![\"Barenaked-Ladies-Issue-No28\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Barenaked-Ladies-Issue-No28.jpg\")
BARENAKED LADIES<\/h1>\nBARENAKED LADIES<\/h1>\n\u00a0<\/b>Barenaked Ladies burst onto the scene with their 1998 chart-topper \u201cOne Week.\u201d Now the band is heard by nearly 20 million people every week as performers of the opening theme from TV\u2019s The Big Bang Theory<\/i>. But as they\u2019re well aware, that level of recognition has been known to backfire. \u201cThere will always be some casual fans or critics who choose to consume only those things and think of us as a novelty,\u201d says drummer Tyler Stewart. \u201cBut there\u2019s a sizable chunk of the audience that knows all our music. They\u2019ve followed us throughout our career.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ladies\u2014Stewart, guitarist-vocalist Ed Robertson, bassist Jim Creeggan and keyboardist Kevin Hearn\u2014have endured the kind of major personnel change that has derailed countless other acts. Their new album, Grinning Streak<\/i>, is their second since the departure of co-founder Steven Page in 2009. After years of meticulous planning in the studio, this time the band concentrated on the emotion of the moment. \u201cYou can get into a staid pattern and a place of complacency,\u201d Stewart says. \u201cKnowing we\u2019re a real cohesive unit allowed us to play with all the toys. We jammed more on this album, and it all happened more spontaneously and freely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart credits the band\u2019s extemporaneous spirit for their latest surge of energy. \u201cWith this album it was a matter of striving for and achieving that,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is some of our most contemporary-sounding music. We incorporated the use of electronic sounds, but still stayed true to the roots of the group, which began as acoustic.\u201d Adjustments to their routine were welcome as they approached the recording process. \u201cWe\u2019re all in our 40s now and have established habits in our lives,\u201d Stewart says. \u201cArt is one way to get out of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group worked with a trio of producers\u2014Howie Beck, Gavin Brown and Mark Endert\u2014and Stewart describes the result as \u201creinvigorating.\u201d Similarly, he praises chief songwriter Robertson for \u201cconveying a lot of emotions\u201d with his performance. \u201cEd has a certain sense of optimism and hope,\u201d he says. \u201cThe challenge for any artist is to avoid that feeling of \u2018been there, done that.\u2019 He has a real knack for taking a regular message and putting a new twist on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the rapidly evolving realm of pop music, Barenaked Ladies has emerged with that rarest of achievements: career longevity. Their most important mission now is to leave a lasting impact. \u201cI think young artists today live and die by one single,\u201d Stewart says. \u201cBut when you\u2019ve been doing this for 25 years, it\u2019s tough to get away from the format of albums. The songs here fit together as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Blake Boldt<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BARENAKED LADIES Canada\u2019s lighthearted rockers get serious about cutting loose in the studio\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Barenaked Ladies burst onto the scene with their 1998 chart-topper \u201cOne Week.\u201d Now the band is heard by nearly 20 million people every week as performers of the opening theme from TV\u2019s The Big Bang Theory. But as they\u2019re well aware, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[283,6978],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10788"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10788"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10791,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10788\/revisions\/10791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}