"Are you ready, ready to cry?" ask Blue Rodeo. "Are you ready, ready to die?"

We don't know about the second half of that question, but when it comes to the first part, all we can say is you better be set to blub, bub. Are You Ready, the group's 11th release, is definitely a disc that puts the blue in Blue Rodeo.

Death, infidelity, jealousy, misery, regret, loss and the pain unrequited love -- these are the emotions that fuel these dozen songs. Given that Are You Ready comes hard on the heels of Songs for Jim, singer-guitarist Greg Keelor's musical elegy for his late father, we can see where some of this darkness originates. As for all the songs about romantic betrayal, well, maybe there are some things we don't need to know. After all, we've all been there. We can all understand.

We can also understand that when you're there, you yearn for the comfort and security of familiar surroundings. So maybe that's why Are You Ready also sounds like something of a musical homecoming for Blue Rodeo. After branching out with horns and strings on 2002's Palace of Gold -- and stretching their wings with solo projects in the interim -- the boys get back to basics somewhat on this 51-minute set. Aside from a dash of trumpet on a couple of tracks, a bit of tin whistle and pipes on another and dabs of paisley production here and there, Are You Ready is dominated by the twangy Telecasters, jangly acoustic guitars and bouncy country-rock grooves of classic Rodeo. And aside from a few sonic standouts -- to wit, the stark medieval folk of Phaedra's Meadow, the heartwrenching Costello-ish epic Tired of Pretending and a title tune cut from the same cloth as the blues-rock chestnut Night Time -- it's a consistently low-key affair.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. After all, if anybody can consistently turn tragedy into beauty, it's these guys. But beautiful as Are You Ready surely is, some fair-weather fans might not be too disappointed if they were ready to crank it up again next time around.

Track Listing:

1. Can't Help Wondering Why
2. Are You Ready
3. Rena
4. Stuck On You
5. Up On That Cloud
6. I Will
7. Phaedra's Meadow
8. Runaway Train
9. Beverley Street
10. Finger Lakes
11. Tired Of Pretending
12. Don't Get Angry