Good day, eh?  This will be the last post before Christmas!  LeBrain’s Blog will be taking a rare break for Christmas.  We’ll be back soon, so don’t worry eh?

I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and happy holiday whether you celebrate it or not, but most importantly a safe holiday.  Be careful on those roads.

And now for Christmas, I leave you with a very special review. Enjoy!

BOB & DOUG McKENZIE – Great White North (1981)

Cooooo, loo coo coo, coo coo coo coo!

Merry Christmas, eh?  All Canadians (aka, “Hosers” for my international readers) celebrate Christmas every year with the classic tune, “Twelve Days of Christmas” by our national treasures, Bob & Doug McKenzie.  A sample lyric?

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!,
4 pounds of back bacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and a beer, in a tree.

Twisted Sister, eat your hearts out.  This is the best version (ever!) of this Christmas classic.  All Hosers should know the words off by heart, just as well as they know “Oh Canada”.

This Christmas classic can be found on Bob & Doug’s album, Great White North.  A spin-off from their successful SCTV segment, Kanadian Korner, it wasn’t long before somebody at Anthem records thought the boys should make an album, eh?  Basically half an hour of rambling about back bacon, smokes, donuts and beer, it’s not much of an album.  Bummer.  It doesn’t sound like it was scripted.  It’s hard to stay tuned in for the entire length, although it did somehow go to #1 in Canada.  Much of the album is taken up by welcoming to the listener to different segments, and the boys fighting over what in fact they should be talking about.

One of the funnier segments is regarding “Elron McKenzie” and his church.  The sermon that day was about not killing bugs.  The sermon was a big success, even though people had to drive through 8 feet of snow, eh.

Disappointing was “Black Hole” which features a backwards message.  Using the magic of Audacity, I did play the segment backwards.  I was hoping for something a little more mindblowing, like a recipe for the perfect donut or back bacon sandwich, but no such luck.

All of this is offset not only by the Christmas tune, but perhaps one of the greatest songs in Canadian history:  “Take Off”.

“Take Off” features lead vocals by Geddy Lee, of Canada’s Rush.  Geddy did the single for the princely sum of ten bucks.  This song is not only a must for all Hosers, but all Rush fans worldwide.  The incredible lead vocal may blow your speakers.  As Geddy himself says on the track, “I’m a professional, eh?”

5/5 stars for the two singles

but only 2/5 stars for the album