Navy Blues (1998)
Recorded at Chemical Sound, Navy Blues was the band’s fourth album and their first to be recorded in Toronto. Beginning in 1993, the band slowly began relocating to the Big Smoke over the course of five years, starting with drummer Andrew Scott. While Scott was able to demo extensively ahead of Twice Removed (1994), his role was further reduced on One Chord to Another (1996), to flying back to Halifax just to record his parts over a single afternoon. By 1997-1998, the rest of the band had followed suit, just in time to record Navy Blues.
The relocation offered an opportunity for Scott’s impressive musical skills to shine. The album is resplendent with Scott showing off with not just the drums but the organ, slide guitar, piano (which was heavily featured on this album in particular) and guitar.
Amidst some hard-hitting rock, there are a few tracks borrowing a more Beatles-esque vibe—no surprise, considering it follows on the tails of One Chord to Another. This album is perhaps most remembered for “Money City Maniacs,” a single that was voted Chart magazine’s 12th greatest Canadian Song of All Time, was featured on MuchMusic’s Big Shiny Tunes 3 and has seen regular radio play for over 20 years.
The album has gone on to be cherished alongside its iconic predecessors, the Holy Quaternity of the Sloan catalogue.
In the process of releasing Navy Blues, the band also endured a dispute with EMI Publishing that became the catalyst for the band to own all of their own music moving forward. EMI declined to front any additional money for a second album but, when pressed, they instead offered the band the opportunity to buy back the rights to One Chord to Another. With divine timing, the band was offered $75,000 from Molson to use their song “Money City Maniacs” in a beer commercial. The windfall influx of Molson money, along with some loans taken out by the band, made the buyback possible. For this reason, the album turned out to be a crucial shift for the band and they’ve never looked back.
For Navy Blues, the band once again received a Juno nomination for Best Rock Album.
Recommended: “Suppose They Close The Door” (Murphy/Scott), “Stand by Me, Yeah” (Pentland), “C’mon C’mon” (Ferguson), “Sinking Ships” (Scott)
Smeared (1992)
Having won themselves a place on the Here and Now compilation, a fledgling Sloan was offered an opportunity to record the music which resulted in their Peppermint EP. That same year, three songs, “Marcus Said”, “Sugartune”, and the popular “Underwhelmed”, would go on to be included on the debut full album, Smeared, with “Underwhelmed” being re-recorded.
The grungiest of all Sloan records, Smeared holds a place of historical importance for the Canadian music scene. You might not expect that much success to come from an album that was made in a living room for around $1,200, but it was instrumental in putting East Coast artists on the map. The album resulted in the band being signed to Geffen in 1992, effectively launching their careers, and effectively adding fuel to the fire as Halifax was dubbed “the next Seattle.”
Of the twelve tracks on Sloan’s debut album, eight were written by Murphy, which might account for the fact this album goes from one high-paced track to another. If anything it shows how the band has since blossomed, with each songwriter coming into their own in the years that followed.
Smeared was listed by Bob Mersereau as 86th on his list of the Best Canadian Albums of All Time, and it reached #18 in Chart magazine.
Recommended: “Underwhelmed” (Murphy), “500 Up” (Scott)
Twice Removed (1994)
Twice Removed came as a bit of a surprise to the fan base they had established with Smeared. Where Smeared had captured the sounds of the time, Twice Removed stepped back into something a little more retro, a little more timeless, and somehow altogether unique to the band. In many ways, this album established the Sloan vibe we are still hearing from them today. It took on those hallmark classic rock sensibilities, putting a little more distance between Sloan and Sonic Youth, and prompting countless comparisons to radio stars of earlier decades.
Twice Removed was also the band’s last album to be released under Geffen Records. While the album was well-received by critics, it didn’t sell as well as the band had hoped. This was largely attributed to Geffen easing off their marketing efforts. Geffen wanted the band to maintain the sound they had when they were signed for Smeared and were disappointed that Twice Removed proved to be a different animal entirely. The band held their ground and the label swept them under the carpet. Rising tensions between the band and Geffen, as well as between band members themselves, very nearly resulted in Sloan’s untimely demise.
The album still went on to be a treasured Canadian classic and has proven a favourite for many fans. CBC listed it as the 7th top Canadian album of all time, Chart magazine ranked it #1 and Bob Mersereau placed it at 14th. It is one of their two albums to have been nominated for a Juno in the Alternative Album of the Year category. In 2015, this album was the inaugural winner of the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize in the ‘90s subcategory. It was also treated to a special box set reissue in 2012.
Recommended: “Penpals” (Murphy), “Before I Do” (Scott), “I Can Feel It” (Pentland), “Snowsuit Sound” (Ferguson)
One Chord to Another (1996)
Made for less than $10,000, One Chord to Another surprisingly yielded what is largely considered to be Sloan’s most successful album to date. It’s also the only one to win the band a Juno for Alternative Album of the Year.
And it almost didn’t happen.
The experience of making Twice Removed and dealing with Geffen had put the band through the wringer and they were on edge with each other. Andrew began playing for The Sadies and Maker’s Mark. The band nearly split, even referring to it as their “brief hiatus” of 1995. They collectively agreed to produce one last album: One Chord To Another.
Luckily, they just kept going.
Somehow, the album was still nearly put out with Geffen, but the proposed contract would have Sloan starting fresh with the label as if it weren’t their third album. It also would have resulted in a lower advance. Instead, the band made the decision to record the album in Halifax (apart from Andrew recording his own songs in Toronto) making it the first album to be produced on their own label, Murderecords, and continues to be their best-selling release.
The band was approached by The Enclave, who wanted to take the album stateside. The relationship was short-lived with The Enclave folding not long after. It did, however, provide one more step toward the band owning their music for the rest of their careers.
They display some of their most powerful Beatles channelling, with some trumpets thrown in for good measure. The members were individually influenced by groups like The Rolling Stones (Pentland), the Kinks (Scott) and the Beach Boys (Ferguson). One Chord to Another doesn’t have the clean-cut, polished sound that the high-budgeted Twice Removed delivered, but that’s really a part of the album’s charm.
One Chord to Another was listed as 44th best Canadian album by CBC, 34th by Bob Mersereau and 6th by Reader’s Digest. Its single, “Everything You’ve Done Wrong,” was featured in the film The Virgin Suicides.
This album is indisputably Canadian alt-rock royalty.
Recommended: “400 Metres” (Scott), “Autobiography” (Murphy), “Junior Panthers” (Ferguson), “Can’t Face Up” (Pentland)
Honourable Mentions: In addition to their debut EP, Peppermint, which includes an earlier version of “Underwhelmed”, their other EP, Hit and Run released in 2009 is sort of a best-kept-secret among Sloan releases. During recording Murphy was nearly killed in a hit and run incident while riding his bike, giving the release its name. Fergusons’s track from the EP, “Midnight Mass”, will leave you breathless and if you are lucky enough to see a rare live performance, it just may move you to tears. The 6 song EP could only be purchased digitally at the time of release, and can’t be found on Spotify, but in 2018 it was made available on vinyl.