Barenaked Ladies – Hits From Yesterday And The Day Before
2011, Rhino Records
2011, Rhino Records
It takes some moxie to last in the music business for twentyyears. It takes real chutzpah to notonly survive chart-topping single and still be making music more than a dozenyears later in spite of losing a principal songwriter and vocalist, But aboveall it takes talent; something the four remaining members of Barenaked Ladieshave never run short of. On September27, 2011, Rhino Records will release HitsFrom Yesterday And The Day Before, Barenaked Ladies second greatest hitscollection. This career-spanningcollection will seem mostly redundant if you already own Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits, but will be an ideal startingplace for new fans.
Cited by no less than Sir Paul McCartney as one of the mostinteresting bands in rock and roll today, Barenaked Ladies have long blended asingular musical talent with a nerd-rock aura and boundless energy. The divorce of co-founder Steven Page fromthe band in 2009 might have meant the end for some bands, but Ed Robertson(vocals/guitar), Kevin Hearn (vocals/keys), Jim Creeggan (bass/vocals) andTyler Stewart (drums/vocals) set their eyes upon the future and have refused tolook back. Hits From Yesterday And The Day Before closes the book on the firsttwo decades of Barenaked Ladies, and shows a marked development of sound, styleand maturity over the years.
Classic Barenaked Ladies hits are featured mostly in theiroriginal, recorded forms. Songs such as “IfI Had $1,000,000, “Brian Wilson (live)”, “The Old Apartment” and “One Week”, aswell as moderately successful radio singles such as “Pinch Me”. “AnotherPostcard” and “It’s All Been Done”. Verylittle representation is given to the last three BNL Albums (Barenaked Ladies Are Me, Barenaked LadiesAre Men, All In Good Time), most likely due to these albums being releasedindependently by the band, whereas Rhino owns the rights to much of thematerial presented here. The only trackhere not previously available on CD is the full version of the “Big Bang TheoryTheme”, which mixes Robertson’s sometimes frenetic talk/sing style and classicBNL kitsch.
If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Barenaked Ladies fan, then Hits From Yesterday And The Day Beforeisn’t likely to hold much appeal. You’regoing to have all of the tracks here already. But for new fans just acquainting themselves with the band, it’s atremendous collection-as-introduction. What’s more intriguing, and somehow still secretive, is the deluxeedition of the greatest hits collection, also supposedly due on September 27,2011. Stop Us If You’ve Heard This One Before is rumored to be a two-discset that includes the greatest hits disc plus a second disc of never beforeheard songs. No track list has beenpublished to date, and no listing has yet to appear on major retailers such asAmazon, Target, Walmart, FYE, CDPlus or CDUniverse. This is the collection that will cause longtime fans to open their wallets.
In the end, Hits FromYesterday And The Day Before is a solid collection for beginners, butprobably not worth shelling out the money for if you already own several BNLalbums. The “Big Bang Theory Theme” iscertainly worth hearing, but isn’t enough of an upgrade, in itself, over Disc One to make it essential. Stop UsIf You’ve Heard This One Before, if it makes it to market, will be a musthave for all the die-hard fans out there.
Rating: 3.5 Stars (Outof 5)(Note: In this case, the rating is more of thecollection than the music thereon. Therejust wasn’t enough new material here to justify a second greatest hits package,but the music itself is fabulous.)
Learn more about Barenaked Ladies at www.barenakedladies.com or www.myspace.com/barenakedladies. HitsFrom Yesterday And The Day Before is available for pre-order via Amazon.comboth on CDand as a Download. Preorders are also available via iTunes.
Be sure to check out the new video for the "Big Bang Theory Theme", featuring members of the cast of the show!