All In Good Time, the first studio album from Barenaked Ladies minus co-founder Steven Page, dropped earlier this week. And I’ve been listening to it all week, trying to figure out how I feel about it. It’s easily the most somber album they’ve done. It’s shaky. It sounds like they’re trying to find themselves in a post-Page world. All of which is expected, but I was secretly hoping this album would be loud and confident and, really, play to Ed’s strengths. Instead I think they tried to prove that they could perform traditional Steven songs without him, and while I don’t think they necessarily failed, I also feel like you can call every song Page would’a sung and that every one would have been considerably better for it.
It’s not a bad album, it’s obviously not their best; amusingly enough I think this effort makes their last ‘soft’ album, Are Me, sound particularly great. Sort of in a you-don’t-know-what-you-had-until-it’s-gone way. Except we knew what we had with Steven Page and cherished what he brought to the table. Steven has one of the best voices in the business, if not thee best, and he’ll be missed. He already is.
I think BNL needed this album to vent, and the potential for them to survive and thrive is surely evident here. They simply need to amp up their classic fun and goofy charm next time.
Early Standouts:
1. You Run Away (which has really grown on me, though I still feel Steven would’a hit it out of the park)
2. Four Seconds (clearly and heavily influenced by their children’s album, Snacktime, which amuses me )
3. On The Lookout
4. Every Subway Car
5. Golden Boy
