The Laptop Sessions Cover Songs & Original Music Video Blog » Barenaked Ladies Songs

“Green Christmas” (Acoustic Christmas Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions

Chris Moore — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:27 +0000

Originally posted 2008-12-21 23:50:02.

By Chris Moore:

Well, tonight’s going to be a brief one, and I apologize. But I made up for it by calling in the big guns — aka one Jim Fusco for additional guitar stylings and harmony vocals — to make this video one my favorites that I’ve done. It’s certainly the best Christmas video that I’ve recorded. We had a lot of fun playing it, and I think that comes through on the recording.

I hope you enjoy it!

Oh, yeah, I should probably mention what song it is. This is “Green Christmas,” one of the holiday originals on the Barenaked Ladies’ Barenaked For the Holidays album. Second only to “Elf’s Lament” and maybe “Christmastime (Oh Yeah),” this is one of my favorite original tracks on the album. There’s just the right mix of humor and seriousness on this record, and I think this one leans more toward the serious side. I especially like the middle part — “Green, cause of everything I miss. All this missletoe, no kiss…”

Simply put, this was a lot of fun to record.

And it’s certainly not like we haven’t played it before. It’s been a while, but this song is officially part of our MoU Christmas Chord Book, Part II. That’s right, we needed multiple chord books to contain the number of songs we learned for our Christmas shows.

The reason this post is so brief is that I remembered and recorded my video much later than I would have liked, and then, Jim and I watched the SNL “Best of Christmas Past” DVD while wrapping our gifts for Christmas. It felt good to accomplish that while simultaneously watching some great skits — the Matt Foley “motivational speaker” Santa, Alec Baldwin’s “Shvety balls,” Eddie Murphy’s “Mr. Robinson’s neighborhood, and boy does the list go on… — and laughing (a lot!) together.

And, now, it will feel good to sleep…

See you next session!

“Break Your Heart” (Barenaked Ladies Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions

Chris Moore — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 08:00:05 +0000

Originally posted 2008-09-22 23:58:08.

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to what is a momentous occasion for me… my 100th Laptop Session! That’s — count ‘em — one hundred acoustic rock cover songs, recorded after almost nine months of posting every third day. Thus far, Jim is the only one of us to reach the 100 mark and Jeff can’t be too far behind me, so this is definitely an exciting time for us here at the music blog.

I wanted to make today’s session a great one, so I decided to go barenaked. Barenaked Ladies, that is! As I explained in my previous post, I love the Steven Page-sung track from Born on a Pirate Ship called “Break Your Heart.” It’s quite the emotional tune and is certainly characterized (and highlighted!) by a classic Steven Page lead vocal. I almost felt silly even attempting this song, considering that it is not exactly in my range, but I wanted to set the bar high for my next hundred videos. By this time next year, I would love to have 100 more songs recorded, and have many of them be more ambitious, more perfected, and overall more exciting than even the first hundred.

I mean, don’t get me wrong; it’s been a crazy ride thus far. But still, I’m excited to improve and increase the popularity of the blog. It would be nice to know that people were actually reading these blog posts; it would certainly make me want to write longer, more interesting and informative entries.

Before I leave you to the video, I need to share one last tidbit from my day. I hadn’t downloaded all the free music at Fusco-Moore.com/Store, so I took a little trip on over and “purchased” all that free material. If you’re a Laptop Sessions fan in the least, then this is a must-have — we have eight volumes worth of acoustic rock covers, not to mention live shows.

Well, that’s it for me tonight — Aside from the fact that I’m nodding off as we speak and wondering when Jim will notice that I’ve completely slumped over on my laptop, I’m going to let my video speak for itself. Stay tuned for another cover from Jeff tomorrow and another from Jim the following day. And, guess what? I’ll be back on the third day for yet another acoustic cover song on the best cover music blog in the universe!

See you next session!

The Barenaked Ladies’ “Maroon” (2000) – The Weekend Review

Chris Moore — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:15:44 +0000

Originally posted 2009-12-07 00:12:58.

** This is the first in a five part series of music reviews, counting down from the #5 to the #1 albums of the decade, 2000-2009. On January 2nd, 2010, the #1 album will be revealed, along with the complete Weekend Review picks for the Top Thirty Albums of the Decade. **

By Chris Moore:

RATING: 5/5 stars

Maroon is one of those rare albums that truly has it all.

There are catchy singles, mid-tempo numbers, and ballads. The subject matter is at times serious, at others sentimental, but always with tongues planted (with various degrees of firmness) in cheek. Indeed, the songwriting duo of Ed Robertson and Steven Page is at their best — and arguably their most collaborative and exclusive — on this record.

There is a reason Page/Robertson should be remembered as one of rock’s all-time great pairings, and this album is the best support for that argument.

