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Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits

 
Album Review: Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001)

  • Artist: Barenaked Ladies
  • Rating: StarStarStarStar
  • Release Date: November 13, 2001
  • Type: Compilation (best of)
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Canada's beloved funny guys the Barenaked Ladies have proved to be more than just a novelty act. Four albums into their wavering career, Stunt was golden for American fans and BNL found themselves chiefing the mainstream scene during the late '90s. So to issue a greatest-hits collection might be appropriate for those fans who caught on late, but also a sweet deal for those loyalists who were following the band since the early days of the lost Yellow Tape. Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001) is a heavy dose of Barenaked Ladies favorites spooled together in an inoperative mix. It's not distracting, though, for the select batch basically sounds like a mix tape. What's even more charming is how BNL allowed fans to vote for their favorite songs online in order to make up the song listing. Radio staples like "One Week" and "Pinch Me" are woven in between cult classics like "Be My Yoko Ono," "Enid," and "The Old Apartment." Two prime cuts from the multi-platinum Rock Spectacle -- "What a Good Boy" and "Brian Wilson" -- are also included, but the rare acoustic beauty of Bruce Cockburn's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" is a definite standout. Two new songs complete this lush and celebratory album. The spunky new wave-like "It's Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland)" boasts typical BNL humor and grandeur; however, "Thanks That Was Fun" gives something more. It's an emotional track, and Ed Robinson's dark vocals are his finest yet. Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001) does indeed close a chapter in the ever-changing storybook of the Barenaked Ladies. They're rock stars, but they were friends first -- even before they had a million dollars. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
The Old Apartment (Lyrics) Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (3:22)
Falling for the First Time (Lyrics) Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (3:39)
Brian Wilson (Lyrics) Steven Page Barenaked Ladies (4:44)
One Week (Lyrics) Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (2:48)
Be My Yoko Ono (Lyrics) Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (2:44)
Alternative Girlfriend (Lyrics) Stephen Duffy, Steven Page Barenaked Ladies (4:20)
It's Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland) Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (2:34)
If I Had $1,000,000 (Lyrics) Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (4:25)
Call and Answer (Lyrics) Stephen Duffy, Steven Page Barenaked Ladies (5:48)
Get in Line (Lyrics) Jim Creeggan, Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (3:39)
It's All Been Done (Lyrics) Steven Page Barenaked Ladies (3:26)
Jane (Lyrics) Stephen Duffy, Steven Page Barenaked Ladies (4:04)
Lovers in a Dangerous Time Bruce Cockburn Barenaked Ladies (4:05)
Pinch Me (Lyrics) Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (4:37)
Shoe Box (Lyrics) Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (3:09)
What a Good Boy (Lyrics) Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (4:50)
Too Little Too Late (Lyrics) Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (3:23)
Enid (Lyrics) Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (4:07)
Thanks That Was Fun (Lyrics) Steven Page, Ed Robertson Barenaked Ladies (3:39)

Credits

Barenaked Ladies (Producer), Barenaked Ladies (Main Performer), Tom Lord-Alge (Remixing), Ben Grosse (Remixing), David Kahne (Programming), David Kahne (Producer), David Leonard (Producer), Ben Mink (Producer), Michael Phillip Wojewoda (Producer), Susan Rogers (Producer), Jim Scott (Producer), Jim Scott (Engineer), Jim Scott (Mixing), Don Was (Producer), Steven Page (Annotation), Howie Klein (Liner Notes), Larry LeBlanc (Liner Notes), John Rummen (Design), Everett Ravestein (Producer), Robert Sebree (Photography), Aubrey Winfield (Producer), Scott Dibble (Producer), Kevin Hearn (Drawing), Dan Durbin (Producer)
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Wikipedia: Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991–2001)
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Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991–2001)
Greatest hits by Barenaked Ladies
Released November 13, 2001
Recorded 1991–2001
Genre Alternative Rock
Length 73:23
Label Reprise
Producer Barenaked Ladies, Scott Dibble, Michael Phillip Wojewoda, Don Was, et al.
Professional reviews
Barenaked Ladies chronology
Maroon
(2000)
Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits 1991–2001
(2001)
Everything to Everyone
(2003)

Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991–2001) is the seventh full-length album by Barenaked Ladies. It is a "greatest hits" compilation spanning BNL's first decade, featuring a version of almost every single they had released to that point. The album also featured two new tracks: "It's Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland)" and "Thanks That Was Fun", which was released as a single. It was released in November 2001 to a warm commercial reaction (yet another US gold record). The title itself is a tongue-in-cheek reference to a line from the song "Box Set" off the album Gordon.

