Search - Greg Keelor :: Aphrodite Rose

Aphrodite Rose's Wild Mountain Times

Peter Walenta | Long Island, New York USA | 06/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By far the best record of Greg Keelor's solo career outside of Blue Rodeo, Aphrodite Rose takes a trip back to the heady days of the mid-1960's when one could hear the jangling guitars and soaring harmonies of The Byrds, the country rock of The Buffalo Springfield, blues, psychedelia and garage rock, sometimes all brewed up into one song on the radio. Departing from the more laid back country rock of Blue Rodeo, Keelor probes the darker recesses of the mind, the oil rich wilderness of Alaska, lost love and free spirited hippie earth ladies in 12 melodic and daring tunes. With both melodic and lyrical echoes of The Byrds' "Wild Mountain Thyme", Keelor sets the stage with the opener, "No Man's Land", initially a dismal observation on the current insane state of the world filtered through television that is tempered by the affirmative resolve to "go together hand in hand...through the no man's land." Along the journey, one witnesses not only political deceit, military madness, and ecological destruction but also scenes of idyllic and pastoral peace and tranquility ("High Meadow") rendered transcendent by Sarah McLachlan's ethereal vocals. Overriding all of the physical and mental wasteland is the need to be set free. Musically, Keelor does cut loose with help from Travis Good and Mike Belitsky of The Sadies, who rev things up with their unique brand of cow-punk and 60's psychedelic, surf and garage rock. The dramatic tempo changes in "Prisoner" are a tad awkward and choppy but the song works on a visceral level showing that Keelor is willing to take musical risks by venturing into edgy hard blues rock. "Glory Oh" comes closest to replicating the classic Blue Rodeo country rock sound, while "Alaska" shows Keelor paying musical homage to Canadian folk legend, Gordon Lightfoot. Several nice instrumental interludes round out the album with piano fills by Blue Rodeo's Bob Packwood. I was lucky enough to have seen Keelor perform many of these songs live at the CD release party last November in Toronto. What makes this album ultimately his best is that Keelor has finally found a way to convey his mystical, romantic and poltical ruminations with a more melodic and harder rocking approach than his previous muted and sparse solo efforts. Aphrodite Rose is a very tuneful record by this gifted Canadian rocker that is well worth checking out."