In most circles, it seems as though 1998′s Stunt, with the #1 hit single “One Week,” has been cemented as the essential disc from the Barenaked Ladies’ catalog, and yet that album has always seemed quirky and unique at the expense of true substance.

Maroon is the document of a band at the pinnacle of their success, having refined their work through various members, styles, and phases.

And it is truly one of the best albums of the decade.

The Barenaked Ladies' "Maroon" (2000)

From the first strums of “Too Little Too Late,” Maroon establishes its sonic landscape with crunchy, catchy electric guitar parts supported by crisp rhythm guitars and typically impressive work from both Jim Creegan on bass and Tyler Stewart on drums. Whereas multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hearn had helped to redefine BnL’s sound on Stunt, the balance of power shifted somewhere between 1998 and 2000 to find Hearn truly taking a place as a Barenaked Lady, a member of the band rather than a catalyst for change.

And the contributions he makes to the band — his electric solos (take one listen to the end of “Pinch Me”) as well as more unique instrumental parts — make it difficult to return to earlier albums and not distinctly feel his absence.

And in front of it all, Steven Page and Ed Robertson share singing duties on an album that is noteworthy for its vocals alone. On “Pinch Me,” Robertson and Page manage to recreate the magic of “One Week” in a more fully developed track. It is easy to view this as an attempt to recapture the runaway success of the aforementioned #1 single (perhaps even more so with the Everything to Everyone lead single “Another Postcard”), but a closer listen will yield a respect for “Pinch Me” as a song that stands on its own.

The first five tracks are an adrenaline rush of catchy, upbeat songs. Try not to gasp for air attempting to sing all the words.

And this is the type of album that compels one to learn the words, just to feel what it is like to be on the “in,” and to sing the words along with Page and Robertson.

Tracks six and seven take a different direction, slowing down the tempo and becoming very serious. Still, they manage to be songs that simultaneously demand one’s attention and are entertaining at every turn.

The subsequent songs, “Humor of the Situation” and “Baby Seat,” pick up the pace and inject new life into the album before coming in for a final landing via three increasingly sobering tracks, all to be topped off by the bonus track: the touching, hauntingly beautiful Hearn-penned “Hidden Sun.”

By the time the hidden track has faded out, the listener’s first response must be to crank the volume up on “Too Little Too Late.” There is a certain psychology attached to the sequencing of this album, which guides one into the depths of the human psyche, passing fears and concerns and regrets and startling revelations before returning to the top to begin the journey all over again.

Any album that can provide this type of experience, incorporate wordplay at all the right moments to suggest — if not prove — the band’s levity amongst all this serious subject matter, and do so all in the form of infectiously catchy and moving songs demands to be respected and recognized in the annals of rock history.

Short of that, it deserves a place on this writer’s top thirty best albums of the decade list.

Slot number five, to be exact.

Released only nine months into the decade, Maroon set the bar quite high for all other new rock music albums to come.

Returning for a listen today only confirms that the bar is still quite high and securely in place.

No related posts.

Barenaked Ladies SET LIST – 8/06/2010 at Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT

Chris Moore — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:00:28 +0000

Originally posted 2010-08-07 12:03:57.

Click HERE to read the review!

1) “Who Needs Sleep?”
2) “Old Apartment”
3) “Falling for the First Time”
4) Improv 1 – “At Mohegan Sun” rap / “Something Tells Me I’m Into Something Good”
5) “Every Subway Car” (with Angel Taylor)
6) “Told You So”
7) “Easy”
8) “Eraser”
9) “Another Heartbreak”
10) “On the Lookout”
11) “Sound of Your Voice” (acoustic)
12) “It’s All Been Done”
13) “Too Little Too Late”
14) “Golden Boy”
15) “You Run Away”
16) “Four Seconds”
17) “Big Bang Theory Theme”
18) “One Week”
19) “Pinch Me”
20) “If I Had $1000000″
21) Improv 2 – “Oh, It’s Magic, You Know” / rap / dance number

22) “Alcohol”
23) “Watching the Northern Lights”
24) “Brian Wilson”

Barenaked Ladies SET LIST – 11/20/2010 at the Klein Auditorium, Bridgeport CT

Chris Moore — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:00:17 +0000

Originally posted 2010-11-21 10:43:59.

By Chris Moore:

CLICK HERE to read the Review!

1) “Who Needs Sleep”

2) “The Old Apartment”

3) “Falling for the First Time”

4) “Jesse, Ben, and Tommy saw my balls” rap

5) “Every Subway Car”

6) “Leave”

7) “Moonstone”

8) “Another Heartbreak”

9) “Maybe Katie”

10) “Sound of Your Voice” (acoustic)

11) “It’s All Been Done”

12) “Too Little Too Late”

13) “Brian Wilson”

14) “You Run Away”

15) “Four Seconds”

16) “Big Bang Theory Theme”

17) “One Week”

18) “Pinch Me”

19) “If I Had $1,000,000” (w/ “Raisins” by request)

20) “Magic” Medley (“California Gurls,” etc.)

