Song Excellent/Album not really my thing
Mr. Simon J. Davis | Brighton, UK | 01/09/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"To be honest I bought this for the song Northwest Passage only. I had heard it around 12 years ago played in a bar whilst I was in Canada. Finally managed to find it and bought it from the Amazon US site which turned out to be cheaper than Amazon UK even taking account of postage to UK! Anyway, my family may have connections with John Franklin the explorer who is mentioned in the song hence the reason I bought it.
I like the song Northwest Passage a lot and I'd give it 5 out 5. The other notable song is The Field Behind The Plow but to be honest, the rest of the album is a bit too Country and Western for me."
Stan Rogers Rocks
Joel Helbling | 07/10/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I first heard the song "The Northwest Passage" back in the early nineties on public radio, but I missed out on the artist and album identification. After over a decade of searching, I finally tracked down the source of that song on Amazon. I bought this album for that one song, but was pleasantly surprised to find the other songs on the album were excellent folk songs too. Most heartily recommended for any folk music afficionado."
Proudly and Resolutely Canadian
R. J MOSS | Alice Springs, Australia | 01/28/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First off, Stan Rogers has not been served well by the cover art for his recordings which misleadingly spin your mind into the direction of some 1950s time capsule. To have tradition in mind is not misplaced, and Roger's work certainly observes traditions. But he shouldn't be regarded as something unearthed from an archelogical site. This is definitely my favourite from the Rogers' catalogue, and I remember the pangs of sadness at the news of his early death. 'Northwest Passage' is a perennial winner; that big voice in premium fettle. There's a healthy choice of Roger's writing on show, the ballads, the shanty feel, the domestic observations of,'Lies' a very beautiful and tender thing. It seems the baritone register finds it harder to crack the pop idiom, and I can think of other fine voices(David Wiffen and Joe South spring to mind) that don't get the reach they deserve.'California' is another song I find on my lips when the spirit(Rogers') moves me. All in all, a great disc. If machismo writer of mid-western sagas, Jim Harrison, were singer/songwriter, he'd be of the Stan Rogers cut. Try that for size!"