Rank The Albums

[AnotherHeartbreak]

I saw a thread on barenaked.net, and since I dont have access to that forum, I figured Id migrate the thread over to here!

1. All In Good Time- My new favorite album. It starts off with a mixed style of songs, then we get to Ed's rocking center of the album, and then it mellows out to a beautiful ending. They all sound great and the new sound is very fresh.
2. Stunt- Will forever be a classic to me. I've heard it more than any other BNL album, and it feels fresh everytime. Just about every song on here is catchy, witty, and as always great performance. I can never get over the bridge in "Told You So", I love it.
3. Barenaked Ladies Are Me- To me, their most underrated effort. They sound fabulous and songwriting in the BLAM sessions are definitly my favorite.
4. Everything To Everyone- Another highly underrated one. Full of some of BNL's best songs. I'm especially in love with "Take It Outside".
5. Barenaked Ladies Are Men- Now this one I can kind of see people not liking so much. It's not mixed and mastered nearly as well as other BNL albums, but I love that about it. I like Ed's raw vocals on it. No effects or anything.
6. Gordon- A great kickoff to the band, but I do think this one is a tad overrated. Has some great songs, but I dont exactly love the jazzy feel to it. I am in love with "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" though.
7. Maybe You Should Drive- This took me the longest out of any BNL album to get into. Once I did, however, I like it alot. Has some great classic songs, but songs like "Little Tiny Song" makes me want to rip my ears off.
8. Barenaked For The Holidays- I think the boys pulled off a fantastic holiday album here. I love their original holiday songs, and I like their versions of classic songs. This album is only low on my list because it's a seasonal album. I love this album, however.
9. Snacktime- Awesome children's album. I gave it to all my little cousins and they love it. Very witty and so forth, but its only low here because its a childrens album.
10. Born On A Pirate Ship- IMO, their weakest effort, which is understandable. It was made during a hard time for BNL. Andy left, and I know Steve was having depression and alcohol problems. It has some of my favorites: "When I Fall", "Break Your Heart", and "Old Apartment" for example, but it also has songs like "Spider In My Room", "In The Drink", and "Call My Calmly" which I simply cannot listen to.
11. Maroon- This album is last on my list, but it is nearly all great songs. I love songs like "Pinch Me" and "Falling For The First Time". In fact, I like every song here. But when I try to listen to the album as a whole, I can't get interested. I just lose interest.

[McGerkey]

1. Stunt
2. Maybe You Should Drive
3. Born On A Pirate Ship
4. Gordon
5. Barenaked Ladies Are Me
6. Everything To Everyone
7. Maroon
8. All In Good Time
9. Barenaked Ladies Are Men
10. Snacktime!
11. Barenaked for the Holidays

[Kawltie]

1. Stunt--it will always be my first love, first time. :)

2. Rock Spectacle--when I knew that I would be in love with BNL for the long-term.

3. Gordon--really getting to know them, their past, their quirks.

4. Born on a Pirate Ship--I just fell in love with Ed's talent on this one.

5. Maroon--it was the first time I realized that it was the lyrics that made me love them.

6. Maybe You Should Drive--I just felt closer to the guys' experiences on this album and related them to my own.

7. Everything to Everyone--this reaffirmed my love for them and was the album I could just sing my guts out to.

8. Barenaked for the Holidays--first BNL concert was a holiday show. Another first time!

9. All in Good Time--I hate to put this in 9th, but I just need some more time to have experiences with it, take it in, and love it! Golden Boy just gives me that, "I love Barenaked Ladies so much" feeling...

10. Snacktime!--I just love the creativity. To be able to blast a childrens album on my way to community college everyday for about two months made me realize that I didn't just like Snacktime! because it was BNL, I actually liked the album for the albums sake.

11. Barenaked Ladies Are Me--I really like this album. I just haven't found myself addicted to it like I am the others.

12. Barenaked Ladies Are Men--This one is good, has some gems. I just skip a lot of songs and it came about in a time of my life that was not so happy. I tended to use other BNL albums to cope instead of this one.

Great question! I love thinking into exactly why I like their work. Heck, I just love thinking of BNL! :D

[mistee84]

1. Gordon
2. All in Good Time
3. BLAM
4. Everything to Everyone
5. Stunt
6. Maroon
7. BLAMEN
8. Snacktime!
9. Born on a Pirate Ship
10. Barenaked For the Holidays
11. Maybe You Should Drive

[TequilaMockingbird]

I know this'll probably change with every week but...

