★★★★★
Although the title of their first album was perhaps just a bit too clever, Greatest Hits nonetheless contains at least one song bound to be near the top of any Rheos fan's list. While most of the rest of the songs were jangly pop that showed a band with decent lyrics and a lot of unrealized musical potential, "The Ballad of Wendel Clark" was a bullseye...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
As a pop album, The Blue Hysteria seems a bit like a letdown after the from-all-directions assault of Introducing Happiness. It seems like some of the edges have been sanded off along the way, but in reality it's a more focused and mature affair. There's a bunch of biting lyrics, a lot of great playing, and the usual measure of whimsy (especially "Four Little Songs")...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
So, let's just say you're a Canadian band with a fair amount of longevity, and a series of albums that have won great critical acclaim but have largely failed to break through commercially; what would your next move be? If you're the Rheostatics you release a children's album...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
The Whale Music album was conceived as a companion piece to Paul Quarrington's novel about an eccentric rock recluse who spends all his time in his studio composing music for whales. Just as the novel uses Brian Wilson as a reference point, so do the Rheostatics: songs become mini-symphonies, with multi-layered instrumentation and pop-perfect harmonies. The album also shows the band stretching out into other styles, with nods to country punk...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
In 1995, the Rheostatics were commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada to write and perform a piece for the Group of Seven's 75th anniversary. Another slight diversion from the band's history of bent but listenable pop music, the Group of Seven release is more instrumental soundscape, incorporating the voices of Queen Elizabeth, MacKenzie King, the Dief, and more...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Recorded prior to Introducing Happiness, the Whale Music soundtrack contains some of the same material, but in a rawer instrumental form, for the most part. The movie is about an eccentric musical genius (think Brian Wilson) who holes up in his oceanfront mansion to create a symphonic pop masterpiece to play for the whales that occasionally swim by the shore...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Shortly after the release of Whale Music, the novel that it was based on was made into a movie. Author Paul Quarrington, pleased that the Rheostatics had chosen his novel as source material for their album, returned the favor by hiring the band to compose and perform the legitimate soundtrack for the movie. Although a soundtrack album was to follow, many of the rough sketches from the soundtrack made their way to Introducing Happiness in more completed form...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
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