Jom
11-29-2004, 03:55 PM
Yes, this is a holiday album. Released in 2004 on Desperation Records, Barenaked Ladies arrange those classic holiday songs along with some original songs. All members contribute vocally at some point in the album, but typically stick to their respective instruments; however, they switch up their instruments for some songs as well. That should be enough of an introduction, as I have much more to write.
Barenaked Ladies are:
Jim Creeggan: double and electric bass, electric guitar, vocals
Kevin Hearn: piano, keyboard, organ, accordian, guitars, mandolin, vibraphone, vocals
Steven Page: vocals, acoustic and electric guitars
Ed Robertson: acoustic and electric guitars, vocals, bass
Tyler Stewart: drums and percussion, vocals
The tracklist (parenthesis denotes arranger[s] of song, it's noteworthy that each member contributed an original song):
Jingle Bells (traditional, arr. by BNL)
Green Christmas (Page/Robertson)
I Saw Three Ships (traditional, arr. by BNL)
Hanukkah Blessings (Page)
O Holy Night (traditional, arr. by BNL)
Elf's Lament (Robertson)*
Snowman (Robertson)
Do They Know It's Christmas? (Bob Geldof, Midge Ure)
Hannukah, Oh Hanukkah (traditional, arr. by BNL)
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings (traditional, arr. by BNL)**
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (John D. Marks)
Carol of the Bells (Mykola Leontovich, Peter J. Wilhousky)
Footprints (Robertson)
Deck the Stills (traditonal, arr. by BNL)
Christmastime, Oh Yeah (Hearn)
Sleigh Ride (Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parrish)
Christmas Pics (Creeggan)
I Have a Little Dreidel (S.E. Goldfarb, S.S. Grossman, arr. by BNL)
Wonderful Christmastime (Paul McCartney)
Auld Lang Syne (traditional, arr. by BNL)
*denotes song features Michael Buble
** denotes song features Sarah McLachlan
The review (I'm not going to judge each song, I will explain why at the bottom):
Jingle Bells: starts off very slowly with piano and soft vocals, then a long piano run, followed by the band kicking in full force in sheer goofiness (remember the Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg... chant back in elementary school? Yeah, it's on here). It gets so festive, that Page cracks up and can barely finish a line. A fun start to the album, with a nice BNL twist.
Green Christmas: starts off moderately and talks about the spirit of the holidays and how people decorate and share moments, but it's a "Green" Christmas because the singer is jealous of being "under the mistletoe with no kiss," among other things. About two minutes into the song, the singer shows his anger by slamming the door on some carollers. Another fun song with good instrument work.
I Saw Three Ships: At 1:07, this song is about rejoicing and seeing three ships. It's a good transition song.
Hanukkah Blessings: the first Hanukkah song, the chorus is catchy and features the band singing Hebrew. I have no clue how it's translated, but it's festive indeed.
O Holy Night: all instrumental, sounding like it belongs at a hockey game. Only 1:09 long.
Elf's Lament: this is an incredibly catchy song with another unique BNL twist. The song is written from an elf's point-of-view, featuring both optimistic and pessimistic qualities from said perspective. Fun to sing along to... the best original BNL song on this album.
Snowman: the song's temp is "casually slow." It sounds like music from a musical snowglobe, if the music had words.
Do They Know It's Christmas?: atmospheric and driving, the bass-snare marchlike feel drives the song. The bells and other holiday instruments compliment the vocals well, and the ending is good.
Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah: a shorter song about Hanukkah, this song is arranged well. The song is about lighting the candles of the menorah, the instrumental solos are interesting to hear.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings: starts off with a thumping bass and soft vocals, McLachlan joins in at the "Star of Wonder..." line, and sings both with the band and solo. She was a nice addition to the song.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: more hockey-game sounding music, the song is less than a minute long. Nice arrangement.
Carol of the Bells: starts slowly, then the familiar notes ring in twenty-eight seconds later. Light highhat work and pulsating notes drive the song. Other instruments filter in as well. This is the best instrument-only song, save for the soft vocals coming in in the last twenty seconds.
Footprints: another casual song about following footprints in the snow of a love interest, with other winter references (ex: snow falling leads to the footprints getting filled up). The piano plays an important role in the song, as do the strings.
Deck the Stills: BNL twist this song so that "Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young" replace the "Deck the Halls" words... 32 seconds of goofiness.
Christmastime, Oh Yeah: an original song with Hearn singing. The song is told as if it is a story, with the "children" of the lyrics singing "Oh yeah." It almost makes you think Randy Savage went soft for a minute.
Sleigh Ride: the jingle bells start off and are heard throughout, with jibberish for words and a basic jazz rhythm on the highhat.
Christmas Pics: another original song, the song is about, well, taking pictures at Christmas. It's driven by the instruments.
I Have a Little Dreidel: this song sounds like some twisted drinking song, less than a minute long.
Wonderful Christmastime: another all-instrument song, then silence... with "Happy Birthday" being sung, to Jesus.
Auld Lang Syne: a satisfactory closing that gradually crescendos and decrescendos as the song progresses.
Pros: the arrangements are appropriately upbeat or slow depending on how the song is typically performed. None of the songs are butchered, and is appropriate for any holiday occassion. Also, BNL placing their trademark twists into the songs (aside from their original songs) are fun to listen to. "Elf's Lament" is their best original song... it's ridiculously catchy. This is a unique holiday album, and is worth adding to your holiday music collection.
Cons: if you don't like BNL, then just stick to Yanni.
Overall score: I would give it a 5/5 if you want something new to listen to for the holidays and appreciate the antics of BNL and enjoy how they arrange songs. Otherwise, I would give it a 4/5 because it should belong in your holiday music collection, but it probably won't be played in the warmer months (unless you're a Christmas-in-July sort of person :)).