11. Everything to Everyone. An OK album, but some (if not most) of the songs are just not that memorable. Key Tracks: Testing 1-2-3, For You, Have You Seen My Love?
10. Barenaked for the Holidays. As with all holiday albums, I can only get into this during the season. Key Tracks: Auld Lang Syne, Footprints, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (natch)
9. Born On a Pirate Ship. I feel a little bad about ranking this so low since 1) it's never the most popular out of all BNL albums, and 2) there are a lot of tracks I really like. So not a bad album by any means, just that there are better out there. Key Tracks: This Is Where It Ends, The Old Apartment, Same Thing, Just a Toy
8. Maybe You Should Drive. The "folk" album. MYSD has a special place for me since I was going through a bit of an unrequited-love thing when I first heard it - so the music was very fitting. A very, very underrated album in my eyes. Key Tracks: Am I the Only One?, The Wrong Man Was Convicted, Great Provider
7. All In Good Time. The new kid on the block (pun unintended), it's fitting that AIGT falls in the middle of the road. While the songs I like I actually LOVE, some parts of the album still need to grow on me... give it a couple of months, and this might break the top 5. Key Tracks: You Run Away, Four Seconds, Every Subway Car, Golden Boy
6. Stunt. The chickety-china one. Great American Trad Rock feel all around, although it sometimes feels as though some of the songs sound *too* alike. Great album for a nice, long Spring drive. Key Tracks: Leave, Call and Answer, Told You So, Some Fantastic
5. Barenaked Ladies Are Me. Side one of what I consider to be the band's "White Album". Lots of good variety here, and a great step up from their previous proper album E2E. Key Tracks: Sound of Your Voice, Vanishing, Wind It Up, Take It Back
4. Gordon. Even after all of these years, this is still a damn fun album to listen to. Almost every song included here sounds very natural to them, and there is a consistent, appealing feel throughout that's never boring. Key Tracks: Wrap Your Arms Around Me, The King of Bedside Manor, New Kid (On The Block), Blame It On Me, Crazy
3. Barenaked Ladies Are Men. Overall exciting album with many memorable songs, I was actually surprised by how good it was when hearing it for the first time. It's a shame that this is Steve's last album with the guys, but from a studio-album standpoint, he went out on a high note. Key Tracks: Something You'll Never Find, One and Only, The New Sad, What a Letdown, Why Say Anything Nice?
2. Maroon. The album that includes the best opening track of any BNL album, hands down. The opening chords of "Too Little, Too Late" get me every time, and proved the "TRL" audience that BNL had acquired thanks to Stunt that the band was not a one-hit wonder by any means. Personally, I also like Maroon because it's a very guitar-driven album, even moreso than Stunt. Key Tracks: Too Little Too Late, Never Do Anything, Pinch Me, Conventioneers, Baby Seat, Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel
1. Rock Spectacle. Still what I consider to be their best work. While probably impossible, if the song arrangements here were applied to their studio counterparts, it would make the preceeding albums better than they already are. I cannot say anything bad about this album. Key Tracks: all of 'em

[just blame craig]

1. Rock Spectacle- My first BNL CD reminds me of why I love my wife every time I hear it.
2. Born on a Pirate Ship
3. Maroon
4. Maybe You Should Drive
5. Everything to Everyone
6.Stunt
7.SnackTime
8. ...Are Me
9. ...Are Men
10. Barenaked for the Holidays
11. Gordon
12. All in good Time.- It is this low because it is the newest CD I have for them.

#2-11 (and I'm sure 12 will fit into this same category soon) are interchangeable. I have been in love with each of these albums at one time or another. Then something will happen so I change the CD's in my car and all of a sudden I have a brand new favorite BNL album. All In Good Time will be up there soon as I put aside my Ships & Dip V shows for now and only play AIGT.

[NFede14]

1. Maroon
2. Stunt
3. All in Good Time
4. Born On A Pirate Ship
5. Everything to Everyone
6. Gordon
7. Maybe You Should Drive
8. Barenaked Ladies Are Men
9. Barenaked Ladies Are Me

Me/Men would've been much better on the ratings scale had they picked the best songs from each release. AIGT is a great album and I'm happy that they're still making awesome music. Chose not to include Snacktime or Holidays because I feel like they're just simply in a different category and cannot be rated with the rest of the catalog. Also, I didn't include Rock Spectacle because that would also mean including Talk to the Hand.

[Den of Antiquity]

