Ladies and Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies & the Persuasions

This is a pretty decent album for die-hard BNL fans. It puts a great twist on some fan favorites as well as some of the lesser known tracks that the band tends to perform live. The harmonies added thru the Persuasions is pretty cool even if it does sound like it's a tribute album to BNL at times. I am a fan of most of the tracks but one of my favorite songs of theirs is "Maybe Katie" and for some reason, the take they chose to put on the album is riddled with errors; it sounds sloppy. You can hear one of the backup vocals sing the wrong line during the chorus and the entrances between backup vocals and the lead vocal are off in a few spots -- and it's fairly obvious, too, if you're familiar with the track so I'm not really sure why they didn't choose to re-record the track. Maybe they were going for that raw recording vibe? Not sure. Overall, I was happy with the final product and I still love hearing these songs even with the twist added with new harmonies. As for the bashing of Steven Page leaving the group -- it was mostly due to his bi-polar disorder. He left the group to regain control of his health and to spend more time with his family. Maybe it left a rift in the group but it wasn't that they kicked him out. It was a mentall health issue that he has talked about in detail since leaving BNL. Look it up. Cheers.

We all love their old stuff. I was sad when Steve left just like the rest of you. But not appreciating what BNL has done since is rediculous. The Persuasions intertwinded with some old (and new) favorites are a great blend and can fill in a space that hasn't quite been filled when he left. Nothing will ever replace the original 5, but I appreciate the different directions these artisits try to go to. Thank you BNL for continuing to develop, create and recreate your music. I will always be a fan!

Felt like Kids Bop of a great band.

Was Steven the guy you kicked out for smoking weed ? You lost your "creds" then .

This album is full of them. Updated versions of some of my all time favorites (For You, Sound of Your Voice) mixed in with some other new additions. Love!

I listened to this a few times. I'll never get this time back. And I'll never unhear it. I wish I was rich enough to buy all the tickets for the show just so that I could be the only one in the audience when I yell ...."HOLY HELL THIS IS TERRIBLE!!!

I've listened through twice. It's a fun record. I like the new textures. Overall makes me smile. But I find myself asking if this is a disc we needed. This is one of those instances where the artist made a record because they could. This is the equivalent of Neil Young and Pearl Jam, or Sister Hazel recording YET ANOTHER boring acoustic live disc, or Metallica and Lou Reed. Or Metallica with an orchestra. Or John Mayer releasing a new disc in another genre that doesn't suit his sound. It's amusing. But I don't know that the world is any richer because it happened. If they want to make a record with new material, I think this pairing could be awesome. But it feels like a desperate rehasing of material we love, for the sake of releasing something that's novel. Again, it's not bad. It's just not anything worth paying attention to. At least that's how I felt after two listens. Maybe it's a grower. Hell, I still bought it because I love this band. Were it anyone else, I'd never have spent money on this. And lastly, to all the haters saying they need Steven back. I think the albums without Page are just as strong, if not commercially stronger, yet still very quirky. I love him, but this project is a sum of it's parts, and the 4 parts still carrying the torch are awesome and the new discs (this one aside) are EXCELLENT. I find myself listening to the newer discs more than the original lineup BNL discs. Wouldn't mind if he came back, but they're JUST FINE without.

Please stop letting Kevin sing Please make up with Steven...this is just not good at all

Someone said The Persuasions misrepresented themselves with this. No! It's great!!

You know what you need to do. Just get back with Steven and bnl can be good again.