Cummings, Burton - Plus Signs

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	The Workaday	03:36
	2	Permissible to Cry	03:36
	3	Friend of Inertia	04:14
	4	Take One Away	03:27
	5	Cerebral World	05:42

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	I'd Love to Talk	03:18
	2	The Rock's Steady	04:12
	3	One Day Soon	03:18
	4	Bridge in Time	04:30
	5	Boring Dreams	06:21
	6	Free	05:08

Photos

Videos

No Video

Information/Write-up

Plus Signs was Burton's first album recorded specifically for CD and it shows in the excellent production. The songs are among the most relevant ever recorded by Cummings and the album is a very cohesive effort despite the diversity of the songs and styles. Although not a huge seller, Plus Signs still went gold in Canada and is my personal favourite of all Burton Cummings' solo releases. The subsequent tour was a huge success in Canada and featured Burton backed by a 5 piece band. A two-hour video special with about 90 minutes of music plus interviews and rehearsal footage was broadcast on MuchMusic, Canada's counterpart to MTV.

Not to be missed: There is a line in "The Workaday" which describes to a "T" a boss I used to have: "I was talking to a woman whom I did not understand, she was loud and she was pushy, she was probably a man". Well, she wasn't a man, but the rest is right on the money. He must have known her! "Take One Away", co-written with Bill Ivaniuk, was the lead-off single and marked Burton's first official foray into the music video genre. Inspired by the book Steven Hawking's Universe, Burton put pen to paper and came up with "Cerebral World", a thinking man's song if there ever was one. "The Rock's Steady" proves Burton can still get tough if he wants to. He takes us on a trip through his record collection with "Bridge In Time" and shares some of his feelings of today's music business. If there was ever a song which inspired me to get thinking about where I was in life and where I was going, it's "Boring Dreams". Nobody wants boring dreams! If your dreams are boring, you'd best do something about it while you have the chance. "What could be more pathetic than having boring dreams?" The album closes with "Free" which Burton has said is not about freedom in Romania or in Mississippi, but about freedom in your heart and in your head. The lyrics are words to live by. The CD is no longer in production and although still available, it's getting harder and harder to find. A limited, numbered edition of 5,000 LP's were released.

Comments