1. BORN ON A PIRATE SHIP – PLUS: VERY creative, MINUS: Sometimes a little too creative. Still, overall my favorite because of all its quirks and the overwhelming strength of most of the material.
2. STUNT – PLUS: It was love at first sight when I heard this, MINUS: Actually, none. Damn near a perfect album. For some reason I still just like Pirate Ship a teeny bit more.
3. MAROON – PLUS: Solid effort by a band at its peak, MINUS: Beginnings of a formulaic approach emerging.
4. AIGT – PLUS: Same sun, same fun, whole new world. MINUS: I like Kevin a lot, but his needle seems a little stuck. Hopefully he’ll get a little push on the next CD.
5. BLAM/EN – PLUS: A couple of my all time favs on here (Easy, Half A Heart, Sound of Your Voice) MINUS: Too much material unworthy of BNL standards and the release strategy pissed me off just enough that there’s still a thin veil of negativity to it.
6. GORDON – PLUS: Way, way too much fun for a first CD. Just, wow. MINUS: Some of the references have not been timeless. My daughter had to ask who NKOTB were, and what were those strange riffs doing in the song Grade 9.
7. ROCK SPECTACLE – PLUS: A great overview of early BNL. Recommended for anyone who wants to hear the best of their early stuff. MINUS: Sells WAY short the experience of one of their live shows. They had a real opportunity here to make the live album experience truly as wonderful as their shows and they chose to play it safe with just the two outtakes at the end.
8. SNACKTIME – PLUS: Hey any CD for kids that’s not the Wiggles or freaking Barney gets my vote. MINUS: Just bad timing for me. My kid was too old to really appreciate it by the time it came out.
9. MAYBE YOU SHOULD DRIVE – PLUS: Some really good tracks on here (Jane, Alternative Girlfriend). MINUS: Overall an uneven effort. More filler in this one than the others.
10. BARENAKED FOR THE HOLIDAYS – PLUS: Really fun to pull out for the holidays, especially while decorating the tree and you need some up tempo stuff. MINUS: Not a big fan of the organ instrumentals. One would have been enough.
11. EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE – PLUS: One song - “For You”. MINUS: Hey every band has a bad album at least once. No harm, it got them back on track for BLAM and AIGT, so it served its purpose.


Thanks, that was fun.

[barenakedfi]

Stunt - just a great album from start to finish
E2E - Only just pushed into second, as again I love pretty much the whole thing, though Shopping not one of my favourite BNL tracks, and Celebrity has started to wane a little for me more recently.
Least favourite - Maroon.... some good tracks, but I only really like about half of it

the others move around in placement according to mood, and I don't like to rank BLAM/BLAMen, as they still feel too new to fairly compare to ones I've been listening to for longer
Same applies even more so to AIGT, brand new and still learning to love it (gets better every time)
I'm not considering Holidays, Snacktime or Rock Spectacle in this list for reasons others have cited... though I must say that Snacktime just didn't really do it for me (perhaps because I don't have kids), but Holidays is wonderful.... We Three Kings is beautiful, and Ed's work on the album generally is spectacular, particularly Elf's Lament... it's just a pity I can't listen to it all year round (but it just doesn't feel right to do so).... however, there's a beach shack in Goa that has had to play it a LOT over the last few Decembers

Funny, E2E is the one album I've loved from the first hearing... the others, particularly those since E2E, haven't had that immediate effect, and I've initially thought they might disappoint as a result, but they have all been albums that I've come to love once I got to know them.

[helenk579]

I saw a thread on barenaked.net, and since I dont have access to that forum, I figured Id migrate the thread over to here!

1. All In Good Time- My new favorite album. It starts off with a mixed style of songs, then we get to Ed's rocking center of the album, and then it mellows out to a beautiful ending. They all sound great and the new sound is very fresh.
2. Stunt- Will forever be a classic to me. I've heard it more than any other BNL album, and it feels fresh everytime. Just about every song on here is catchy, witty, and as always great performance. I can never get over the bridge in "Told You So", I love it.
3. Barenaked Ladies Are Me- To me, their most underrated effort. They sound fabulous and songwriting in the BLAM sessions are definitly my favorite.
4. Everything To Everyone- Another highly underrated one. Full of some of BNL's best songs. I'm especially in love with "Take It Outside".
5. Barenaked Ladies Are Men- Now this one I can kind of see people not liking so much. It's not mixed and mastered nearly as well as other BNL albums, but I love that about it. I like Ed's raw vocals on it. No effects or anything.
6. Gordon- A great kickoff to the band, but I do think this one is a tad overrated. Has some great songs, but I dont exactly love the jazzy feel to it. I am in love with "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" though.
7. Maybe You Should Drive- This took me the longest out of any BNL album to get into. Once I did, however, I like it alot. Has some great classic songs, but songs like "Little Tiny Song" makes me want to rip my ears off.
8. Barenaked For The Holidays- I think the boys pulled off a fantastic holiday album here. I love their original holiday songs, and I like their versions of classic songs. This album is only low on my list because it's a seasonal album. I love this album, however.
9. Snacktime- Awesome children's album. I gave it to all my little cousins and they love it. Very witty and so forth, but its only low here because its a childrens album.
10. Born On A Pirate Ship- IMO, their weakest effort, which is understandable. It was made during a hard time for BNL. Andy left, and I know Steve was having depression and alcohol problems. It has some of my favorites: "When I Fall", "Break Your Heart", and "Old Apartment" for example, but it also has songs like "Spider In My Room", "In The Drink", and "Call My Calmly" which I simply cannot listen to.
11. Maroon- This album is last on my list, but it is nearly all great songs. I love songs like "Pinch Me" and "Falling For The First Time". In fact, I like every song here. But when I try to listen to the album as a whole, I can't get interested. I just lose interest.

Thank you so much for your post.