Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies tabs Barenaked Ladies discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

Barenaked Ladies guitar tabs

CD reviews

Maroon

Barenaked Ladies - Maroon Audio CD

A fair review of the Barenaked Ladies "Maroon" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Barenaked Ladies reviews here, or go back to the Barenaked Ladies tabs.

Band: Barenaked Ladies
Title: Maroon
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-01-13
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Too Little Too Late 2: Never Do Anything 3: Pinch Me 4: Go Home 5: Falling for the First Time 6: Conventioneers 7: Sell, Sell, Sell 8: Humour of the Situation 9: Baby Seat 10: Off the Hook 11: Helicopters 12: Tonight Is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel 13: Hidden Sun (Bonus Track)

"That guy should be me/ I'd Look much better on T.V."
It's got a lot of fuzzy guitar hooks and catchy choruses and clever lyrics. Immature? Cheeky? Derivative? Maybe, but when I listen to Maroon, all I hear is a marvelous pop album. The vocals all but dare you not to sing along, and the melodies are irresistible. Irresistible! The `Ladies have a knack for songwriting that's both humorous and resonant. It's not brilliant, mind you, but it's still a lot of fun. The big single was "Pinch Me," which (thank goodness) was absolutely ubiquitous on your local pop radio station back in 2000. It's a laid-back masterpiece, a song that's by turns funny, soothing, catchy, and vulnerable. "Falling For The First Time" and "Too Little Too Late" (also released as singles) are similarly catchy. The handclap-stuffed chorus of the latter is especially wonderful. And then there's "Never Do Anything," a classic ode to a life spent doing nothing. "Humor Of The Situation" totally rocks out, and "Off The Hook" shows off just how smart this band could be. "Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel" is a fantastic album closer about the joys of dying in a freak accident (if it liberates you from your unpleasant girlfriend). Sure, it's no work of genius. A few of the songs drag a bit, and even some of the good stuff is often little more than typical pop- but it's great pop nonetheless. Get it.

Love this
Pinch Me is fantastic, how it swings and catches you with that hook, and it's crazy lyrics and their unique approach to depression, and yet its such an accurate one. God do I love this album, for the fun, the poignancy and sheer variety. Conventioneers is heartbreaking about being so in love and then how it sours. Sell, Sell, Sell sells itself on a great story of acting and selling out, and Baby Seat just flows. I love Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel, which is weird because it sounds a bit like carnival music (to me) but he's singing about the car flipping over and the driver dying (all along singing 'you were the last thing on my mind,' love the irony!), and that hidden track Hidden Sun, which bobs along in a melancholy yet hopeful manner. If I'm down in the dumps I put this album on and the songs let me indulge my feelings a bit and pull me out of the black just by feeling that there are souls out there who can put how I feel into song and lyric. I can't judge this exactly from a musical perspective, but it's a balm for the blues.

Strong and Consistent
This album is chock full of hits and features many great tunes. This may be the least diverse album that BNL has released to date, but that probably is not a bad quality to have considering how broad a stroke they can sometimes paint. I especially like Too Little Too Late, Never Do Anything, Pinch Me, Go Home, Falling for the First Time, Sell, Sell, Sell, Humor of the Situation, Off the Hook and Helicopters. Those are all first rate, 5-star songs in my opinion, and for those scoring at home, that also includes the first 5 songs on the album in succession. The rest of the album is just dandy as well, the only remaining song I have rated below a 4 is Baby Seat, which I have at a 3. Sell, Sell, Sell and Helicopters seem infinitely more relevant today than when this CD was released, which is quite sad. I'm pleased to report that the Ladies haven't backed away from its subtle mocking of the despicable Bush regime in later albums; if anything, it's increased, and possibly become even more subtle (see: Shopping on Everything to Everyone).

The only complaint I have about the album is that it does seem highly produced, and the sound doesn't seem as crisp as some of their other work. The quality of music itself doesn't really suffer from it, but it just seems muddy at times. There is a lot going on a lot of times in a lot of times, and songs like Pinch Me are a nice change of pace. The rhythms in a lot of songs remain pretty straightforward, but the melodies and harmonies get intricate at times, which may add to the muddiness I described.

In closing, this is a great CD, and a great addition to anyone's collection, and for new fans to the band, this is definitely one of the first albums i'd recommend picking up. Longtime fans certainly won't be disappointed, though this is possibly one of the most "pop"ish albums the band has. The writing, as always with BNL is terrific, and the vocals are top notch.

Overall: Strong 5 (93% - 4. 67 / 5)

"A world that loves its irony must hate the protest singer".

Solid from top to bottom (but solider at the top)
I can't think of a more rocking stretch on any other BNL album. The first five tracks on this album are incredible. The opening electric riff from "Too Little Too Late" sets the pace. The smart alecky "Never Do Anything" follows up with great lines like "I could make mint/Fill my pockets with more than lint/I'll give you a hint/It involves the internet".

I absolutely love "Pinch Me", a song about not wanting to grow up (replete with dopey, but perfect, "under where?" joke). Then you have the jangly, lilting "Go Home" followed by "Falling For the First Time".

Then the album slows down with "Conventioneers". This isn't a bad thing, though because all the remaining tracks are good. They just work on a different - and less immediately gratifying - level.

You have the haunting "Helicopters" and the carnival morbidity of "Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel".

This is a splendid album. If you are trying to figure out which BNL album to buy first, get Stunt, but this should be on your list to purchase in the future. .

Naked Maroon Rocks
The Candian rock band was stronger than ever. It was at the start of the new Millenium, when Barenaked Ladies punched out another classic rock album. Their musical knowledge and performance just shines on MAROON. The musicians display their great sense of time to a slight swing feel and they have a great sense of how to create harmony and melody with keyboards. The guitars, bass, strings, and percussion are there as well, but they do not stand out as much as the keyboards do. The lyrics to MAROON are in themselves incredibly interesting. Most of them are typical to the humor of Barenaked Ladies, but others start to become political. The lines to "Sell Sell Sell" are especially interesting because they make reference to Iraq and the lyricist's opion about the country. Three years after this record's release, the lyricist discovered how wrong the lines are about the region. Another track to give special attention to is "Helicopters". Hearing this song in our present day, makes the listener wonder if the lyricist forsaw the tragedy that would strike our country within in the next year of MAROON's release. This is a great piece of work and it is definately a must have for any music fan.

Stand out tracks include:
"Sell Sell Sell"
"Off the Hook"
"Helicopters"
"Tonight Is the Night I Fell Alseep At the Wheel".

You can see a complete list of all Barenaked Ladies discography, or go back to the Barenaked Ladies tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.