Maroon
By CHRISTOPHER, FatPaulie.com, October 9th 2000.Writing a record review is an interesting thing, especially when writing it after the album has come out. I've had the chance to read other reviews before completing my own, (there seem to be two kinds: the ones that want to be the first to say "I told you they were a One Hit Wonder" (Spin), and the ones that want to say "I told you they would last" (Entertainment Weekly)), and I'm sad to say that no one seems to realize that Maroon is the band's 5th studio album, not the 2nd. Clearly, someone with some knowledge of the band's history needs to take a close look at this new collection of songs. A "True Fan", if you will.
Of course, as a "True Fan" I'd love to tell you all that Barenaked Ladies haven't made a good album since 1994's Maybe You Should Drive, and I'd love to whine for hours on end about the fact that Andy Creeggan should've never left the band, and I'd like to tell you that their new album, Maroon, is a piece of crap. And I'd like to point out that while most reviews are fond of telling you that producer Don Was worked on projects with Bonnie Raitt and the Rolling Stones, he's done less-than-stellar work with Voice of the Beehive and Paula Abdul - and what the hell was up with that whole Chris Gaines thing anyway?
However, if I went on about that, I'd be a huge liar, because the album is pretty good. The band is developing a new sound, while at the same time returning a little bit to the things that I originally liked about the band: solid songwriting, great harmonies, and a willingness to experiment a little with everybody's concept of what a hit song should be.
The album grows on you quickly, especially when you begin to notice all of the detailed work that went into making the album. A good example of this is during the bridge of the two-steppity "Go Home": "You can't believe it, but it's true/ {insert steel guitar lick} / She's given everything to you / {insert backwards steel guitar lick!}" The "High-Ass Vocals" by Jim Scott, and the glockenspiel (?!) by Jim Creeggan add even more interesting things to listen to (and that's on top of the quick lyrics with the A/A/A/A rhyme scheme), and that's on the shortest song on the album. Nearly everything on the album is packed like that, making for an album that bears up under repeated listenings. Trust me.
All of the songs were written by Steven Page (lead vocals, backing vocals, guitar, flute, recorder) and Ed Robertson (lead vocals, backing vocals, electric, acoustic, and 12-string guitars, mandolin, banjo, cabasa, tambourine) except for "Baby Seat", written by Stephen Page and past collaborator Stephen Duffy. The band is rounded out by Tyler Stewart (drums, tambourine, 808 drums, shaker, bells, timpani, cowbells, castanets - look, any manner of percussion instrument makes an appearance. he also does some backing vocals), Jim Creeggan (electric bass, double bass, electric double bass, backing vocals, viola, violin, baritone guitar (?), glockenspiel) and relative newcomer Kevin Hearn (piano, clavinet, melodica, organ, -anything with piano keys, actually, as well as electric guitar, vocoder, glockenspiel, baritone guitar (? again), and backing vocals). That's a lot of instruments to cleanly fit together without making everything sound like aural soup, and the band, with Don Was (all right, we'll chalk Chris Gaines up to a drunken bet) does a fantastic job of keeping everything clean and interesting.
And so, a quick rundown:
BAD: The record company needs to be smacked for choosing "Pinch Me" as the first single. It's a blatantly transparent effort to ride on the coattails of Stunt's "One Week", and treats the listening audience as if they aren't able to think for themselves. As if that wasn't bad enough, they apparently gave radio stations an edited copy of the song that doesn't include the very cool backwards guitar solo at the end of the song. What's wrong - do they need the extra 40 seconds that badly? Maybe the stations are afraid that the audience will forget about the No-Repeat Workday.
GOOD: "Conventioneers" : What a great story song. I wonder if this song might have been written during rehearsals for their cover of Burt Bacharach's "Close To You"; they share a couple of the same chord progressions, that's all. Seek out the cover, and tell me what you think. The first time I heard it, I thought that perhaps Steven could have used another take for the first verse, but again - let me know whatcha think.
GOOD: "Sell, Sell, Sell": Another great story song, and reminds me of the coolness of Gordon's "Box Set" and "I Love You" - not because of the Latin flavour, but because of the willingness to step outside the boundaries of the 4/4-straignt-ahead-rock-tune.
BAD: "Humor of the Situation" : A 4/4-straight-ahead-rock-tune.
GOOD: "Off The Hook" : A perfect marriage between cool interesting music, and cool interesting lyrics. Of course, the song is about infidelity, and gives new meaning to the phrase "clean the smoking gun".
BAD FOR A COUPLE REASONS: The Hidden Track, "Hidden Sun": Either include the songs on the albums, or don't. Don't "hide" one (how '89), and expect that people are going to love the obviously B-side song. Perhaps a cover of the 1966 song "Maroon", whose lyrics are included inside the front cover, would have been a neat idea. Also, um, Kevin? If you want to write songs for Kermit the Frog to sing, get in contact with the Henson people. Don't do it yourself.
BAD: As great as I think everything was put together, I feel like Jim Creeggan's excellent bass work was somewhat buried...I've always liked the double bass sound (and you can hear it on "Conventioneers"), but I'd like to hear more bass than simply an anchor for the rest of the chords.
GOOD: Tyler Stewart singing. I look forward to the his solo song on the next album (of course, that's only if I get my way).
GOOD: "Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel" : Here's something Spin didn't tell you: in the program for the Mr. Rockin' tour (the one in support of Gordon), each band member got a page to showcase themselves. On Steven Page's, um...page, everything is presented in the form of papers - poetry, Gordon reviews, and a note from Steven. Also attached was this (I guess) work in progress:
"The same treacherous drive seemed shorter. I passed the same restaurants and I passed the same baseball diamonds. I sang with the radio and listened to the tiniest pieces of war that were left. Yesterday I shuffled past the protesters arguing about pornography, racist science, blue Smarties. Last night I woke up laughing. My dream had me face down smothering, making Carolyn think I was crying. Today, I woke up and my car was in flames. I rolled down a ditch and the radio couldn't tell me anything new. I was hungry and I had to go to the bathroom. Today, I woke up and my car was in flames. Today was like any other Sunday drive home, but today is the day I fell asleep at the wheel."
I'm glad he remembered to do something with that paragraph 7 years later; it's turned into an incredible song with great orchestration - the perfect way to end the album.
The upshot is this: If you're a fan from way back, you'll probably like this album, and you'll probably like it more than Stunt. It may not replace Gordon, or any other BNL album, but it's kilometers ahead of any crap that's blaring from your local CHR (Contemporary Hit Radio: formula music only) station.
More importantly, a lot of it is better than anything that they've put out themselves, and it's a good sign when a band can develop their sound as they age. I guess the real trick is hoping that your fan base can grow and develop with you. I sure hope the fans are up to it, even though you'll always find people looking back a little, too.
Maybe Andy Creeggan could produce the next album.