Blue Rodeo

Small Miracles is the eleventh studio album released by Canadian country rock band Blue Rodeo, released on September 25, 2007. Although Small Miracles did not produce any high charting singles, such as 1990's "Til I Am Myself Again" which reached number 19 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, critical reception was generally positive. Allmusic marveled that the album "sounds this consistently fresh and inspired coming 20 years after Blue Rodeo's debut." The first single, C'mon, peaked at number 68 on the Canadian Hot 100. Although the second single, 3 Hours Away, did not chart, the following single, This Town, did.

Diamond Mine is a considerably more quiet affair. Beginning with the very Dylan-esque "God and Country," a darker, introverted mood is set by their minimalist approach and slow tempos.

Outskirts is a highly likeable debut featuring mid-tempo country rockers fleshed out by tasteful use of organ in the arrangements – a subtle touch that, along with the sheer quality of the material, distinguished Blue Rodeo from the hordes of other Gram Parsons devotees in the mid-'80s.

After having spent the last few years going over old ground on Greatest Hits and the double live Just Like a Vacation, as well as treading water with the less than stellar (but appropriately named) Days in Between, Blue Rodeo found their stride again with Palace of Gold. Having built their own studio, the bandmembers took the time to record in a comfortable, relaxed manner in which they could workshop tunes at their leisure. This newly found freedom allowed them to experiment with the addition of strings and horns on several tracks, a move they had taken tentative stabs at before.

Just four years after releasing the brilliant DVD In Stereovision, Blue Rodeo delve back into the medium for a fascinating look inside the life of Canada's best band. Featuring an acoustic live set (spotlighting the intimate opening half of their Small Miracles tour chronicled at Massey Hall in Toronto February 29, 2008) and a surreal "documentary" that chronicles the band jamming on brand new songs from Greg Keelor's home, the DVD is a tour de force by itself, capturing the most intimate thoughts of the bandmembers and showcasing why they remain one of Canada's most popular bands. But the CD accompaniment is worth the price of admission alone…

On this, their eighth studio album, Blue Rodeo continues, quite frankly, pretty much as they always have. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as they produce fine country-rock music, but some new sounds would not be bad either. Principal writers Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy both released solo efforts since the group's previous studio release (Tremolo, 1997), and while neither solo albums were classics, they did attempt new sounds, especially Keelor. However, they returned to their tried and trusted formula for Days in Between. The playing is tight and professional, and their remarkable harmonies and strong melodies are all present.

The Canadian band's tenth studio album follows 2002's Palace of Gold, which found Blue Rodeo reinvigorated and ready to occasionally break out of the country-pop-rock mold that they are inextricably linked to. The ostentatious horns and strings of the group's previous release are gone (except for the stray solo trumpet on the closing two tracks), replaced with a British Invasion feel for the opening cuts. But after the twangy guitars appear on the third song, Rodeo play to their strengths. That's not a bad thing, though, as both founding guitarist/vocalists Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy have crafted some particularly earnest and soulful country-rock that stands with their best work.

Blue Rodeo's best album – and the first of a trilogy of brilliant records that would feature the band at its most epic, brave, and experimental (also featuring Nowhere to Here and Tremolo) – Five Days in July began with Daniel Lanois' advice to the bandmembers that they not be confined by a recording studio, so they dragged their equipment out to Greg Keelor's farmland home and made what is essentially the ultimate "campfire" album.

The songs on Tremolo were deliberately sprung on Blue Rodeo on the day of recording, in order to ensure spontaneity – they spent a day working on each song, but not becoming overly familiar with any of it, in order to keep a fresh edge to their performances. And for the most part, it worked – the result is a technically polished album that retains a good deal of jam-type spontaneity and can rank up there with the very best work of Poco…