Best Darn Band on this Planet
If you have heard of BNL, 'nuff said for you have this album. If you haven't heard of BNL purchase any one of their CD's for an experience you will enjoy forever.
For those of you who wonder. . . . there is not another musical group on this planet that has brought such a depth and breath to music since the Beatles. Once again, 'nuff said.
Born on a Pirate Ship - BNL
Like the rest of their music - this CD is excellent!.
A bit average
Half the album is really good and half of it is not so good; I'd feel embarassed to play it to other people. Barenaked Ladies is a fantastic band, but this is not one of their better albums. There are several songs that are kind of 'wacky', which sound like someone has written the lyrics and then tried to fit them to a tune - like they're trying to fit in as many random words as they can and the tune is an inconvenient thing they had to come up with at the last minute.
If you've never heard a BNL album before, don't start with this one - it's probably only for the die-hard fan who has to have everything BNL they can find. Most of the good songs from here are already on their Greatest Hits or Rock Spectacle (live) albums, and the ones on Rock Spectacle are better live.
Still, it's definitely got some merit. On repeated playing, some of the songs you initially think "oh geez" do grow on you. I don't think "I know" or "In the drink" will ever grow on me though.
BNL get a bit off-course
It had to happen sooner or later. . the genius of GORDON and the solid artistry of MAYBE YOU SHOULD DRIVE give way to this less stellar effort. For the first time, I find myself thinking of tracks by them as "bad" rather than merely middling.
HIGHLIGHTS:
"When I Fall" is the tale of a skyscraper window washer who toys with jumping because of his role's futility. ("I look like a painter, behind all the grease/But painting's creating, and I'm just erasing") "The Old Apartment" is vandalism as nostalgia ("Broke into the old apartment/This is where we used to live") In "Break Your Heart", Page allows his paramour to think everything's fine rather than rock the boat of the relationship. ("Why must I always speak in terms of cowardice?/When I guess I should have just come out and told you right from the start/Why must I always tell you all I want is this?/I guess 'cause I didn't want to break your heart" NOTE:The definitive version of this song is the live one on ROCK SPECTACLE. ) "Shoe Box" is a container for mistruths. ("From my first little fib, when I still wore a bib/To my latest attempt at pretending I'm someone who's not 17/Doesn't know what you mean when talk turns to single malts or stilton. . ")
LOWS:
"Spider in My Room" sounds like a Talking Heads reject. "Just a Toy" makes use of an irritating processed vocal that causes Steven Paige to sound as though he's singing via megaphone. If you think the lyric "I have a secret that just won't keep/All I wanna do is brush your teeth" is fabulous, then you can have Creegan's "In the Drink".
BOTTOM LINE:
If you're new to the band, don't start here. (ROCK SPECTACLE's the best one for newbies, then GORDON. ) This one's for "true believers" only.
A solid album from a consistent band.
None of them are unworthy of a spin in my CD player but I have to be in the right mood for some of them. There are a few albums by Barenaked Ladies that I can listen to at any time. Born On a Pirate Ship is that type of album. As I scan over their catalog, I usually go straight to Gordon, Stunt or Greatest Hits, which are the most accessible. However, there are times when I need to remind myself that they have other well crafted albums, even if they aren't as solid all the way through.
This is a band that changes it sound within an album so they don't need to completely veer off their expected course when they put out a new album. BoaPS meanders about and has some really well done songs that have withstood the test of time. The Old Apartment, Shoe Box, and This Is Where It Ends are obvious fan favorites. I come back to this album for those songs plus ones like Straw Hat and Dirty Old Hank and Spider In My Room for their trademark BNL sound and witty lyrics and Same Thing for the 'sentimental' side of the band. Some of the songs go by without me taking much notice which is neither good nor bad. They just don't make much of an impression.
When amassing their albums this is probably one of the last ones a fan would pick up but definitely not one that should be overlooked.
You can see a complete list of all Barenaked Ladies discography, or go back to the Barenaked Ladies tabs
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