I was working my summer job. At lunch time I hopped in my car and drove to the local mall which had a music store (the now defunct Music World). I bought the album on cassette and CD (I had to special order the vinyl). I immediately put the cassette in my car player and spent the rest of my lunch in my car listening to the entire album. Yes, I was late getting back to work.

From that first listen I was hooked, completely blown away. As expected, the quality of the songwriting was so far above anyone else at the time, and the beauty of the songs immediately made it my favourite TSP album, and to this day, probably the album I still listen to the most.

I saw the tour at Massey Hall, sitting in the front row right in front of D’Arcy. I first saw TSP live in 1991 and I have seen at least one show on every tour but sitting there in 1998 I was mesmerized by how good the band sounded, probably the tightest they had ever been (to my ears). Yes, Jimmy was missed, but Kenny did a fantastic job and having Garson on keys just added an amazing layer to the songs (as a lifelong Bowie fan, his inclusion meant a lot to me). The fullness of the sound and the high-quality of the playing made this show the best they had ever sounded and the friend that I took, who was not a diehard like me, still tells me it was one of the best shows he has ever seen.

I was so disappointed to hear people speak poorly of Adore at the time so I am really glad that it has stood the test of time and is now appreciated. Such a beautiful album. The recent Archive Series release of WPC playing these songs acoustically is a further testament to the quality of the songs on the album.

One additional note: my Mother also loved this album, so much so I had to buy her a copy. Her favourite song was “For Martha” and she would play it regularly. When she passed, that was the song I decided to play at the beginning of her funeral. So, the Adore album is a close association in my life to the death of my Mother which I think is very fitting.