how could I forget him?
I'd like to see Joni Mitchell play a Killer Dwarfs cover. Maybe "Dirty Weapons." That would be funny.
Loverboy. Cheesy, but I like it.
I like the Barenaked Ladies too, but mostly on potential. They have a few songs I really like ("Where We Used to Live" and the way-overplayed "One Week," for instance), but the rest are just lazy light-rock songs.
Michele would obviously want to add Sarah McLachlan and Loreena McKennitt.
But I only get nostalgic about obscure metal bands. Mostly. Next up? All my favorite pagan metal bands from Slavic countries. Heh.
Ah, I can't believe that I forgot Sarah McLachlan. You can hardly mention Barenaked Ladies in the same sentence without her (contemporaries, same label, popular at the same time, the Christmas song that they did together, etc).
FWIW, the BNL song you reference is called "The Old Apartment". And yes, "One Week" was dramatically overplayed at one time, but that is what radio does to our favorite (and most unfavorite) songs. Other BNL songs that weren't off of "Stunt" that actually got some radio play:
Be My Yoko Ono
If I had a $1000000 (still played quite a bit)
Brian Wilson
Alternative Girlfriend
Pinch Me
Shoe Box
Easy
Anyway, I found Annihilator to be the most listenable of the four Canadian Obscure Metal selections, but those Anvil guys had some killer hair. The three of them up on stage at the beginning of that song, throwing their hair around in rhythm, looked like the heavy metal Cousin Itt convention.
I say, bring on the Slavic Pagan Metal
Those Anvil poodle-mullets are pretty amazing. I wish I had that in my history instead of the lame jellyfish-shaped model I sported. (Side note: Jellyfish - another obscure, criminally underrated band).
To be fair to the clips, that Annihilator song is from 1996 and the other three are from the early- to mid-eighties. But I agree--that song is by far the best of the four.
P.S. - You know way too much Sarah McLachlan/BNL crossover trivia. You may be a security risk.
The Loonies are comin'
The Loonies are comin'
I'm a big BNL fan. See 'em in concert twice, & it was a blast each time. They're super fun in concert. The Hubby even had a good time - & he likes Dylan.
You failed to mention one of my favorite BNL songs, however...
"Alcohol"
Whoot!
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