Up to Here

Template:Short description Template:See Wiktionary {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other Template:Category handler Template:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=The Tragically Hip1987Road Apples1991studioUp to Herehip up to here.jpgThe Tragically HipSeptember 5, 1989Ardent Studios, Memphis, Tennessee Template:Hlist43:29MCADon Smithx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}} Up to Here is the debut studio album by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, released in September 1989. It is one of the band's most successful albums, achieving diamond status in Canada<ref name="Music Canada">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> for sales of over a million copies, earning the band a Juno Award for Most Promising Artist, and also introduced fan-favourite songs such as "Blow at High Dough", "New Orleans Is Sinking", and "Boots or Hearts". The album reached Template:Numero on RPMTemplate:`s Canadian Albums Chart, and both "Blow at High Dough" and "New Orleans is Sinking" reached Template:Numero on the RPM Canadian Content singles charts.

An expanded anniversary reissue of the album was released in November 2024,<ref>Nick Krewen, "‘Our biggest accomplishment is that we’re good friends’: Looking back to look forward with the Tragically Hip". Toronto Star, November 14, 2023.</ref> including a remastered version of the band's 1990 MuchMusic concert special Live at the Misty Moon and previously unreleased tracks from the era.<ref>Alex Hudson, "The Tragically Hip Detail 'Up to Here' Box Set". Exclaim!, June 20, 2024.</ref> The reissue was preceded by lead single "Get Back Again", one of the most famous rarities in the band's entire discography as they had occasionally performed it live but had never previously released a studio recording.<ref>Alan Cross, "There’s new music from The Tragically Hip today–and it’s a long-lost track fans have been hoping for.". A Journal of Musical Things, June 20, 2024.</ref>

BackgroundEdit

The Tragically Hip toured extensively following their first release, The Tragically Hip, which had earned considerable airplay on Canadian FM radio and the MuchMusic video station. The band found an audience on US college radio as well and drew the attention of MCA representative Bruce Dickinson while performing at the CMJ New Music Festival in New York City in late 1988. That December Dickinson travelled to Toronto to see the band perform at the Toronto Music Awards, and MCA signed the band later that month.Template:Sfn

Dickinson recommended the band record in Memphis, Tennessee, with producer Don Smith.Template:Sfn The band entered Ardent Studios Template:Sfn with a set of songs they had extensive experience playing live.Template:Sfn Smith and the band further developed the arrangements in the studio before recording.Template:Sfn

Release and receptionEdit

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Up to Here was released on 5 September 1989.Template:Sfn It sold Template:Val copies within its first year in CanadaTemplate:Sfn and ranked 14th Canadian Content album for 1989,Template:Sfn fifth for 1990,Template:Sfn and first for 1991.Template:Sfn The album peaked at Template:Numero in February 1990 on RPMTemplate:`s Canadian Albums Chart.Template:Sfn The album went gold in Canada in January 1990 and platinum that March<ref name="Music Canada"/> and later that year earned the band a Juno Award for Most Promising Artist.Template:Sfn In 1999 Up to Here was awarded diamond status.<ref name="Music Canada"/>

Up to Here was the band's first release in the US.Template:Sfn In 1990, the album peaked on the Billboard 200 album chart at Template:Numero and "New Orleans Is Sinking" reached Template:Numero on BillboardTemplate:`s Mainstream Rock singles chart.<ref name="AllMusicAwards">{{#ifeq: | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/album/up-to-here-mw0000654156{{

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}}</ref> Despite strong sales and sustained popularity in Canada, the band and album failed to find a significant international audience;Template:Sfn American sales of the album were Template:Val in its first yearTemplate:Sfn and from 1991 to 1997 amounted to Template:Val copies.Template:Sfn The Tragically Hip's relative lack of success in the US has been a frequent topic by commenters and interviewers, to the irritation of members of the band.Template:Sfn

The songs are credited to the whole band. The band's instrumentalists typically had the most influence on the music composition of the album while lead singer Gord Downie came up with his poetic lyrics separately, writing them in a notebook and incorporating them when the band was ready.Template:Sfn

SinglesEdit

The hard-rocking lead single "Blow at High Dough"Template:Sfn was released in April 1989, before the album's release.Template:Sfn It had a strong presence on Canadian radioTemplate:Sfn and was the band's first charting single, reaching Template:Numero on the RPM singles chart and Template:Numero on the RPM Canadian Content singles charts.Template:Sfn "Blow at High Dough" was the theme song to the CBC comedy drama Made in Canada (1998—2003).Template:Sfn

In November 1989, the second single was released, "New Orleans Is Sinking", a loose jam piece which had been a key part the band's live shows. In the midst of "New Orleans" the band often débuted new songs or gave Downie the spotlight to improvise.Template:Sfn Like "Blow at High Dough", it reached Template:Numero on the RPM Canadian Content singles charts,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn and Template:Numero on the RPM singles charts.Template:Sfn Music videos were released for both "Blow at High Dough" and "New Orleans is Sinking".Template:Sfn

"Boots or Hearts" came out as the third single in February 1990, and "38 Years Old" followed in April 1990 as the fourth, peaking at Template:Numero on the RPM singles charts.Template:Sfn Downie's memories of a jailbreak in Template:Not a typo at the maximum-security Millhaven Institution inspired the lyrics to "38 Years Old",Template:Sfn whose ringing acoustic guitar backing is overlaid with distorted electric guitar leads.Template:Sfn

"Get Back Again", which was the lead single for the 2024 reissue, was left off the original album after having been plagued with problems during the recording process.<ref>Michael Barclay, The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip. ECW Press, 2018. Template:ISBN.</ref>

TouringEdit

The Tragically Hip went on tour from June 1989 prior to the album's release.Template:Efn The band continued to tour Canada and the US through 1990, and made its first European appearance at a sold-out headlining show in Rotterdam. The band gained a reputation for its energetic live shows and the enthusiasm of its fans.Template:Sfn

The band introduced new material while touring which appeared on their next album Road Apples in 1991,Template:Sfn along with numerous songs that, at the time, had never been officially released.Template:Sfn