If I had bought the album, Mad Mad World, Tom Cochrane's previous album would have been worn out. His genre is rock, but he often breaks past typical lyrics, and imagery, and supporting his vocals with solid guitar tracks. His most recognizable song (off of Mad Mad World) to date is "Life is a Highway". It rarely left the car after I got a CD changer, and was one of those CD's where you love, or at least like all of the songs.

When I moved from Canada, to the US, I seemd to lose connection to those Canadian artists I kept up on, Tom being one of them. With Mad Mad World still getting much car play after a decade, I realized I should go back and see what Tom has done since. Ragged A$$ (Epinions won't let me say the actual word) Road was the follow up. The title itself seems to contrast "Life Is A Highway". After the first listen, I gravitated immediately to the album.

Ragged A$$ Road is not Mad Mad World, and certainly was not the international hit that its predecessor was. There isn't an obvious run away feel-good hit, like Life is a Highway was. The songs don't seem as polished, studio-wise, or perhaps "commercial sounding", like Sinking Like a Sunset was. This album is very introspective, sentimental, honest, and raw in it's delivery. The album uses more acoustic guitars, Tom's vocal range seems to stretch, and have a greater sense of emotional intensity behind his words. There's a darkness that covers this albums, but also an optimism that just won't get away.

There are number of songs about the breakdown of relationships, such as the opener, I Wish You Well. Perhaps the most anthem-like song on the album, with solidly delivered electric guitars. The lyrics are about a relationship that has ended, and an optimistic wish for the partner, and seeing pain fading over time. The song isn't really about heartbreak; it's about hope, something that is totally unfamiliar in "breakup" songs. His voice wails the lyrics, not sadly, not painfully, perhaps just to get the point across.

Contrasting, "Just Scream" follows the theme set down by I Wish You Well, but the lyrics speak of someone frustrated by a relationship, the tension, the anger of someone left behind. Backed by a driving beat, with snippets of harder rock guitar passages, his voice cries out the lyrics in this song, until he ends in a series of screams that left him drenched in sweat (which he didn't want on the final cut, but his producer insisted on keeping).

"Crawl" is a song about an abused woman, who decides she's not gonna crawl anymore. The lyrics speak of the unsettling nature of picking yourself up after that, but with the overwhelming optimism of the freedom. Alex Lifeson from Rush, lays down the tone of this song, with upbeat, clean sounding guitar work.

Similarly, "Flowers in the Concrete" is a song about a homeless woman, not a subject that usually lends itself to hope. It's about a woman who is escaping danger, living in the streets, you can tell that her driving force is the will to live.

This album also contains some softer, more intimate sounding songs, similar in nature to "All The King's Men" from Mad Mad World. When I heard "Dreamer's Dream", I immediately wanted to learn to play it for my daughter. It's strange, when I read some of Tom Cochrane's Lyrics, they seem simple, sometimes cliche on paper, and yet in song form, I wouldn't have it any other way. This song even admits being cliche, but then you realize that sometimes old cliches speak real sentiments well. A gorgeous, soft and poetically sung song, accompanied by a mix of organs, harmonica, and held together with finger-picked acoustic guitar.

The closing song, "Song Before I Leave" aptly bookends the album. It's a song about someone leaving a relationship, hoping that the time spent within it can be remembered. The imagery delivered in the lyrics, and the timbre of Tom's voice as he delivers them makes it hard to escape the emotions put into this piece. A haunting beat fades in this song, and delicate touches of acoustic guitar make way to introspective sounding electric guitars before they become more plaintive.

I don't mention them all here, but every song on this album is a solid, well executed performance. And each is genuinely honest, and has something to say.

Biographically, I found this album fascinating. With the success and stadium tours that followed Mad Mad World, Tom came home to the breakdown of his marriage. Ragged A$$ Road seems so personal as a result, and you can feel him struggling to figure out how to balance such a life, and what's important to him. And I think it speaks greatly of the man that he was able to find it, and that he and his wife successfully worked through the struggle.


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Reading or Studying