GregHowley.com

I finally received the correct CD in the mail from Nettwerk Music, whose customer service I've got to say is impeccable. But I'm finding myself slightly disappointed with the music on the CD.

Let me start out by saying that The Barenaked Ladies are one of my absolute favorite bands. I've got 126 songs and eight albums of theirs on my mp3 player. I'd have to say my favorite songs of theirs are Helicopters from Maroon, When I Fall from Born on a Pirate Ship, Call and Answer from Stunt, and Testing, 1, 2, 3 from Everything to Everyone. In other words, their very best music (in my opinion) has been spread out over a number of albums. If I listed all my favorite songs of theirs, the list would number dozens.

Aside from their most recent album Barenaked Ladies are Men, which I'm reviewing here, their next most recent album had been titled Barenaked Ladies are Me. The names being so similar is likely what led to the recent mix-up I had when ordering the CD. But Barenaked Ladies are Me had fantastic songs like Bank Job, which is about a group of bank robbers who are befuddled upon breaking into the bank to find that a large group of nuns is in line for the teller, and the upbeat Bull in a China Shop which has such wonderful nonsense as "I'm a bottle of diet poison". It also had Rule the World with Love , which is one of my favorite BNL songs. In short, I took to the album almost immediately.

But in comparison, Barenaked Ladies are Men doesn't have any songs that are true winners. Serendipity and Down to Earth are somewhat catchy, but I'm not liking them nearly as much as Pinch Me or Some Fantastic. I suppose that I might start liking Maybe Not and What a Letdown after I've listened a few more times, but overall this is the first Barenaked Ladies album I haven't immediately loved.

The only song that has lyrics I really like is Fun and Games, which is about the Iraq War. It's got lyrics such as "they were shocked and they were awed and they were blown in half", and "...we just got re-elected, in a while our bill of rights will be rejected..." It's not too subtle.

Reading another review of the album, I now learn that Barenaked Ladies are Me and Barenaked Ladies are Men are two halves of the same disc, and considering that they probably decided to put their best tunes on what seems to be the "main album", that would make this one the leftovers. Viewed in that light, I can see why I don't like this album quite as much as the "main album". But I'll be the first to admit that my album reviews are amateurish. I'm not disappointed that I've bought this disc - since I love the band so much, I'm glad to own all their music. And knowing what I know now, I'm confident that their next album will easily surpass this one.