# Man Machine Poem

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Man_Machine_Poem
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Man_Machine_Poem.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Machine_Poem
> Source revision: 1355904581
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Infobox album
| name       = Man Machine Poem
| type       = studio
| artist     = [the Tragically Hip](/source/the_Tragically_Hip)
| cover      = Man_Machine_Poem.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = June 17, 2016
| recorded   =
| studio     = [The Bathouse](/source/Bathouse_Recording_Studio), Bath, [Loyalist, Ontario](/source/Loyalist%2C_Ontario)
| genre      = [Alternative rock](/source/Alternative_rock)
| length     = 41:25
| label      = [Universal](/source/Universal_Music_Canada)
| producer   = 
* [Kevin Drew](/source/Kevin_Drew)
* [Dave Hamelin](/source/Dave_Hamelin)
| prev_title = [Now for Plan A](/source/Now_for_Plan_A)
| prev_year  = 2012
| next_title = [Saskadelphia](/source/Saskadelphia)
| next_year  = 2021
| misc       = {{Singles
 | name        = Man Machine Poem
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = In a World Possessed by the Human Mind
 | single1date = 2016
 | single2     = Tired as Fuck
 | single2date = 2016
 | single3     = What Blue
 | single3date = 2016
}}
}}

'''''Man Machine Poem''''' is the thirteenth and final studio album by Canadian rock band [the Tragically Hip](/source/the_Tragically_Hip), released on June 17, 2016 on [Universal Music Canada](/source/Universal_Music_Canada).<ref name=gusto>[http://buffalo.com/2016/04/09/news/music/tragically-hip-drop-first-tune-man-machine-poem/ "The Tragically Hip drop first tune from 'Man Machine Poem'"]. ''[The Buffalo News](/source/The_Buffalo_News)'', April 9, 2016.</ref> It is their last album to be released before the death of lead singer [Gord Downie](/source/Gord_Downie), as well as their last to be composed of new material. Produced by [Kevin Drew](/source/Kevin_Drew) and [Dave Hamelin](/source/Dave_Hamelin),<ref name=gusto/> the album is named after a track which appeared on the band's previous album ''[Now for Plan A](/source/Now_for_Plan_A)''.

The album's first single, "In a World Possessed by the Human Mind", was released in April.<ref name=gusto/>

Prior to the album's release, the band announced that Gord Downie was diagnosed with a cancerous [brain tumor](/source/brain_tumor) in December 2015<ref name="Cancer">{{cite web|url=http://music.cbc.ca/#!/blogs/2016/5/Courage-my-word-Tragically-Hips-Gord-Downie-reveals-terminal-brain-cancer-diagnosis |title=Courage, my word: Tragically Hip's Gord Downie reveals terminal brain cancer diagnosis |publisher=[CBC Music](/source/CBC_Music) |date=May 24, 2016 |accessdate=May 24, 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301002442/http://music.cbc.ca/ |archivedate=March 1, 2016 }}</ref> and that the band [would tour Canada in summer 2016](/source/Man_Machine_Poem_Tour) to support the album.<ref name="Cancer"/> The band and critics have cautioned, however, against interpreting the album in light of Downie's health, as it was written and recorded before his diagnosis.<ref>[http://www.torontosun.com/2016/06/10/the-tragically-hips-man-machine-poem-a-final-piece-of-dependable-rock "The Tragically Hip's 'Man Machine Poem' a final piece of dependable rock"]. ''[Toronto Sun](/source/Toronto_Sun)'', June 12, 2016.</ref> Although some media coverage has referred to it as the band's final album, the band reportedly worked on some new studio material after its release, and also have more than one album's worth of previously unreleased material that could be issued in the future as rarities compilations.<ref name="mansbridge1">{{cite web|url=http://www.cbcmusic.ca/posts/14490/gord-downie-peter-mansbridge-things-we-learned|title=5 things we learned from Gord Downie's interview with Peter Mansbridge|first=Del|last=Cowie|publisher=CBC Music|date=2016-10-14|accessdate=2016-11-22}}</ref>

==Background==

The album had been slated for release in March 2016 under the title ''Dougie Stardust'', as a play on [David Bowie](/source/David_Bowie)'s classic album ''[The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars](/source/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Ziggy_Stardust_and_the_Spiders_from_Mars)''; it had even begun appearing on music retail sites as a pre-order under that title.<ref name=neverending>Michael Barclay, ''The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip''. [ECW Press](/source/ECW_Press), 2018. {{ISBN|9781770414365}}. p. 321-324.</ref> The band delayed the album's release after Downie suffered his second cancer-related seizure in February, and opted to retitle it in light of Bowie's death in January.<ref name=neverending/>

