Barenaked Ladies - Hits From Yesterday & The Day Before

Barenaked Ladies – Hits From Yesterday And The Day Before
2011, Rhino Records

It takes some moxie to last in the music business for twenty years.  It takes real chutzpah to not only survive chart-topping single and still be making music more than a dozen years later in spite of losing a principal songwriter and vocalist, But above all it takes talent; something the four remaining members of Barenaked Ladies have never run short of.  On September 27, 2011, Rhino Records will release Hits From Yesterday And The Day Before, Barenaked Ladies second greatest hits collection.  This career-spanning collection will seem mostly redundant if you already own Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits, but will be an ideal starting place for new fans.

Cited by no less than Sir Paul McCartney as one of the most interesting bands in rock and roll today, Barenaked Ladies have long blended a singular musical talent with a nerd-rock aura and boundless energy.  The divorce of co-founder Steven Page from the band in 2009 might have meant the end for some bands, but Ed Robertson (vocals/guitar), Kevin Hearn (vocals/keys), Jim Creeggan (bass/vocals) and Tyler Stewart (drums/vocals) set their eyes upon the future and have refused to look back.  Hits From Yesterday And The Day Before closes the book on the first two decades of Barenaked Ladies, and shows a marked development of sound, style and maturity over the years.

Classic Barenaked Ladies hits are featured mostly in their original, recorded forms.  Songs such as “If I Had $1,000,000, “Brian Wilson (live)”, “The Old Apartment” and “One Week”, as well as moderately successful radio singles such as “Pinch Me”. “Another Postcard” and “It’s All Been Done”.  Very little representation is given to the last three BNL Albums (Barenaked Ladies Are Me, Barenaked Ladies Are Men, All In Good Time), most likely due to these albums being released independently by the band, whereas Rhino owns the rights to much of the material presented here.  The only track here not previously available on CD is the full version of the “Big Bang Theory Theme”, which mixes Robertson’s sometimes frenetic talk/sing style and classic BNL kitsch. 

If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Barenaked Ladies fan, then Hits From Yesterday And The Day Before isn’t likely to hold much appeal.  You’re going to have all of the tracks here already.  But for new fans just acquainting themselves with the band, it’s a tremendous collection-as-introduction.  What’s more intriguing, and somehow still secretive, is the deluxe edition 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-disc set that includes the greatest hits disc plus a second disc of never before heard songs.  No track list has been published to date, and no listing has yet to appear on major retailers such as Amazon, Target, Walmart, FYE, CDPlus or CDUniverse.  This is the collection that will cause long time fans to open their wallets. 

In the end, Hits From Yesterday And The Day Before is a solid collection for beginners, but probably not worth shelling out the money for if you already own several BNL albums.  The “Big Bang Theory Theme” is certainly worth hearing, but isn’t enough of an upgrade, in itself, over Disc One to make it essential.  Stop Us If You’ve Heard This One Before, if it makes it to market, will be a must have for all the die-hard fans out there.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

(Note: In this case, the rating is more of the collection than the music thereon.  There just 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.  Hits From Yesterday And The Day Before is available for pre-order via Amazon.com both on CD and 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!