Fully Completely is the third studio album by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. The album was released in October 1992 and produced by Chris Tsangarides. The album produced six singles: "Locked in the Trunk of a Car", "Fifty Mission Cap", "Courage (For Hugh MacLennan)", "At the Hundredth Meridian", "Looking for a Place to Happen", and "Fully Completely".
Background
The Tragically Hip had released two full-length albums (Up To Here and Road Apples) before Fully Completely, working with producer Don Smith. While the albums had been successful in Canada, the Tragically Hip had not broken into the American market in a significant way.
Album artwork
The cover art for Fully Completely was designed by Dutch artist Lieve Prins. The cover consists of 30 segmented photocopied images pasted together. The title of the first track on the album, "Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)" makes reference to Canadian author Hugh MacLennan, and was inspired by his novel The Watch That Ends the Night. The second track, "Looking for a Place to Happen", deals with the subject of European encroachment and the eventual annexation of indigenous lands in North America, making specific reference to explorer Jacques Cartier. The third track, "At the Hundredth Meridian", references the line of longitude that separates much of Western Canada from the Central and Atlantic regions. The tenth track, "Wheat Kings", is about David Milgaard, a man who was wrongfully convicted, and later exonerated, for the rape and murder of Gail Miller.
Reception
Fully Completely was extremely well received in Canada. The album is listed at on The Top 100 Canadian Albums by Bob Mersereau and on The Top 102 Modern Rock Albums of All Time by 102.1 The Edge. The album was certified Diamond in Canada in January 2007 for sales of 1,000,000 copies.
At the 2017 Polaris Music Prize, the album won the public vote for the Heritage Prize in the 1986-1995 category.
Tours
Rather than a normal tour, the Tragically Hip followed the release of Fully Completely with the organization of "Another Roadside Attraction", in 1993. Another Roadside Attraction was a travelling music and arts summer festival which promoted little known bands and travelled across Canada.
Reissue
A remastered "deluxe edition" of the album was released in 2014. The reissue included two new tracks from the original recording sessions, as well as a second disc featuring a September 13, 1992, concert performance at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.
Track listing
Personnel
The Tragically Hip
- Gord Downie – vocals
- Bobby Baker – guitar
- Paul Langlois – guitar, vocals
- Johnny Fay – drums
- Gord Sinclair – bass, vocals
Production
- Chris Tsangarides – producer, engineering, mixing
- Chris 'Wood' Marshall – assistant engineer
- Ian Cooper – mastering
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Weekly chart performance for Fully Completely
! scope="col"| Chart (1992–1993)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| align="center"| 96
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ Year-end chart performance for Fully Completely
!scope="col"|Chart (2002)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
|align=center|113
|}