Maroon (Barenaked Ladies album)

Untitled

Maroon (2000) is the sixth full-length album by Barenaked Ladies and their fifth studio album. The follow-up to 1998's Stunt, Maroon reached the Top 5 in Canada and the United States, selling a million units in America alone. With keyboardist Kevin Hearn's leukemia battle won, and with an instinct to downplay the jokey reputation they were so known for, BNL deliberately created a more serious and sophisticated album. The album spawned three successful singles which still receive moderate airplay: "Pinch Me", "Too Little Too Late" and "Falling for the First Time."

Unlike past albums, the songs came almost entirely from the pairing of Page/Robertson. One track, "Baby Seat", was written by Page with his longtime song-writing partner, Stephen Duffy. This was the last Page/Duffy track that Barenaked Ladies would release, starting a policy of keeping the writing within the band on their next album. "Hidden Sun" appears as a hidden track on most copies of the album (some people have noted that their copies don't have it, though the albums visually appear identical). It was written by Hearn while in the hospital. As with each of their early albums, the band recorded one song, "Humour of the Situation", completely naked.

The band recorded 17 tracks for the album; Tracks recorded for this album but left off of the finished record include: "Powder Blue" (appears on the US "Pinch Me" single), "Inline Bowline" (appears as an extra track on some international versions, and is on the Australian "Pinch Me" single), "Born Human" (appears on the Australian "Pinch Me" single, re-recorded for Hearn's album Night Light) and "Half a Heart" (re-recorded for the Barenaked Ladies Are Me sessions). "That's All, That's All" was also written for the album, and was later recorded for Page's The Vanity Project.

Track listing

1. "Too Little Too Late" (Page, Robertson) – 3:24
2. "Never Do Anything" (Page, Robertson) – 3:51
3. "Pinch Me" (Page, Robertson) – 4:45
4. "Go Home" (Page, Robertson) – 2:43
5. "Falling for the First Time" (Page, Robertson) – 3:40
6. "Conventioneers" (Page, Robertson) – 3:43
7. "Sell Sell Sell" (Page, Robertson) – 4:01
8. "The Humour of the Situation" (Page, Robertson) – 3:45
9. "Baby Seat" (Stephen Duffy, Page) – 4:13
10. "Off the Hook" (Page, Robertson) – 4:34
11. "Helicopters" (Page, Robertson) – 4:33
12. "Tonight Is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel" (Page, Robertson) – 8:51
    • "Hidden Sun" (Hearn, hidden track)

Personnel

• Jim Creeggan - electric bass, vocals, handclaps, violin, viola, baritone guitar, glockenspiel, electric double bass
• Kevin Hearn - organ, synthesizer, piano, accordion, glockenspiel, electric piano, vocals, clavinet, handclaps, sampling
• Steven Page - acoustic guitar, flute, recorder, vocals
• Ed Robertson - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, tambourine, vocals, 12 string guitar, handclaps, wah wah guitar, cabasa
• Tyler Stewart - castanets, drums, tambourine, bells, handclaps, timpani, cowbell, wah wah shaker

with:

• Jim Scott - handclaps, "high-ass vocals"
• Roberto "Tiny" Menegoni - percussion

Production

• Producer: Don Was
• Engineer: Jim Scott
• Assistant engineer: Katy Teasdale

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
2000	The Billboard 200	5
2000	Top Canadian Albums	2
2000	Top Internet Albums	1

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2000	"Pinch Me"	Adult Top 40	2
2000	"Pinch Me"	Modern Rock Tracks	30
2000	"Pinch Me"	The Billboard Hot 100	15
2000	"Pinch Me"	Top 40 Mainstream	17
2000	"Pinch Me"	Top 40 Tracks	11
2001	"Falling for the First Time"	Adult Top 40	11
2001	"Pinch Me"	Top 40 Adult Recurrents	1
2001	"Too Little Too Late"	Adult Top 40	13
2001	"Too Little Too Late"	The Billboard Hot 100	86
2001	"Too Little Too Late"	Top 40 Mainstream	40