The album contains a version of every single the band ever released, including two that were never previously available on a BNL album: 1991's Lovers In A Dangerous Time (from a Bruce Cockburn tribute album) and 1999's "Get in Line" (from the King of the Hill soundtrack), which were their first and latest singles at the time (in terms of having a video and a commercial release). In addition, the album contains one of the band's most famous songs, "If I Had $1000000", which the band still considers 'never a single' (despite having several released CD singles for the song, which was only after it became heavily played on the radio. The song never had a video). Initially the band was not sure if they would include both of their less popular singles - "Be My Yoko Ono" and "Alternative Girlfriend". They held a poll on their website and the result was an almost exactly 50/50 split. As a result, the band included both songs, resulting in the album running over 73 minutes long (nearly the capacity of a CD). This may have contributed two 'new' versions used on the album. Though the radio mix of "The Old Apartment" was used, the instrumental intro was cut. Similarly, a new edit of "Pinch Me" was created using the radio edit's cropped intro, but leaving in the album version's guitar solo outro.

Most of the songs on the album had various available album versions that could have been included. Selection was made on the basis of variety, un-releasedness, version-popularity. Song versions are noted below. The album was touted as completely remastered, but as is the modern practice due to the loudness war (not employed to the same extent in the early 90's), all the tracks were mastered at a very high volume level - noticeably higher than any of the original recordings. This can (and to some extent does) create a loss of audio quality due to added compression and clipping.

In addition to the album's retrospective contents, the video for the single, "Thanks That Was Fun" was a montage of all of the band's prior music videos (with singer's mouths altered to appear to be singing the new song). The band wanted to name the single "One Weaker", as a followup to the hit single "One Week", but management refused to allow it.

The album's other original song, "It's Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland)" was included on the soundtrack for the EA Sports video game NHL 2002, along with tracks from several other Canadian artists. In addition, the band members' names and faces were scanned into the game, and can be accessed by a creating custom players with their names.

Tracks recorded for this album but omitted from the finished record are "I Don't Get It Anymore" (Unreleased, but was recorded by Ed on "The Bathroom Sessions" on Youtube.com) and "I Can, I Will, I Do" (held for the Shallow Hal soundtrack, but cut from it; re-recorded for Everything to Everyone, but cut from that album; re-recorded again for Barenaked Ladies Are Men, and available in live performance for iTunes Originals - Barenaked Ladies).

The album was released two months after the September 11 terror attacks, and is dedicated to the victims.

Track listing

(Original studio album version unless otherwise noted)

  1. "The Old Apartment" (Steven Page, Ed Robertson) – 3:22 (new edit of radio mix)
  2. "Falling For The First Time" (Page, Robertson) – 3:39
  3. "Brian Wilson" (Page) – 4:44 (Rock Spectacle live version)
  4. "One Week" (Robertson) – 2:48
  5. "Be My Yoko Ono" (Page, Robertson) – 2:44
  6. "Alternative Girlfriend" (Stephen Duffy, Page) – 4:20
  7. "It's Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland)" (Page, Robertson) – 2:34
  8. "If I Had $1,000,000" (Page, Robertson) – 4:25
  9. "Call and Answer" (Duffy, Page) – 5:48
  10. "Get in Line" (Jim Creeggan, Page, Robertson) – 3:39
  11. "It's All Been Done" (Page) – 3:26
  12. "Jane" (Duffy, Page) – 4:04
  13. "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" (Bruce Cockburn) – 4:05
  14. "Pinch Me" (Page, Robertson) – 4:37 (radio edit without fadeout ending)
  15. "Shoe Box" (Page, Robertson) – 3:09 (radio remix)
  16. "What a Good Boy" (Page, Robertson) – 4:50 (Rock Spectacle live version)
  17. "Too Little Too Late" (Page, Robertson) – 3:23
  18. "Enid" (Page, Robertson) – 4:07
  19. "Thanks That Was Fun" (Page, Robertson) – 3:39

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
2001 The Billboard 200 38
2001 Top Canadian Albums 3
2001 Top Internet Albums 18

 
 

 

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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