For Blue Rodeo, No. 13 has proven to be lucky. The Toronto band recently released Small Miracles, their 13th full-length album. And Blue Rodeo has only gotten wiser with age.

The album is the unique blend of folk, country and rock that first brought Blue Rodeo to fame. And on Small Miracles, the sound is as good as ever. The songs are well crafted and accessible. This is a country album, but the appeal is much more broad.

Small Miracles pays tribute to the traditions of country, folk and rock but remains contemporary and relevant. It’s soft and relaxing, but saves space for guitar solos and upbeat rock tracks. It’s the kind of album one imagines their parents listening to, but secretly loves.

Tracks like the opener So Far Away stray away from CMT style top 40 country. Instead they fuse stylish piano with dynamic rock riffs to create a sound of their own.

The lyrics are quaint and simple, cashing in on classic themes and metaphors and still avoiding sounding cliché. Blue Rodeo showcases their storytelling techniques with stand out tracks like Summer Girls, a song about waiting to see if a summer fling will turn into something more.

On tracks like Together, the lyrics and slow tempo border on cheesy, but through most of the album Blue Rodeo keeps it together. The middle of the CD starts to wander and bore until C’mon, the first single. C’mon is a fast paced track reminiscing their climb to fame, and is another stand out song.

The album closes strongly with Where I Was Before, an emotional piano led ballad that is a stripped down version of 3 Hour Away, another track on the album. The two approaches to the song prove Blue Rodeo’s capacity for diverse sounds.

Small Miracles transcends traditional genres, and produces a soothing folk sound with upbeat rock instrumentals. It’s a country album for any listener.






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