ENCORE:

21) “Alcohol”

22) “Lovers in a Dangerous Time”

23) “Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel”

BnL Live at the Klein, November 2010 – The Weekend Review

Chris Moore — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:24:32 +0000

By Chris Moore:

See the Set List HERE.

On the heels of my previous BnL concert review, posted little more than three months ago, there isn’t much more that needs to be said, other than to underscore several assertions concerning the Barenaked Ladies.

First, it really can never be too soon to see them play live again. After seeing them in August with decent seats and having had an outstandingly fun time, I almost considered letting this second New England tour stopover pass me by.

Almost.

Being fortunate enough to live in an area that is located in, as a friend recently referred to it, the “Barenaked Belt,” it simply doesn’t make sense to not take advantage of it. And, this time around, the venue was considerably smaller – Mohegan Sun Arena being 9500 capacity, and the Klein Auditorium being only 1400. We sat front row balcony, or “mezzanine” as the theatre people say, and got some performances that probably wouldn’t find their way into a stadium set, songs like the rarely played “Moonstone” and “Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel.”

A second assertion, and perhaps the main thrust of my August review, is that BnL is every bit as good as they were when Steven Page was in the band. This is surprising, as he is such a unique talent and a man who brings considerable stage presence and energy to the live shows.

And, for the record, let’s be clear that I would love to see the five-man band reunited at some point down the road.

But, for now, the four-piece Barenaked Ladies are still a force to be reckoned with, and they have apparently decided that no catalog item is off limits, regardless of how much of a “Steven” song it is/was. Take, for example, the fairly standard middle of their order, a veritable greatest hits of Steven Page tracks: “Sound of Your Voice,” “It’s All Been Done,” “Too Little Too Late,” and “Brian Wilson,” all topped off with the not-so-subtle “You Run Away.”

A third assertion is one that struck me early in the set last night: the Barenaked Ladies are the rare group of men that have gotten cooler as the years pass. One needs only to compare their image and sound from the excellent and not-to-be-slighted Gordon era with their current stage show in order to appreciate just how cool they’ve become without losing too many fans to claims of selling out.

They have such a vast array of music, and to a certain degree, they allow for it in their set lists. Although there are certain songs that you can reasonably expect (and in certain orders), there is room for adlibs and unexpected deep tracks, songs like those mentioned above. Even songs that have been played about ten thousand times over their career, like “One Week,” have taken on a fresh appeal. With Kevin Hearn singing the Page parts of “One Week” last night, I think they’ve finally perfected their recent live arrangement of this, their best-known composition. Likewise, Tyler Stewart and Jim Creeggan have stepped up their game, Stewart bringing down the house with his reinvigorated, Jack Black-esque approach to “Alcohol” and Creeggan with his on-stage gesticulations, ear-to-ear grin, and acceptance of the spotlight for tracks like “On the Lookout” and “Peterborough and the Kawarthas.”

Finally, as if it needs to be said, Ed Robertson is a force unto himself. His white man rapping helped to establish the band’s public image, and he is ever willing to put himself out there for a laugh.

When I choose the words “put himself out there,” I mean that literally.

Last night, as a tribute to their excellent opening act Jukebox the Ghost’s final night on tour, Robertson emerged from backstage with only a towel on. Then, positioning himself between keyboardist/lead vocalist Ben Thornewill and the audience, he opened his towel so only Thornewill could see him and proceeded to dance to the music. He moved around the stage and repeated this process for the other two band members. Meanwhile, the crowd was laughing and clapping and screaming, and guitarist Tommy Siegel laughed his way through his vocals.

As Thornewill pointed out after the song, he could only see Robertson in his peripheral vision at first. When he reached his hand out to pretend to tickle him, he found that Robertson was indeed wearing only a towel.

Never let it be said that the “Barenaked” part of their band name hasn’t been earned.

Forgive me for getting up on my soapbox yet again, but BnL continues to be one of the most underappreciated rock music acts of the modern age. If you or someone you know hears “Barenaked Ladies” and instantly thinks “goofy,” “funny,” “If I Had $1,000,000,” and/or “One Week,” then check bnlmusic.com for a tour date in your area. One show and you’ll be hooked. Guaranteed.

I’ve been a fan now for over a decade, and they continue to recapture my interest and adoration each and every time I see them live.

As I climb off my soapbox, I bid you good day and hope this review might at least inspire a spin of Maroon or Stunt. Or Gordon. Or Maybe You Should Drive. Or Everything to Everyone. Or…

Well, you get the idea.