Born On A Pirate Ship [ENHANCED CD] [Enhanced]

Barenaked Ladies

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 19, 1996)
• Original Release Date: March 19, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Reprise / Wea
• ASIN: B000002N47
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,751 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Filled with clever lyrics that range from the blatantly cynical to the mildly romantic, Born on a Pirate Ship offers more of the same musical fun the Barenaked Ladies put forth on their debut CD, Gordon, and its follow-up, Maybe You Should Drive. From the manic ravings of "Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank," a musical exploration of celebrity-stalking, to the bluesy lament of "Break Your Heart," BNL serve up a musical complexity and rare intelligence that separate them from the pack of mostly acoustic bands who dominate radio playlists. Highlights include "The Old Apartment," and anthem about trying to recapture lost youth and "When I Fall," a haunting song about a professional window washer. While it lacks some of the raw energy of their earlier releases, Born on a Pirate Ship is still a fine offering, and the ECD clips are worth the price of the disc. --L.A. Smith

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My least favorite BNL Album....and it still gets four stars!, May 12, 2000

By	Richard J Duke (Little Rock, AR United States) - See all my reviews

BNL is my favorite band, and although this is my least favorite album, it is only because when you get goofy like me and rate all this stuff, something always has to be at the bottom. Still, this is a great collection of the Ladies' songs. My favorites are "Break Your Heart" where the character in the song is trying to end a relationship without feeling the guilt that always comes with being the breaker-upper. "I Live With It Every Day" is something to behold as it changes styles without breaking the mood of the piece. "Straw Hat And Old Dirty Hank" is probably my favorite because of the definitely creepy subject matter. This is a great album, but purchase "Stunt" or "Gordon" first to see if this is the band for you.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Their Bravest Effort, September 16, 2003

By	G. J Wiener (Westchester, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Barenaked Ladies have a clever style. Super vocal harmonies and snappy arrangements highlight many of their recordings. Whereas Born On A Pirate Ship is certainly strong in the above mentioned categories, the songs are truly hit and miss.

The Old Apartment, Break Your Heart, and Shoebox are clearly the highlights of this CD. Love the steady rock beat of Apartment and Break Your Heart features an outstanding lead vocal by Stephen Paige. Shoebox is a jolly pop tune with fine harmonies.

However, the remaining other songs are either OK or really nothing too special. In The Drink is a little interesting but does drag on a little too long. Oh yes the arrangements are quite clever but the melody on Spider In My Room is fairly unmemorable and even annoying. Same Thing is oh so bland. Other songs like Stomache vs Heart sound like inferior versions of better tunes by this band.

Truthfully, purchase Stunt, then Maroon or even Rock Spectacle but you can certainly live without Born On A Pirate Ship.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I didn't mean to Break Your Heart, August 11, 2001

By	Jason Flum "critical teacher" (East Windsor, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm a huge BNL fan. Have been for about 4 years now. I have all six of their CDS. My absolute favorite song of theirs, "Break Your Heart," is on this disc. While it may not be quite as raw as the version on "Rock Spectacle," it's an incredible song and that alone makes the disc worthy of the 5 stars. Whereas some of the songs on here, I feel, are not the best songs by BNL (ie. "Spider in My Room" and "Same Thing") this disc has some absolutely inccredible songs: the aforementioned "Break Your Heart," the sad and touching "When I Fall," the rocking "Old Apartment," the troubling "I Live With It Everyday" and the very cathcy "This Is Where It Ends" For any BNL fan, this disc is worth having. If you're one of those who got into BNL as a result of "Stunt" or "Maroon" and are looking to buy an older CD, first get "Rock Spetacle" and "Gordon" -- then come looking for this and "Maybe You Should Drive" -- not that these are at all bad CDs - the first two just happen to be more consistantly better.