BLUE RODEO – “Til I Am Myself Again” (1990 cassette single)

From my years at the record store, I’ve seen scores of copies of this single on CD.  It has four tracks, all album tracks.  The cassette single on the other hand was something special.  It had a unique bonus track called “5 Day Disaster” that (so far as I know) was exclusive to the cassette format.

In 1990, (Casino era) Blue Rodeo had gone down the road of simpler, short pop-country-rock songs, and “5 Day Disaster” is one of these.  It’s a peppy, uptempo Jim Cuddy blaster with an unforgettable chorus.  It has strong upfront keyboards by Bobby Wiseman, including a piano solo.

The A-side was of course one of Blue Rodeo’s biggest early hits.  It too is a short poppy Jim Cuddy song.  Both songs are credited to the duo of Greg Keelor/Jim Cuddy.  It should be assumed that both songs were also produced by Pete Anderson, although the credits on “5 Day Disaster” are not clear, they both sound cut from the same cloth.

Cassette single tracklist:  Side A:  “Til I Am Myself Again” / Side B:  “5 Day Disaster”

CD single (not shown in photos) tracklist:  1. “Til I Am Myself Again”   2. “What Am I Doing Here”  3. “Rebel”  4. “Diamond Mine”

4/5 stars

(NOTE:  A few months after posting this review, Blue Rodeo reissued “5 Day Disaster”, now titled “5 Day Disaster Week”, on their excellent 1987-1993 box set!  Thanks guys!)

Note that I have the US version of Casino below.  Notice the different logo from the cassette?  In the US they were still using the Diamond Mine logo!