Review: BNL’s Everything to Everyone
Posted on October 22, 2003 @ 4:58 pm
Just as I predicted a few weeks ago, I was at Circuit City bright and early Tuesday morning to purchase a copy of the new Barenaked Ladies album, Everything to Everyone. Now that I’ve had a chance to listen to E2E a few times, I can say that it’s certainly better than I initially expected given my unmitigated disappointment with the asinine first single, “Another Postcard.” Still, the album as a whole–much like Stunt and Maroon before it–strikes me as the handiwork of a band more interested in being clever than actually saying anything. For instance, in the self-referential chorus of “Testing 1, 2, 3,” vocalist/guitarist Ed Robertson asks, “If I shed the irony, would everybody cheer me?” I don’t know about everybody, but it couldn’t hurt to give it a try.
The problem with releasing an album that features a song about the torment of receiving anonymous postcards graced by photographs of chimpanzees (”Another Postcard”) and another with a chorus that includes the lines “It’s always lalalalala/Shopping with our friends” (”Shopping”) is that when you eventually get around to the plaintive song about suicide (”War on Drugs”), the listener is too busy waiting for the next ironic twist or zany pun to actually appreciate it. While songs like “Aluminum” and “Next Time” make the most of the traditional BNL formula of two parts introspection and one part wry commentary, E2E is at its best when it’s at its least expected. For instance, the country/bluegrass-tinged “For You” and “Have You Seen My Love?” are among the highlights of the album, as is the bombastic accordian-driven tango of “Upside Down.” Still, E2E remains an uneven effort. The highs are high, the lows are low, and most of the material in between is forgettable at best.
Maybe the Barenaked Ladies haven’t lost a step; maybe I’ve just outgrown their particular brand of wacky Canadian pop. I will say this much, though: there’s no such thing as a part-time novelty act. I was under the impression that BNL spent much of the ’90s trying to shake that derisive label after they gained early notoriety through songs like “Be My Yoko Ono” and “Grade 9.” Now, despite the fact that Everything to Everyone wasn’t quite the disaster I expected, I’m still not sure what the Barenaked Ladies are trying to say–what image they’re trying to project–with their music these days. Do they want us to take them seriously as musical artists or chuckle along with their hyper-ironic observations on life and love? Sure, nobody ever got ahead by attempting to be everything to everyone, but I can’t help but wonder after hearing this album if BNL is anything to anyone at this point in their career other than a series of forced jokes wrapped up in quality musicianship and held-over goodwill from their devoted fanbase.
Grade: C+
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Pop Culture |
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Well, if you ask me, I think this a little more like BOAPS. It’s got mostly mello pop songs, with your odd rockout and country song, but of course having a new-age twist. My guess is that they’re trying to show that they’re funny guys with serious thoughts. Anyway, I’d grade them better than that; at leasy a B+.
I admit, it’s weaker than the other albums, and maybe it’s due to the fact that they’ve taken a 2 year long break. Reprise SHOULD NOT have released Another Postcard. People who have been listening to BNL’s singles since ‘One Week’ and haven’t bought a CD yet might have been taken in by the more honest, catchy, not-too-fast songs on the album. It doesn’t matter, though, because even though I had my doubts, I purchased the album. Quirky stuff is fine, as long as it’s not total nonsensical psuedo-rapping. I’d give it a B+/A-
So I have no concrete information for saying this, but I think this entire album (or a lot of it anyway) is all about the image Reprise wants and the public has of them as a result of “One Week.” They seem to realize that this isn’t going to change and have decided instead to accept it (thus the raising of the white flag on the cover, not to mention the title of the album itself.) “Another Postcard” seems like a parody of their recent singles from other albums and it shouldn’t be any surprise that it’s the first one from this one. It’s inane lyrics go to prove that what they say doesn’t matter one bit, as long as the tune surrounding them stays in your head for a few minutes after the song is over.
This reviewer is a plain old idiot. The fact that he can’t see the lyric genious in these songs makes me feel that he should not be reviewing music. Incase you didn’t realize it, “another postcard” is a song criticizing junk mail, and “shopping” is a song criticizing consumerism in America. In “testing 1,2,3″ Ed is saying that people such as you don’t seem to understand they’re creativity, but he still doesn’t care. Sure, they try to use humor to lighten the blow, but this is some of the most creative and genious music of this time, and the world could learn a lot from the messages in it.
“Shopping” is more than a general criticism of consumerism in America. It is a sarcastic reaction to a specific comment by George W. Bush, who said the way to beat the terrorists is to resume business as usual by shopping. In that context, “You know that it’s going to be alright, when we go shopping” is more than some general, vague statement. The intentional choice of light, fluffy, corny, shallow j-pop music only accentuates the whole thing.