Steven Page Vs. the Barenaked Ladies

If you knew me in high school then one thing you knew about me was that I am a big Barenaked Ladies fan. At cabarets and school concerts I'd often perform in a duo with a friend of mine and more often than not we'd find ourselves performing a BNL song or two - I did my best Steven Page impression, and just loved loved singing those songs. I'm sure that's how the band felt at the same time.
I often think about how much more gratifying it must be to be a musician as opposed to a filmmaker. With music the gratification is more immediate. You can live in it over and over while playing live for your fans. It's different being a filmmaker. It's rare that you even get to connect with your audience in person, and they're never reacting to you in the moment. Also in our country our homegrown music has a strong venue and chance for international appeal - not unlike what BNL gets - and deservedly so. So yeah, I'm a fan - I still get starstruck just a little bit when I see them in real life around the city - I can't help it, they make me feel like I'm fourteen again :)

I think that I was just about as surprised as anyone when I heard about Page leaving the band last February. So many questions sprang to mind - will they add someone new - will they continue playing the old songs, in particular the ones that featured Steven in lead vocals. Let's not kid ourselves here - one of the most unique things about the band is their vocals and how different they are among the members. Steve is a trained opera singer and Ed is unpolished (in a good way). Together, it shouldn't work - but it always has. And then when you throw the other guys in for an occasional lead it's lovely as well. But having someone else from the group sub in for Steve just didn't feel like a good idea. Just a month after the break-up the, now, foursome performed, and subsequently released the recording from their concert at Universal Studios. I can only imagine that it was their attempt to show that they can keep-on-keepin'-on. … It was… weird. I mean, it's a live recording - so there's that. But it also didn't feel right. Needless to say I was really looking forward to hearing what their first sans-Steve album would be.

Now, like I said, I was surprised that Steve left but I wasn't shocked. The band started off as a two-man show with a really fantastic back-up. And that's what Steve signed up for. As the years progressed everyone in the band started to come out of their shells. With the exception of Ed they all released solo albums. Which is what I think lead to the other guys started to get more involved in the song-writing and the vocals. Which, obviously, left less room for Page. And then came aptly named The Vanity Project, co-written with Stephen Duffy, a long time contributor to BNL and Page. It was a really lovely album, but it made me think - why is Steve doing a solo album when he's got BNL, which lead me to the conclusion that he wasn't getting enough of himself out there. When their double album, Barenaked Ladies are Me/Barenaked Ladies Are Men came out a few years back it seem solidified that the band was moving in a new direction - one of complete collaboration with all of it's members - which is a really exciting idea… unless you feel like you have so much more to offer.

So I wasn't shocked that Page left - and I didn't blame him. I understand both sides of it - the band needed to grow in a new direction and he just didn't fit it. And it seemed simple. Amicable. And then BNL released All in Good Time. I think the band would be lying if they didn't admit to this being a break-up album. And that's understandable - hell that's what people expected. But… I mean... it's kind of vicious. They haven't come quite out to admit it, but they have said that some of it is based on what happened - but I think that's being a bit kind. I could pull a bunch of lyrics to illustrate my point, but I'd much prefer you check the album out for yourself. The bad feelings are sprinkled through-out but in the ones that stand out the most to me are "You Ran Away" and "Golden Boy".

And then, today, Steven Page released Page One his first official record since the split. I've been sampling the tracks online, and he's been pretty awesome about putting them up on his site to preview. I have to be honest - I like it a lot better than BNL's new album. What I always loved most about BNL was that it was fun and energetic music that had a heart and depth to it, and that's what Page One is. All in Good Time is moody and a bit… sad - and not in the good-sad way (if that makes any sense at all). A friend of mine compared it to elevator music - which is a bit drastic, but I can see their point. Very few of the songs really stand out - I know that now that I've had some time with it I do find myself singing along - but there's no song in particular I go to... Maybe that's a good thing. Whereas the first listen of Page One made me want to go back and re-listen right away. It's not so much a break-up album as it is a fresh-start album - but Page uses metaphor to cover up the nastier stuff. Although he's been speaking out in the press about being confused as to why the band didn't change their name - or why do they continue to perform his songs. To me the answer is simple, they're a brand. A successful one at that. And so long as they don't misrepresent themselves and people are aware that it's becoming something different then I don't see a problem with it.

In the end I think the world's going to benefit from double the music now that there are two factions. I believe that BNL needed to make this album, it's a hallway that will lead to something better. And I think Steven is finally revelling in the creative freedom that he's so desperately needed. If you've never been a fan of these guys these albums aren't going to convert you - but if you've been around and you've dug the ride, you'll continue to dig it. A road split in the wood, and I said fuck it - let's go both ways!