Silverball | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2 June 2015 | |||
Recorded | December 2014–February 2015 [1] | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 45:10 | |||
Label | Vanguard Records | |||
Producer | Gavin Brown | |||
Barenaked Ladies chronology | ||||
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Singles from Silverball | ||||
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Silverball is the 11th full-length original-material studio album by Barenaked Ladies. The album was released on 2 June 2015. [2] The album is the band's third studio album since the departure of founding member Steven Page in February 2009. The album was recorded in late 2014 and early 2015 with producer Gavin Brown.
The cover art depicts a pinball sitting on a pinball table surface, reflecting the darkened figure of a man playing. Lead singer and guitarist Ed Robertson, an acknowledged longtime video game fanatic turned his interest towards pinball in the 2010s, amassing a collection of machines. The inspiration of the name Silverball came from the giant glitterball which hung above the floor of the O2 ABC venue in Glasgow, Scotland. Which the band relayed as one of their favourite venues. The venue itself has sadly since burned down and is no longer in use. It is believed the glitterball was destroyed in the fire
Best Buy offered a retailer-exclusive limited-time edition of the album in the U.S. including "Counting Down" and "Fall Back On", two songs which were initially cut from the album. [3] Both songs are exclusive to Spotify in Canada, who also offer a track-by-track commentary by the band for the album.
The album was released on vinyl on 31 July 2015. [4] BNL Rocks Red Rocks , a live album recorded at Red Rocks Amphitheatre during the tour for Silverball, was released 20 May 2016. [5] [6]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [7] |
PopMatters | [8] |
The Toronto Star | [9] |
In Canada, the album debuted with 4,000 copies sold in its first week of release. [10]
In the U.S., the album debuted at No. 46 on the Billboard 200, [11] and No. 5 on Top Rock Albums chart, [12] selling 11,000 copies in its first week. The album has sold 28,000 copies in the United States as of April 2016. [13]
All tracks are written by Ed Robertson, except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Get Back Up" |
| Ed Robertson | 3:02 |
2. | "Here Before" | Ed Robertson | 3:55 | |
3. | "Matter of Time" | Ed Robertson | 3:36 | |
4. | "Duct Tape Heart" |
| Ed Robertson | 3:03 |
5. | "Say What You Want" | Ed Robertson | 3:35 | |
6. | "Passcode" | Kevin Hearn | Kevin Hearn | 2:35 |
7. | "Hold My Hand" | Ed Robertson | 3:59 | |
8. | "Narrow Streets" | Jim Creeggan | Jim Creeggan | 2:55 |
9. | "Toe to Toe" | Ed Robertson | 3:16 | |
10. | "Piece of Cake" | Ed Robertson | 3:24 | |
11. | "Globetrot" | Ed Robertson | 3:28 | |
12. | "Silverball" | Ed Robertson | 4:36 | |
13. | "Tired of Fighting with You" | Kevin Hearn | Kevin Hearn | 3:46 |
Total length: | 45:10 |
No. | Title | Lead vocal(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
14. | "Counting Down" | Ed Robertson | 3:27 |
15. | "Fall Back On" | Ed Robertson | 3:24 |
The lead single, "Say What You Want", was made available for streaming on 27 April 2015. [14] [15] On 4 May 2015, a video for "Silverball" was released as a thank you from Robertson to the community of the pinball website Pinside.com for their technical assistance with his pinball machines. [16] [17] It was released for digital download the following day. [18] A lyric video for "Duct Tape Heart" was released 10 July 2015. [19] The official music video for "Duct Tape Heart", containing live footage of the band's performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on the Last Summer On Earth 2015 tour, was released on 19 October 2015 to coincide with the start of the Canadian leg of the Silverball tour. [20]
Additional:
Chart (2015) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [21] | 3 |
US Billboard 200 [22] | 46 |
US Digital Albums (Billboard) [23] | 13 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [24] | 5 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [25] | 5 |
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reached mainstream success in Canada when their debut with Reprise Records, Gordon, featuring the singles "If I Had $1000000" and "Brian Wilson", was released in 1992. The band's popularity subsequently spread into the US, beginning with versions of "Brian Wilson" and "The Old Apartment" off their 1996 live album Rock Spectacle, followed by their fourth studio album Stunt, their breakout success in 1998. The album featured their highest-charting hit, "One Week", as well as "It's All Been Done" and "Call and Answer". Their fifth album, Maroon, featuring the lead single "Pinch Me", also charted highly. In the 2010s the band became well-known for creating the theme song for the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
Maybe You Should Drive is the second studio album by Barenaked Ladies. It was released in August 1994 and went double platinum in Canada, reaching No. 3 upon its release. It was also their first album to chart in the US, peaking at No. 175 on the Billboard 200. Unlike on their previous album Gordon, Steven Page and Ed Robertson did not collaborate as frequently.
