June 3, 2003 - Sam Roberts and We Were Born In A Flame

A week after my last release a new artist joins my library when Sam Roberts released his debut album "We Were Born In A Flame" on June 3, 2003. But who is Sam Roberts? He is a singer/guitarist from Montreal, Quebec and he does all the instruments on this album other than drums, which are by George Donoso. Sam Roberts plays an almost folk-style of rock with lots of acoustic guitars and catchy riffs. Let's see what Sam Roberts is all about!

The album kicks off with "Hard Road" and it's driven by a fairly simple but undeniably smooth and catchy main acoustic guitar riff. The rhythm section nicely falls in behind and Roberts sings a smooth verse to match in his smooth, folk-rock style. He adds another guitar riff to the mix in the chorus to spice things up a little more and everything is really smooth even though it's not really jumping out at you. Roberts plays a solid little guitar solo before the final verse and chorus and this seems like a pretty good intro into what Sam Roberts is all about. Up next is the album's biggest single "Where Have All The Good People Gone?" and this is definitely one of his most popular songs with lots of radio airplay. Sam leads the way with another cool acoustic guitar riff and he jumps right into the first verse which has him holding a couple nice longer notes and sounding pretty smooth once again. It's a really catchy chorus with Roberts singing a few different places, including his native Montreal. Once you know it, it's hard not to sing along to, it's a super catchy and pretty cool chorus. Roberts plays some keyboards to add to a decent rhythm section and once again the main riff carries the whole song, but you don't really care with everything sounding so catchy and smooth. They end the song with a sing-along "oh-oh. Whoah-oh-oh" part that is also pretty damn catchy. I normally don't like parts like this, but this one is pretty smooth and catchy, par for the course for Sam. Track 3 was also a hugely succesful single, the lead one off the album called "Brother Down" and as we're starting to see, the backbone of most of Roberts' songs is a catchy and cool acoustic guitar riff and this song is no different. Donoso eventually comes in with a catchy drum beat to match and Roberts sings a fast and smooth verse overtop that nicely matches the mood. The chorus is super simple, but a quiet instrumental break and Sam singing "I think my life is passing me by" actually makes for a pretty fitting chorus and afterwards Roberts adds a slow electric guitar riff to add another layer to things. This pretty much sums up the whole song, until the end when Roberts spices things up with a cool guitar solo right at the finish. Just another super smooth tune! The next track is "Higher Learning" and it's got an upbeat drum beat and some fast electric guitars leading the way this time in a nice toe-tapping tempo increase. The bass is pretty solid as well and Roberts sings a fast verse to nicely match the mood. The guitar in the chorus is fast and pretty cool and things sound pretty cool! After another speedy round they slow things down just a tad with a cool new riff and then Roberts nicely segues from here back into the main riff with some more cool guitar. My head was banging the whole way through! Track 5 is called "Dead End" and it's got what I call a Rag time, very old time-y, showtune feel to it with an upbeat, two-step main riff that is actually pretty catchy. There's some catchy piano driving things along with the ragtime rhythm section and Roberts sings a pretty solid verse and similar chorus overtop. It's not my usual jam, but it's done really well and when they slow things down after a couple rounds it's got an old time-y blues feel to it that is pretty cool as well and Roberts is giving it all with some solid vocals! Everything is pretty solid so far! Up next is "Taj Mahal" and Roberts drives things with a pretty catchy piano riff this time. The acoustic guitar, bass and drums nicely fall in behind as Roberts sings a fittingly smooth verse overtop. The chorus is slow and pretty simple and not his best, but there is some cool orchestral stuff at the end of the chorus. This song is just a little too repetitive and I think four and a half minutes is too long. Roberts spices up the End with a short guitar solo that is solid, but it's still largely a pretty flat song. Track 7 is "Every Part Of Me" and it's got a catchy, stop-and-start acoustic main riff and Roberts plays some nice upbeat bass as well before coming in with a nice stop-and-start verse that matches the mood very nicely. They happily jam through a couple rounds before some trumpets spice things up a little bit, then they hit reset and do it all again! A little repetitive but this one was much more palatable with it's upbeat rhythm. The next track is "The Canadian Dream" and Sam plays a space-y, echo-y electric guitar riff that is cool and he sings a fast verse overtop that is way faster than the music, but things sounds pretty good somehow. The chorus is a catchy "S-O-CIA-L-I-S-M is the only way" and it's delivered very well and everything sounds super catchy and smooth. They stick to the main drag for this one, which can once again mean things are a bit repetitive by the end, but it's still a solid tune. Track 9 is "Rarefied" and Roberts starts things off with a pretty catchy bass riff, then builds off that with some guitar that plays off of it nicely. Donoso adds the drums and Sam completes things with a solid verse overtop this cool and interesting main riff. Roberts adds another catchy guitar riff to the mix that gives things a bit of a pop-y feel and things sound pretty damn smooth and cool. The chorus has Roberts doing a "bah-bah" thing that words don't do justice to, it's actually really catchy and continues the pop-y and smooth vibes. I'm surprised this one wasn't a single, I think it's super accessible, but also pretty cool as well! Up next is "On The Run" and they jump right into a marching drum beat with some cool, super distorted guitar leading the way and Roberts singing a fast, almost punk-y verse overtop; I dig this style for sure! It's by far the shortest song on the album at just over two minutes and things shift to a loud and catchy chorus with some pretty epic guitar. He sings at one point "I would die for rock 'n' roll" and this might be his most rockin' song, it's pretty good! Track 11 was another big single called "Don't Walk Away Eileen" and it's driven by a pretty catchy guitar riff by Roberts along with a catchy verse to match. The chorus is super pop-y and catchy and it's no surprise at all this song took off, it's upbeat, pop-y, catchy but still solid rock! This pretty much sums up this song, but you don't need anything else when everyone is shouting along already! A well done single for sure! The next track is "No Sleep" and it's carried by a simple but decently catchy keyboard riff. Roberts then comes in with some nice backing bass and acoustic guitar to support and this is a light but well done main riff, complete with some more smooth singing by Sam. The chorus is a little Louder  ut pretty similarly smooth. Roberts plays a short electric guitar solo as well as a short acoustic one to spice things up nicely before the final chorus takes us home. Track 13 is "This Wreck Of A Life" and Roberts plays a light, slow acoustic guitar riff as well as some slow but catchy and solid piano to kesd the way. He sings a slow verse to match the mood and his voice nicely ebbs and flows with the music in both the verse and chorus as he hits some higher and lower notes. They make their way through several slow rounds and by the end of the five minute song you're ready to move on to the next one, which is not a good thing. The last song on the album is "Paranoia" and Roberts leads the way with another slow and pretty catchy acoustic guitar riff. He adds another light guitar riff that  meshes nicely and then sings a pretty smooth and solid verse that matches the swinging mood. This song is nearly six minutes long, and it really doesn't need to be. You do get lost in it a little, but there's not a whole lot going on for most of it, until the final minute that is! They start to ramp things up at the end with a faster pace and some cool faster guitars and at least it's a solid finish to the album.

That is the end of "We Were Born In A Flame" and I thought it was a good, but not great album. Sam Roberts writes plenty of catchy songs and some of them are undeniably pretty cool, but others dragged at times for sure and overall it's just a good album. Good enough for the library though, and we're not done with Sam Roberts yet!