''These Days'' is an album by Canadian rock band

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...

, released in 1991. Produced by

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978); XTC's '' White Music'' (1978); Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' and the F ...

and mixed by Gareth Cousins, the album found the band attempting to expand their traditional

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

sound in a more

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

-heavy

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

direction. Although the album sold well, and spawned the hit singles "You May Be Right" and "I Am Here", it was not as popular with audiences or critics as its predecessor, 1989's ''

Now and Again ''Now and Again'' is an American science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Glenn Gordon Caron that aired on CBS from September 24, 1999, until May 5, 2000. The story revolves around the United States government engineering th ...

''. Guest musicians on the album included Phil Comparelli and members of

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (vocals, guitars) and Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing ...

(credited as the ''Dukes of Stratosphear''). To promote the third single "A Fishing Tale", the band held a contest on Canadian music video channel MuchMusic entitled "Fishing with the Grapes of Wrath". To be eligible to win, viewers had to submit the name of the magazine that Tom Hooper picks up in the video to win a fishing trip with Tom Hooper, Vincent Jones and MuchMusic VJ Terry David Mulligan. The single "I Am Here" appeared on the RPM Top Singles chart in September 1991."Top Singles"
. ''RPM'', Volume 54, No. 16 Sep 21, 1991 ''These Days'' was the band's final album of new material for almost a decade. Following the album, Kevin Kane left the band, citing creative differences. The remaining members carried on under the new name

Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

. Kane and Tom Hooper reunited in 2000 to record ''

Field Trip A field trip or excursion is a journey by a group of associated peers, such as coworkers or school students, to a place away from their normal environment for the purpose of education or leisure, either within their country or abroad. When ar ...

'' under the Grapes of Wrath name, although the other band members did not participate in that project.

Video collections

In 1992, the band released a VHS video collection entitled ''Those Days''. The collection comprises all of their promotional videos, with the exception of "A Fishing Tale", since that video was released just after the release of this collection. It begins with the audience from a concert at

Massey Hall Massey Hall is a performing arts auditorium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1894, it is known for its outstanding acoustics and was the long-time hall of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Although original ...

in Toronto screaming in unison, "The Grapes of Wrath present ''Those Days''". Between each video, there is rare footage of the band, some when they are children. The collection was re-released on DVD in 2001 under the name ''Seems Like Fate - The Videos'', along with "A Fishing Tale", all of the

videos and Kevin Kane's solo video for "The Sinking Song". The DVD does not include any material from the 2000 reunion record ''

''.

Track listing

All music written and composed by Chris Hooper, Kevin Kane, Tom Hooper, and Vincent Jones. # "Away" – 4:08 # "You May Be Right" – 5:10 # "Consequences" – 4:17 # "I Can't Find My Home" – 3:58 # "Days" – 4:54 # "I Am Here" – 4:25 # "No Reason" – 2:22 # "Travelin'" – 5:19 # "A Fishing Tale" – 4:48 # "Thru to You" – 4:15 # "Now" – 3:46 # "Miracle" – 6:23

Singles

# "I Am Here" (with B-Sides: All The Time & See Emily Play) # "You May Be Right" (with B-Side: Down So Close) # "A Fishing Tale (Single Edit)" (with B-Side: Piece Of Mind (Live)) All songs mixed by Gareth Cousins.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:These Days (Grapes Of Wrath Album) 1991 albums The Grapes of Wrath (band) albums Albums produced by John Leckie Nettwerk Records albums