==Critical reception==
{{Album ratings
|rev1      = [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)
|rev1score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/man-machine-poem-mw0002939287 |title=Man Machine Poem - The Tragically Hip |website=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) |author=[Stephen Thomas Erlewine](/source/Stephen_Thomas_Erlewine) |access-date=May 24, 2026}}</ref>
|rev2      = ''[Exclaim!](/source/Exclaim!)''
|rev2score = 8/10<ref name="exclaim">{{cite web | url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/the_tragically_hip-man_machine_poem | title=The Tragically Hip - Man Machine Poem | publisher=[Exclaim!](/source/Exclaim!) | date=June 15, 2016 | accessdate=August 22, 2016 | author=Henderson, Stuart}}</ref>
}}

Writing in ''[Exclaim!](/source/Exclaim!)'', Stuart Henderson described the album as "a darkly illuminated, late-career curveball likely to please and confound in equal measure. Rarely since their mid-1990s heyday has the multi-platinum-selling band sounded so intent on crafting something different."<ref name="exclaim"/> In the ''[Edmonton Journal](/source/Edmonton_Journal)'', Fish Griwkowsky described the album as "a deep-felt, summer highway album that briefly escapes the weight of the doom we all share — not alone, but together in the dark".<ref>[https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/twilight-tragically-hip-album-man-machine-poem-innovative-beautiful "Twilight Tragically Hip album Man Machine Poem innovative, beautiful"]. ''[Edmonton Journal](/source/Edmonton_Journal)'', June 13, 2016.</ref>

The album garnered a longlist nomination for the [2017 Polaris Music Prize](/source/2017_Polaris_Music_Prize),<ref name=longlist>[https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2017/06/13/gord-downie-tragically-hip-both-make-cut-as-polaris-prize-long-list-revealed.html "Gord Downie, Tragically Hip both make cut as Polaris Prize long list revealed"]. ''[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)'', June 13, 2017.</ref> and won the [Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year](/source/Juno_Award_for_Rock_Album_of_the_Year) at the [Juno Awards of 2017](/source/Juno_Awards_of_2017).

==Track listing==

{{Tracklisting
|all_writing = The Tragically Hip
|headline = Side one
|title1   = Man
|length1  = 5:17
|title2   = In a World Possessed by the Human Mind
|length2  = 3:56
|title3   = What Blue
|length3  = 2:46
|title4   = In Sarnia
|length4  = 4:38
|title5    = Here, in the Dark
|length5   = 4:03
}}

{{Tracklisting
|headline  = Side two
|title6    = Great Soul
|length6   = 3:44
|title7    = Tired as Fuck
|length7   = 3:45
|title8    = Hot Mic
|length8   = 3:55
|title9    = Ocean Next
|length9   = 3:56
|title10   = Machine
|length10  = 5:29
|total_length = 41:25
}}

==Personnel==
Personnel taken from ''Man Machine Poem'' liner notes.<ref name=liner>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Man Machine Poem |others=[The Tragically Hip](/source/The_Tragically_Hip) |date=2016 |type=Vinyl liner notes}}</ref>

'''The Tragically Hip'''
*[Gord Downie](/source/Gord_Downie) – vocals
*Johnny Fay – drums, percussion
*Gord Sinclair – bass, vocals
*[Rob Baker](/source/Rob_Baker_(guitarist)) – guitar
*Paul Langlois – guitar, vocals

'''Additional musicians'''
*[Dave Hamelin](/source/Dave_Hamelin) – keyboards, percussion
*[Kevin Drew](/source/Kevin_Drew) – keyboards, percussion

'''Technical personnel'''
*Kevin Drew – production
*Dave Hamelin – production, mixing
*Nyler Spencer – recording
*[Eric Boulanger](/source/Eric_Boulanger) – mastering

==Charts==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2016)
! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position
|-
{{album chart|BillboardCanada|1|artist=The Tragically Hip|rowheader=true|accessdate=June 28, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Billboard200|179|artist=The Tragically Hip|rowheader=true|accessdate=June 28, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|BillboardRock|22|artist=The Tragically Hip|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 24, 2020}}
|}
{{col-2}}

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2016)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Canadian Albums (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2016/top-canadian-albums|title=Top Canadian Albums – Year-End 2016|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=December 24, 2020}}</ref>
| 48
|}
{{col-end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{The Tragically Hip}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2016 albums
Category:The Tragically Hip albums
Category:Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year albums
Category:Albums produced by Kevin Drew
Category:Songs about diseases and disorders

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Man Machine Poem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Machine_Poem) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Machine_Poem?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.