This was a CD I bought for my dad for Christmas one year, but I ended up borrowing it frequently enough that it spent more time in my room than anywhere else. It is one of the few CDs I still own. Oscar could play lightning fast, and there are a few flashes on this record, like the stellar On The Trail, but what really holds it together is a lot of great melodies and a solid rhythm section. Louis Hayes drums swing all the way through and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen bass can rip through a bass line like he was trying out to replace Steve Harris in Iron Maiden.
This album also made a great impression on my friends. One summer I took it along to the cottage at Minaki, ON where we were privileged to get a week’s vacation. Along with the standard fare of Classic Rock, and then contemporary albums like The Black Crowes’ Shake Your Money Maker, Jane’s Addiction’s Ritual de lo habitual and U2’s Achtung Baby, Great Connection was a staple of that week–especially in the morning, after having hit the Labatt 50 and Canadian Club hard the night before.