Released in the early months of 1992, it was the first major label release (
Sire) by the Canadian group calling themselves the
Barenaked Ladies. They had previously released, independently and very successfully, a cassette with several tracks from Gordon on it. The Barenaked Ladies quickly became one of the most popular Canadian groups around, if I recall correctly, most everyone had "
If I Had $1000000" and "
Brian Wilson" on the tip of their tongue for the better part of a year, and they toured steadily for quite some time. They were
quirky,
funny, and
serious all at once, and most everyone loved them. You could hear bits of Ontario in their music, I suppose I always liked that. People could identify, and though I never did, and still haven't been to one of their shows, I hear they put on a really good one.
The music on Gordon is interesting, and nice, soft and easy on tired brains, sometimes. Other times, it is loud and
insane and they let their humour take over for a while. It doesn't make you terribly sad, or insanely happy, it is just nice. Even the serious tracks on this album have bits of subtle sarcasm, gently biting jest. Gordon is the sort of album that sits idle in my cd rack for months, and then out of no where, I'll crave the bits of insanity and memories attached to it all, and I'll be hooked again for a while.
Track Listing..
The band members really haven't changed since the beginning, thusly if you're curious as to who played on this album, check out the
Barenaked Ladies node. In the interests of providing a decent intro to the album, should you want one, I would reccommend starting with "
What A Good Boy" (my favourite, mostly for lyrical content), "
Crazy, "
Enid", and of course, "
If I Had $1000000". They're all quite good, in their own right, but even if you dislike this album for whatever reason, don't discount them completely. The music just seemed to get more interesting and less annoying (or is a better term, more polished?) as their career progressed. They are definitely pretty neat, and this album is most certainly worth at least ponderance and a listen or two.