The Tragically Hip Reflect on “Fully Completely”
Earlier this week, The Tragically Hip reissued their greatest artistic achievement to date, 1992’s Fully Completely. 
Comprised of a wave of now long-time rock radio staples like “Courage (for Hugh MacLennan),” “Looking for a Place to Happen,” “At the Hundredth Meridian,” “Locked in the Trunk of a Car,” “Fully Completely,” “Fifty Mission Cap,” and “Wheat Kings,” this is a Canadian music classic.
In a recent Universal Music Canada Q&A session held with band guitarist Rob Baker, he was asked “Did you have a sense this record would be special?”
With a very modest, yet reflective tone, here is how Baker responded:
“I guess when you go into the studio together, you have to be focused on what you’re doing and you have to believe in it to pull it off. In some ways, I think [all albums] are special. It’s only time that tells you which ones were and which ones weren’t,” he says with a mild laugh.
“I think we felt like we had a really good collection of songs, and the process – because it was very different for us – was a little strange and we didn’t spend a lot of time sitting and listening to the versions we recorded…which was something we would’ve [done previously],” he continued. “You’d have multiple versions of the song and you’d pick the one that really kicked.
“In this case, there was only one version of each song and as you’re hearing them, they weren’t finished…they weren’t finished until everything was done, so [we] didn’t have time to sit around and listen. But, I really felt it was a good batch of songs and when we were making the record cover on a Saturday and Sunday in the studio,” he concluded, “I thought that was a very special moment. It seemed to gel something for us.”
Now, fans are able to grab a re-mastered version of the album on 180-gram vinyl, or as a double-CD package that includes a re-mastered edition of the album, two bonus tracks, as well as a never-before-heard 1992 live show from The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.
Hardcore fans can opt for a super deluxe package, which comes with the audio you’d get from the double-CD package, plus five lithographs, a 1993 tour documentary on DVD, as well as a hard bound collector`s book with rare photos, expanded artwork, Hip memorabilia, and band reminisces.
-Photo courtesy of TheHip.com
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