Born on a Pirate Ship is the third full-length studio album by Barenaked Ladies (BNL), featuring the songs "Shoe Box", "The Old Apartment", "When I Fall" and "Break Your Heart". "The Old Apartment" would become BNL's first US hit in 1997.
Stunt is the fourth full-length studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies. Their most successful album, it entered the US charts at No. 3 and sold over 4 million units by the end of its chart run. Its first single, "One Week" became the band's breakthrough single in the US market by hitting No. 1. The song also reached No. 5 in the UK, and helped revitalize their career in the band's home country of Canada, where their fame had diminished since the days of their debut album Gordon. In addition, follow-up singles "It's All Been Done", "Alcohol" and "Call and Answer" were each successful to some degree.
Maroon is the fifth full-length studio album by Barenaked Ladies. The album was the follow-up to 1998's Stunt, the band's most successful album in the United States. Maroon debuted at No. 1 in Canada and No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard 200. In its first week, the album sold 17,800 copies in Canada and just under 128,000 in the U.S. It has sold at least 1 million copies in the U.S. alone. The album spawned three hit singles : "Pinch Me", "Too Little Too Late" and "Falling for the First Time".
Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991–2001) is a greatest hits compilation album by Barenaked Ladies which spans their first decade as a band. It contains released singles, plus new songs "It's Only Me " and "Thanks That Was Fun", the latter which was released as a single. Disc One was released in November 2001 to a warm commercial reaction and was certified gold in the United States. The title itself is a tongue-in-cheek reference to a line from the "Box Set" off the album Gordon, which is about a box set release from a has-been band: "Disc One – it's where we've begun/It's all my greatest hits/And if you are a fan then you know that you've already got 'em." The album was released two months after the September 11 attacks, and is dedicated to the victims. The album was among the top 50 best-selling albums of 2001 in Canada and the fourth best-selling album of the year in Canada by a Canadian artist.
"One Week" is a song by Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies released as the first single from their 1998 album, Stunt. It was written by Ed Robertson, who is featured on the lead vocal of the rapped verses. Steven Page sings lead on the song's chorus, while the two co-lead the prechoruses in harmony. The song is notable for its significant number of pop culture references and remains the band's best-known song in the United States, where it topped the Billboard Hot 100. Coincidentally, when the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, it remained in the top spot for one week.
James Raymond Creeggan is the bassist for Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies.
"The Old Apartment" is a song by the Canadian alternative rock group Barenaked Ladies. It was the band's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and first Mainstream Top 40 hit, appearing on the albums Born on a Pirate Ship, Rock Spectacle and Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits. The music video for the song, which garnered a Best Director nomination at the 1997 MuchMusic Video Awards, was directed by fellow Canadian and fan Jason Priestley at his own suggestion.
"Brian Wilson" is a song by Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies from their 1992 album Gordon. The song was written by Steven Page as a tribute to the Beach Boys' co-founder Brian Wilson. It was released as a single and peaked at number 18 on the Canadian Singles Chart. In 1998, the song peaked at number 68 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Wilson himself covered the song on his live album Live at the Roxy Theatre (2000).
"Pinch Me" is a song by Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies. It was released as the first single from their fifth studio album, Maroon (2000), on August 7, 2000. The song became the band's last top-10 hit in Canada, peaking at number four on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart. In the United States, the single reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 2000, becoming the band's final top-40 hit there. It also peaked at number two on Billboard's Triple-A and Adult Top 40 charts.
"Another Postcard" is a 2003-released song by the Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies. It was the band's first single from the album Everything to Everyone which was released after the band took a nearly two-year hiatus from performing. The song is notable for its reggae-rap verses. The verses are rapped by Ed Robertson while the chorus and bridge are led by Steven Page. The two co-wrote the track. The song was used and featured in the end credits and on the soundtrack of the 2008 American film Space Chimps.
"Alternative Girlfriend" is a song by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, written by Stephen Duffy and Steven Page, from their 1994 album Maybe You Should Drive. The song was released as the second single from the album and peaked at No. 22 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart and No. 4 on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart. It later appeared on their 2001 compilation, Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits.
"Too Little Too Late" is a single by the Barenaked Ladies from their 2000 album, Maroon. The single included a remix of another single from Maroon, "Pinch Me". Another version was also released as a "Special Enhanced CD Single" with album art work based on the song's music video. The song is also featured on the band's 2001 compilation album, Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits. The song was written by Ed Robertson and Steven Page, and sung by Page.
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