Ranking All the Barenaked Ladies Studio Albums

Barenaked Ladies

The Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band that started up in the late 1980s. It was co-founded by a couple of individuals, with one being Ed Robertson and the other being Steven Page. The latter hasn’t been a member of the Barenaked Ladies since 2009. However, the rest of the band members are still very much active as a quartet rather than a quintet. Over the course of a multi-decade career, the Barenaked Ladies has managed to sell millions and millions of records, thus making it one of Canada’s best-known rock bands.

13. Fake Nudes

Both Robertson and Page played very important roles in the Barenaked Ladies. As a result, the band hasn’t been the same ever since the latter left. Still, some of the post-Page releases have been better while others have been worse. Fake Nudes is very much an example of the latter, particularly because it sometimes comes close enough to swipe at excellence but never manages to seize it.

12. Silverball

Silverball is another example of a post-Page release that has suffered. In its case, it consists of pop rock, which is so bland that it can’t even be considered offensive.

11. Detour de Force

As mentioned earlier, some of the post-Page releases have been better than the others. For instance, while Detour de Force isn’t capable of competing with the band’s best, it nonetheless contains a certain charm of its own. Since it is the band’s latest release, one hopes that it is the start of a new upward trend.

10. Grinning Streak

Grinning Streak was the Barenaked Ladies’ tenth studio album. As such, it was the second post-Page release. Grinning Streak had some of the same issues mentioned for its follow-ups. However, it was carried by some of the stronger songs that can be found within.

9. All in Good Time

Speaking of which, All in Good Time was the first post-Page release. It isn’t too bad, perhaps because the band is known to have written 27 songs before recording the 18 songs that were considered to be the best of the lot. Even then, All in Good Time’s better material is dragged down by a fair amount of filler.

8. Barenaked Ladies Are Me

This studio album came from a very productive time for the Barenaked Ladies. Indeed, one might be tempted to argue that it was a bit too productive because it resulted in 29 recorded songs. Theoretically, if the Barenaked Ladies had decided to choose a dozen or so from the lot, the result might have been one of their strongest releases ever. Instead, the band decided to release not one but two studio albums in short succession. Barenaked Ladies Are Me isn’t bad, but it is very much the weaker of the two.

7. Barenaked Ladies Are Men

Of course, Barenaked Ladies Are Men would be the other release to come from that time. Like its counterpart, it is also dragged down by its less excellent songs. However, this was true to a lesser extent, thus enabling Barenaked Ladies Are Men to come out ahead in that particular comparison.

6. Born on a Pirate Ship

Born on a Pirate Ship came out at a good point in the Barenaked Ladies’ career. On the one hand, they were still so new that they were shining bright; on the other hand, they were experienced enough that they showed notable improvements on their previous works. As such, Born on a Pirate Ship is one of their better releases, particularly because of “The Old Apartment,” which can be considered one of its strongest songs.

5. Maybe You Should Drive

This was the Barenaked Ladies’ second studio album. It wasn’t as successful as its predecessor, perhaps because the band members weren’t working together as smoothly as they had for its predecessor Gordon. As such, it can be considered something of a sophomore slump. Even so, Maybe You Should Drive is quite listenable, thus enabling it to beat most of its successors.

4. Everything to Everyone

Everything to Everyone had a lot to like. In part, this was because it retained much of what people enjoyed about the Barenaked Ladies’ earlier material. However, it also showed the band’s willingness to continue changing rather than just coast along on their previous successes. Besides this, Everything to Everyone was also interesting because it showed an increased willingness on the band’s part to comment on politics.

3. Stunt

Stunt has the distinction of being the band’s single best-selling release. For proof, consider how it managed more than 4 million sales before the end of its time on the U.S. charts, thus enabling it to become the band’s breakthrough release in said market as well. In a lot of ways, this is the quintessential Barenaked Ladies that people remember, which is to say, lots of fun and lots of silliness that perhaps dips into shallowness from time to time.

2. Gordon

This was the Barenaked Ladies’ debut studio album. It isn’t as polished as their later efforts. However, that was one of the elements that enabled this release to stand out, meaning that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. For that matter, Gordon gets extra points because its success made everything else possible.

1. Maroon

There are songs from other Barenaked Ladies releases that can match even the best of Maroon. However, none of them can match up in a release-to-release comparison because the latter has no filler whatsoever. That kind of consistency is rare, meaning that Maroon more than merits the number one position on this list.

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