The Tragically Hip Release 'Up To Here' Digital Boxset

11-10-2024

(Chipster) The Tragically Hip digitally releases the commemorative boxset of their Diamond-certified debut album, Up To Here, the latest installment of special deluxe packages. Up To Here was originally released September 5, 1989, as The Tragically Hip's first full-length studio album, an introduction that brought them breakthrough success, including two Canadian rock radio #1 singles, "Blow at High Dough" and "New Orleans is Sinking." The album also earned the band a JUNO Award for "Most Promising Artist" in 1990.

The expanded reissue of Up To Here is a must-have for collectors, presented as a four-LP set on 180g vinyl, alongside liner notes documenting the history of the debut album era. The reissue includes a 2024 remastering of the original album and five previously unreleased songs that didn't make it on the original Up To Here album - "She's Got What It Takes," "Get Back Again," "Rain, Hearts And Fire," "Hailstone Hands Of God," and "Wait So Long" are also shared as part of this expanded package, remastered and mixed in Atmos. A recording of Live at Misty Moon, the special filmed for MuchMusic in 1990 from the Misty Moon Cabaret in Halifax, is also included, with an accompanying 1-hour concert film on Blu-ray. The package also contains demos from 1988 that were recorded prior to the Up To Here recording session. The four-LP box set, as well as a three-disc CD format, will be released on Friday, November 15.

In June, The Tragically Hip officially dropped the new single "Get Back Again," which fans consider to be the holy grail of previously unreleased tracks from the band. The track was recorded before signing to their first major record deal with MCA (now Universal Music Canada), produced by Chris Wardman in November 1988, before the Up To Here sessions, now remixed and mastered to today's standards. The song recently reached #1 in Canada, marking their first chart-topping hit in 15 years. The band performed "Get Back Again" as part of the Live At Misty Moon set in 1990, which had been the only recorded version of the track from the band until now.

"The Tragically Hip push the sounds of heartland and down-home country-rock on Up to Here. This album also marks the band's first stateside release, and basically, it's a record of burgeoning talent, suggesting what is yet to come from The Tragically Hip. Frontman Gordon Downie is raw and rugged, twisting American trad rock into gritty rock & roll. There's a lot of heartfelt emotion woven into pure musical swagger on songs like "New Orleans Is Sinking" and "When the Weight Comes Down." "Blow at High Dough" follows the lead of its foot-stompin', hand-clappin' rock tracks." - All Music Guide 1989