Bob Egan steps out from his Blue Rodeo duties for an ambitious and satisfying disc title The Glorious Decline. The disc was recorded mostly in the studio in Toronto but also as the liner notes state “…in various apartments and basements in Toronto, backstage dressing rooms across Canada, The Cuddy/Polley farm and Room 527 of the Palliser Hotel in Calgary” a similar recording technique used by Jackson Browne on his classic Running On Empty disc. A deep Leonard Cohen styled vocal adds to the desolate sounds of “An Airport Bar On Christmas Day” a track Egan wrote with fellow Blue Rodeo member Bazil Donovan. Egan shows off his elegant slide guitar prowess on “Spaulding’s Lament” while “Learn To Love Again” shows Egan’s jazzier side. “Virginia” scores point for its simplicity and beauty. The Glorious Decline paints a lot broader strokes of the musical palette than Egan is able to show within the confines of Blue Rodeo. For more on Bob Egan go to www.bobegan.com