Tragically Hip, The
Road Apples (30th Anniversary Deluxe Vinyl Edition)

Listening notes

Released in 2021 by Universal Music Canada (catalog number 3844802), Road Apples (30th Anniversary Deluxe Vinyl Edition) marks three decades since The Tragically Hip's second studio album. The set is classified under Alternative Rock and Rock.

The package is substantial in scope. Four vinyl records spread across seven labeled sides — A through J, with side I and J comprising a fourth disc — carry a 2021 remaster of the original album, a companion release called Saskadelphia, a live recording from The Roxy in Los Angeles dated May 3, 1991, and a collection of studio material grouped under the title Hoof-Hearted. A fifth component, labeled Live At The Molson Centre: Montreal, December 7, 2000, contributes a single track — "Montreal" — positioned on side C alongside Saskadelphia material. A Blu-ray disc rounds out the box set, offering Dolby Atmos 7.1, 5.1, and binaural mixes of both Road Apples and Saskadelphia.

The original album's twelve tracks — including "Little Bones," "Long Time Running," "Three Pistols," and "Fiddler's Green" — appear on sides A and B of the remastered vinyl. Saskadelphia, on sides C and D, adds six tracks, among them outtakes and a live performance. The Roxy concert, spread across sides E through H, presents eleven performances including songs that appeared on Road Apples alongside earlier material such as "New Orleans Is Sinking" and "Blow At High Dough." The Hoof-Hearted disc on sides I and J collects demos and alternate versions, including a February 1990 demo of "Bring It All Back," an acoustic version of "Little Bones," and a June 1990 demo of an unreleased song titled "If You Lived Here."

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