Even though this is early, I hope you all have an awesome holiday, religious or not. :thumb:
Barenaked Ladies are:
Jim Creeggan: double and electric bass, electric guitar, vocals
Kevin Hearn: piano, keyboard, organ, accordian, guitars, mandolin, vibraphone, vocals
Steven Page: vocals, acoustic and electric guitars
Ed Robertson: acoustic and electric guitars, vocals, bass
Tyler Stewart: drums and percussion, vocals
The tracklist (parenthesis denotes arranger[s] of song, it's noteworthy that each member contributed an original song):
Jingle Bells (traditional, arr. by BNL)
Green Christmas (Page/Robertson)
I Saw Three Ships (traditional, arr. by BNL)
Hanukkah Blessings (Page)
O Holy Night (traditional, arr. by BNL)
Elf's Lament (Robertson)*
Snowman (Robertson)
Do They Know It's Christmas? (Bob Geldof, Midge Ure)
Hannukah, Oh Hanukkah (traditional, arr. by BNL)
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings (traditional, arr. by BNL)**
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (John D. Marks)
Carol of the Bells (Mykola Leontovich, Peter J. Wilhousky)
Footprints (Robertson)
Deck the Stills (traditonal, arr. by BNL)
Christmastime, Oh Yeah (Hearn)
Sleigh Ride (Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parrish)
Christmas Pics (Creeggan)
I Have a Little Dreidel (S.E. Goldfarb, S.S. Grossman, arr. by BNL)
Wonderful Christmastime (Paul McCartney)
Auld Lang Syne (traditional, arr. by BNL)
*denotes song features Michael Buble
** denotes song features Sarah McLachlan
The review (I'm not going to judge each song, I will explain why at the bottom):
Jingle Bells: starts off very slowly with piano and soft vocals, then a long piano run, followed by the band kicking in full force in sheer goofiness (remember the Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg... chant back in elementary school? Yeah, it's on here). It gets so festive, that Page cracks up and can barely finish a line. A fun start to the album, with a nice BNL twist.
Green Christmas: starts off moderately and talks about the spirit of the holidays and how people decorate and share moments, but it's a "Green" Christmas because the singer is jealous of being "under the mistletoe with no kiss," among other things. About two minutes into the song, the singer shows his anger by slamming the door on some carollers. Another fun song with good instrument work.
I Saw Three Ships: At 1:07, this song is about rejoicing and seeing three ships. It's a good transition song.
Hanukkah Blessings: the first Hanukkah song, the chorus is catchy and features the band singing Hebrew. I have no clue how it's translated, but it's festive indeed.
O Holy Night: all instrumental, sounding like it belongs at a hockey game. Only 1:09 long.
Elf's Lament: this is an incredibly catchy song with another unique BNL twist. The song is written from an elf's point-of-view, featuring both optimistic and pessimistic qualities from said perspective. Fun to sing along to... the best original BNL song on this album.
Snowman: the song's temp is "casually slow." It sounds like music from a musical snowglobe, if the music had words.
Do They Know It's Christmas?: atmospheric and driving, the bass-snare marchlike feel drives the song. The bells and other holiday instruments compliment the vocals well, and the ending is good.
Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah: a shorter song about Hanukkah, this song is arranged well. The song is about lighting the candles of the menorah, the instrumental solos are interesting to hear.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings: starts off with a thumping bass and soft vocals, McLachlan joins in at the "Star of Wonder..." line, and sings both with the band and solo. She was a nice addition to the song.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: more hockey-game sounding music, the song is less than a minute long. Nice arrangement.
Carol of the Bells: starts slowly, then the familiar notes ring in twenty-eight seconds later. Light highhat work and pulsating notes drive the song. Other instruments filter in as well. This is the best instrument-only song, save for the soft vocals coming in in the last twenty seconds.
Footprints: another casual song about following footprints in the snow of a love interest, with other winter references (ex: snow falling leads to the footprints getting filled up). The piano plays an important role in the song, as do the strings.
Deck the Stills: BNL twist this song so that "Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young" replace the "Deck the Halls" words... 32 seconds of goofiness.
Christmastime, Oh Yeah: an original song with Hearn singing. The song is told as if it is a story, with the "children" of the lyrics singing "Oh yeah." It almost makes you think Randy Savage went soft for a minute.
Sleigh Ride: the jingle bells start off and are heard throughout, with jibberish for words and a basic jazz rhythm on the highhat.
Christmas Pics: another original song, the song is about, well, taking pictures at Christmas. It's driven by the instruments.
I Have a Little Dreidel: this song sounds like some twisted drinking song, less than a minute long.
Wonderful Christmastime: another all-instrument song, then silence... with "Happy Birthday" being sung, to Jesus.
Auld Lang Syne: a satisfactory closing that gradually crescendos and decrescendos as the song progresses.
Pros: the arrangements are appropriately upbeat or slow depending on how the song is typically performed. None of the songs are butchered, and is appropriate for any holiday occassion. Also, BNL placing their trademark twists into the songs (aside from their original songs) are fun to listen to. "Elf's Lament" is their best original song... it's ridiculously catchy. This is a unique holiday album, and is worth adding to your holiday music collection.
Cons: if you don't like BNL, then just stick to Yanni.
Overall score: I would give it a 5/5 if you want something new to listen to for the holidays and appreciate the antics of BNL and enjoy how they arrange songs. Otherwise, I would give it a 4/5 because it should belong in your holiday music collection, but it probably won't be played in the warmer months (unless you're a Christmas-in-July sort of person :)).
Even though this is early, I hope you all have an awesome holiday, religious or not. :thumb: