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It was about a year ago that a good friend of CCR's was taking this same journey through the world of major record labels, national exposure, and big expectations. Pat Green's foray into the national arena is still being graded, but it certainly seems to have made inroads into bringing awareness of the Texas/Red Dirt Music scene to the masses. Cross Canadian Ragweed appears sure to expand on that success with this album. Purple starts with a rollicking, heart racing, guitar driven, bass thumping, drum-banging sound that has become synonymous with CCR's music. "Anywhere But Here" is about getting away. Getting away from a girl, from a bad scene, from basically whatever might be holding you back in your life. Toss in a not so veiled dig at the current Nashville music scene and you got yourself a hit. I spent a little time in Nashville I've got a book of matches My favorite song on this album is "17", probably because I can relate to this song on a very personal level. "You're always seventeen in your hometown" says it all. The expectations that are placed on us when we are in high school by friends, family, neighbors, and homefolk are the measuring sticks we live up to the rest of our lives. If we fail in our life endeavors or stray from the path that was set for us, we each carry a degree of regret and guilt at letting those people down. In this song, I hear the longing that the narrator has for fulfilling those dreams, the bitterness he feels inside that he didn't, and the desire to prove them wrong about the choices he has made. Nobody's gonna miss me My boots are broken, my brain is sore Gonna leave 'em all just like before Though not normally listed as one of CCR's musical influences, heavy metal band Guns-N-Roses must have spent some time in a tape player years ago because "Don't Need You" would fit perfectly into a GNR set. This song rocks, there's just no other way to put it. Probably one of the harshest sounding songs on any CCR album, this song fits beautifully into the mixture of Purple. Lyrically it matches the feeling of this album, while at the same time separating itself from the eleven other songs on the CD by its uniqueness. No other song on the CD comes close to the edginess, angst, and growling delivery that Canada gives here. The most radio friendly song on this CD is "Constantly". It's your basic love song, with no real twists or surprises. If this album were a Baskin Robbins stor,e "Constantly" would be your vanilla. Not a bad way to go, something you have to have to be complete, but not the best of the bunch. She's got that certain thing about her The CD ends with "Freedom", a song started by Cody Canada before 9/11 and finished afterwards with help from co-producer (and front man for The Great Divide) Mike McClure. The song starts with a Hendrix-like guitar salvo that leads into what appears to be a love song. But after 9/11, the original lyrics took on a different meaning, so Canada and McClure made sure to let you know exactly how they feel with the rest of the song. I unsheathe my sword in Freedom I think this is the best Cross Canadian Ragweed album to date. Make no mistake, the CD is well produced, the songs are straightforward and catchy, and, as I mentioned before, if you like CCR you will love this album. Will Purple make Ragweed a household name in country music? I don't know. However, no matter what happens in the future, the band has made a CD to be proud of. Find out the special meaning behind the color purple, check
out some homemade videos, and buy some stuff at www.crosscanadianragweed.com |
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