Tuesday 28 September 2010

Album Review: Barenaked Ladies - All In Good Time

To celebrate two years of my blog, and also to challenge myself slightly, I am going to review some of my favourite albums of the year so far. Most of them are relatively well-known artists and bands, so there isn't anything too abnormal to try and get your heads around. One review a day for the next seven days. Yes, my blog goes daily, for one week. One point I will keep pointing out is that these are MY favourite albums. Don't like it - tough.
 As beginnings to albums go, this has to be one of the best I have heard for quite some time. The first three songs have grown on me a heck of a lot. The first song ‘You Run Away’ is a truly great song with deep meaning as is different to what one might expect from the band. The following songs, ‘Summertime’ and ‘Another Heartbreak’ are of the same criteria and are as equally great. I’ve listened to them so much of late; I can now sing all the lyrics with ease.

The fourth song on the album is ‘Four Seconds’; a song that is in the top percentile for songs I have heard this year that I really, really, really like. It’s the best song on the album by far. ‘Four Seconds’ is an incredibly weird and brilliant and catchy song that just has everything. Purely amazing and it has the ability to bury itself in your head so you randomly hum the distinctively unique tune. The rest of the album is still good, but doesn’t match up to the epic opening four songs.

‘On The Lookout’, the song that has the tough job of following ‘Four Seconds’, is completely different from it, but it somehow works. The song is somewhat pleasant and is again, quite a meaningful track. ‘Ordinary’ has a very catchy tune, and it maybe doesn’t have the same depth as most, but the tune makes you enjoy the song. ‘I Have Learned’ is the last of the memorable songs on the album, and again is a song with great power and depth to it that you will remember.

‘Every Subway Car’, track 8, is when the album starts going downhill. The album now reaches a point when it becomes repetitive with the sound. The song doesn’t stand out in any way from the others and just blends in; repetitive, but still quite nice. However, the following song, ‘Jerome’, is probably the worse song on the album, and that is because it is very boring. The song never actually gets going, and with every chord change, you expect something to come which will define the song. It never does.

‘How Long’ blends in well, just like ‘Every Subway Car’ does so it is difficult to actually make a unique observation on it. Then we have ‘Golden Boy’, which is certainly a very pleasant and listenable song, but yet again it lacks the individualism. It’s like they found a sound the liked, so decided to use it most the way through the album. ‘I Saw It’ is refreshingly different. It has a soulful, acoustic sound to it again, which is indeed very pleasant and also has the depth and meaning.

‘This Love We’re In’ returns to the similar sound of the majority of the album, but yet again I still seem to really like it. ‘Watching The Northern Lights’ is a great final song for an album. It has a calm and somewhat ‘resolutionary’ sound to it, and feels the album is coming to a slow stop. It is a very good song and is probably good song to listen to before you go to sleep.

I still recommend purchase of the album if you do like their sound. It is also worth it for those first four, amazing and defining songs which really make the album seem like a success. However, if you don’t like their sound, then I don’t suggest the album I just suggest you listen the song ‘Four Seconds’. You will love its individual sound, and if you don’t, then have no sense of rhythm my friend.

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