Disc #1: 54-40 (Trusted By Millions)

Artist: 54-40
Album: Trusted By Millions
Released by Sony Music Entertainment (Canada) in 1996

We kick off Experiment #1 with a real gem of 1990's vintage Canadian rock. I don't think I've listened to this one in over 10 years. To be honest, I recall trying to sell it to Deja Vu Discs a number of years back, but they didn't want it because they already had too many copies that they couldn't move.
I acquired this CD in a trade with Ben Wideman (see the link at the bottom for his blog). I believe I gave up the Barenaked Ladies' "Maybe You Should Drive" and the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack and also received I Mother Earth's "Dig". Remember, this was a relatively fair trade back in the '90s.
As I recollect, I don't think I've listened to it much at all since that time. I might have listneed to it a number of times upon receiving it, but not much since then. There are some huge hits on the album, such as: "Love You All", "Crossing a Canyon", and especially, "Lies to Me". I think that most Canadians growing up in that time would at least remember the last tune, even if they can't place the band.
You know what, it's not that bad, and it's a little heavier than I remember it being. It almost crosses over to the Alternative/Grunge side of Rock. The singles certainly stand out on the album, but the rest of the tracks accompany them well. Some of the tunes are more challenging to listen to, but I like that in an album.
A particular memory of this album is of myself trying to play "Crossing a Canyon". It is quite a simple song, consisting of only 3 chords, but I was just learning to play guitar at the time. A few of my peers (Steve Burkholder, in particular) could play it without issue, but I could never get it quite right! Maybe that's why the album didn't grow on me.

Since this is the first disc I'm reviewing, I thought it would be a good idea to set up some sort of rating system. Nothing too complicated, just a way to compare the albums. This should do the trick:

THE MIKE JONES SCALE OF DISC AWESOMENESS:

1= HORRIBLY UN-AWESOME
5= NOT HORRIBLE, BUT NOT AWESOME
10= THE MOST AWESOME

This was an enjoyable listen, but not something I would come back to frequently. This is mostly due to the change in my musical palate over the past 15 years.
Therefore, based on the rules and regulations as they are stated in THE MIKE JONES SCALE OF DISC AWESOMENESS, I hereby award this disc a score of:

6

Join me next time as the experiment continues with Disc #2: Zealand.