Faithlift by Spirit of the West

Faithlift, Spirit of the West's 1993 album on Warner Music Canada, outsold everything else the North Vancouver band ever made, and it's easy to hear why. Produced by Michael Phillip Wojewoda, it catches the old folkies deep into their loud phase, all rock guitars and Britpop swagger, though "Sadness Grows" and "Death on the Beach" still carry a whiff of the Celtic folk they came up on. "And If Venice Is Sinking" gave them their biggest Canadian Top 40 hit.

The real kick is how much of it was torn from the headlines. "Bone of Contention" skewers the hypocrisy around the Pee-Wee Herman controversy, "Mum's the Word" takes on the 1992 Giant Mine explosion, "God's Apprentice" confronts abuse in the Catholic Church, and "Guildhall Witness" comes out of a race riot the band ran into while touring England with The Wonder Stuff. "6th Floor" finds them in Dallas, unable to stay away from Dealey Plaza, where John F. Kennedy was shot. Rhino reissued it in 2008.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.