Barenaked Ladies Maroon, 2000
Barenaked Ladies are another band where there was really no way to satisfactorily pick just one album that is my "favorite". They all have pros and cons. In the end, I went with Maroon. I think that it typifies the kind of music that people don't realize BNL are capable of making.
I feel like the album is a primer in Barenaked Ladies' songwriting, starting off with some over-the-plate pop songs ("Pinch Me" "Too Little Too Late") and then getting into some more ornate, detailed fare ("Go Home", "Falling For the First Time") before kicking it into high gear with detailed stories ("Conventioneers"), pun-heavy dramas ("Off the Hook"), and gut-wrenching tragicomedies ("Tonight Is the Night I Fell Asleep At the Wheel").
This is the kind of album that you play for someone who thinks that the band is just a novelty act playing cheesy "rap" songs like "One Week" or "Another Postcard".
Actually, the funny thing about Barenaked Ladies is that MOST of their songs are at least semi-serious. They're certainly not saying to themselves "What wacky subject matter can we write about next?" when they go to record a new album.
Go get this album, fall in love with the band, and then get the rest of their albums. (NOTE: When Steven Page left the band, something happened to them that I'm not sure is entirely good. I often think that maybe he was the catalyst that made the band step up to the plate. I am still trying to wrap my head around All in Good Time (the first album after he left) and I haven't even heard Grinning Streak (the second).
Barenaked Ladies - The Humour of the Situation
Barenaked Ladies - Helicopters
You can buy Maroon at Amazon, Amazon MP3, and iTunes
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