My #28 All-Time Favorite Album: Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? by Metric

#28: OLD WORLD UNDERGROUND, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?  by Metric

Metric is a longstanding Canadian alternative rock band, in existence since 1998 with several albums out between then and now.  Emily Haines is their lead singer and, with guitarist Jim Shaw, created the band.  Later came bassist Joshua Winstead and drummer Joules Scott-Key to complete the lineup.  All of them take songwriting credits on their tracks, which over the years have come to more heavily rely on the synthesizer and less on the harder guitar riffs epitomizing their earlier works.  Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?  in 2003 was their second recorded album but the first one actually released...it spawned the catchy anti-war single Combat Baby, which I heard played the following year on my local alt-rock station WHHZ on 100.5.  That's all I knew of this band until 2009 when I explored some of their music on YouTube, eventually getting a copy of this album.  If you liked Debbie Harry's new wave Blondie group from decades earlier, then Metric in their early years was a more hard-rock version of them...both Harry and Haines are very good, emotionally expressive singers.  Of Old World Underground's tracks, here is my ranking of my favorites, with a brief comment following each:

1 Calculation (Theme)---A cryptic song with pure synthesizer background, Haines sings from the viewpoint, it appears, of a computer.  The ending is chilling and poignant.

2 Love is a Place---The album's short closing track is a combination of Haines' soothing voice and one of the most wicked guitar accompaniments I've heard in a while.

3 Combat Baby---One of a couple of songs on the album hinting at protest against the Iraq war, its music stands on its own as a melodic, catchy mainstream pop/rock hit...which is probably why they chose it as their first single.

4 The List---An anthemic track that seems a bit autobiographical, I loved the musical flow.  Plus, I'm partial to lists if you've known me for a while...why, look, here's one!

5 Hustle Rose---A sad, beautiful exposé of the lifestyle of someone who derives her livelihood from "hustling".  It's a story in itself as well an extremely danceable song (so are #3 and #4).

6 Succexy---Harshly critical of the military and the pro-war spirit dominant during this era, this is probably the most political of all their music...

7 Wet Blanket---I can't help but think that Metric deliberately set out to pay a musical tribute to The Knack for their monster 1979 hit My Sharona and that unmistakable, singular guitar riff that permeated it, copied here.

Other album tracks were IOU, On a Slow Night, and Dead Disco...I didn't care too much for these, but it's nearly impossible to listen to an album and like every song.  Old World Underground, Where Are You? is primarily a rock album, with some slow ballads and several danceable tracks.  And you can't beat the voice of Emily Haines...