When R.E.M. went to Memphis, Tennessee's famed Ardent Studios in 1988 to record their major label debut for Warner Bros Records, singer Michael Stipe, legend has it, tasked his band mates, Bill Berry, Peter Buck, and Mike Mills, with a singular mission: to "not write any more R.E.M.-type songs." Emboldened by this charge, the band ventured into the previously unexplored realm of bubblegum pop ("Pop Song '89," "Stand"), freely swapped instruments amongst themselves, and even went so far as to introduce the mandolin into their repertoire for the first time ("Hairshirt"). Bolstered by Stipe's increasingly politically-conscious and socially-conscientious lyrics, Green emerged as the band's most fully-realized record to date--a bold claim given the trajectory of their IRS years' recordings(Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, Lifes Rich Pageant, and Document) but accurate nonetheless.
To celebrate the landmark album's 25-year anniversary, Rhino is releasing a two-disc deluxe edition that features the remastered original album accompanied by a disc of live performances taken from the penultimate show of R.E.M.'s 130-date Green World Tour. All twenty-one songs were recorded in Greensboro, North Carolina, on November 10, 1989, just miles from where Berry, Buck, Mills and Stipe had their very first recording session at Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem. The set captures the confident spirit of Green ("Get Up," "World Leader Pretend," and "You Are The Everything") as well as the timelessness of early favorites like "Fall On Me," "Finest Worksong," and "The One I Love," and hints at the future with early versions of tracks that would ultimately appear onOut Of Time.
GREEN: 25TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION will be available on May 14th, but you can pre-order it now at Amazon or on iTunes.
Barenaked Ladies to release new album 'Grinning Streak' on June 4
Multi-platinum pop group BARENAKED LADIES are celebrating their 25th anniversary in grand style: they just released a lyric video for “Boomerang,” the lead single off their new album GRINNING STREAK (out June 4th on Vanguard Records—album art attached) and are gearing up for this year’s much-anticipated “Last Summer On Earth Tour.”
LSOE 13 sees the Ladies (guitarist/vocalist Ed Robertson, bassist/vocalist Jim Creeggan, keyboardist/vocalist Kevin Hearn and drummer/vocalist Tyler Stewart) teaming with Ben Folds Five and Guster for a hot-ticket roadshow that kicks off June 17th at the Verizon Theatre in Dallas, TX, and will hit 30 arenas and amphitheaters across the country (tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com and Livenation.com and full itinerary is below). Those who purchase tickets for “The Last Summer On Earth 2013” will receive a voucher for a download of GRINNING STREAK.
Fans that pre-order the album now can also receive special limited edition 25th anniversary collectible merch, including commemorative handmade hockey jerseys, t-shirts and posters. For more information, please visitbarenakedladies.com.
Led by “Boomerang,” the songs on GRINNING STREAK unfold with the blend of immediacy, tunefulness and witty sophistication that made such BNL hits as “Pinch Me, “Brian Wilson,” “If I Had $1,000,000” and the chart-topping “One Week” modern-day classics. “Pop is a form that I love—it can be high-energy and intricate,” says Robertson of the genre the band has championed throughout the last quarter century. “When I think of pop music, I think of the Cars and Squeeze—interesting melodic rock is what I gravitate toward and what I’m always striving for. I want guitar-heavy pop/rock that’s intelligent, evocative and thought-provoking. I want it to be singable and relatable, and I want there to be other layers in there for the people who want to go deeper—because not everybody does. I’ve heard so many times, ‘I love you guys ’cause your songs are just fun and easygoing.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m glad you enjoy them, but there’s a dark underbelly that you haven’t mined.’”
Indeed, there’s much more to the Barenaked Ladies than initially meets the ear. Suck on the candy-coated surfaces of Robertson’s songs long enough and you never know what you’ll encounter in their “emotional centers,” as Robertson puts it.
He wrestled with the songs for the new album over an extended period as he plumbed the depths of his psyche in search of just those emotional centers. Along the way, Robertson experienced periods of stress, though not to the degree he’d endured while writing the material for the band’s previous studio album, 2010’s All in Good Time. That one was their first project following the departure of Steven Page, who’d founded the band with Robertson in 1988, reconfiguring the BNL as a four-piece.
“This is the second record since all of that turmoil,” Robertson notes, “but it’s still a part of what we’re going through and what informs who we are. On the last record, there were some songs that were directly about the band split, but this record is much more about the emotional rebuilding after that process. Looking back on the maelstrom of all that upheaval, I wanted to convey a sense of hope, reconciliation and healing with these songs. ‘Off His Head,’ for example, is about pushing through difficulty. There’s a double chorus at the end that I flipped, because I didn’t want it to end with, ‘Wishing you were dead.’ That’s part of being exasperated and at your wit’s end. But what I like about this song is that it says you just do it. You think it’s hopeless, but there’s a reason you’re pushing through it. The song says you can let all these things ruin you, or you can take it on the chin and stand up again.”
“Boomerang” metaphorically examines the aftermath of a breakup, but on a deeper level it recounts an impassioned interior dialogue. “It’s a really personal song that says, ‘You can be done with me, but I’m not done with you,’” Robertson explains. “For me, it’s about feeling relevant—because, as I started to approach this record, there was a period where I felt like I didn’t know what to say and I didn’t know who cared. But then I realized, y’know, I care. I like what I do, I’m a good songwriter and I’m gonna write—I’m gonna express things. So that song is about getting your confidence back—or, as one of my colleagues would say, getting your swagger back.”
Don’t miss your chance to see the band performing “Boomerang” and setlist packed with surprises and fan favorites.
Tour dates are as follows:
June 17 Dallas , TX Verizon Theatre
June 19 Denver , CO Red Rocks
June 20 Salt Lake City , UT USANA Amp
June 22 Santa Barbara , CA Santa Barbara Bowl
June 23 Los Angeles , CA Greek Theatre
June 25 Saratoga , CA Mountain Winery ●
June 26 Saratoga , CA Mountain Winery ●
June 28 Boise , ID Botanical Gardens
June 29 Seattle , WA White River Amp
June 30 Missoula , MT Big Sky Brewing Company
July 3 Fargo , ND Newman Field ●●
July 5 Columbus , OH LC Pavilion
July 6 Cincinnati , OH (Venue TBA March 29)
July 8 Lansing , MI Commonground Festival
July 9 Chicago , IL Charter One Pavilion ●
July 11 Toronto , ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
July 12 Detroit , MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 13 Nashville , TN The Woods at Fontanel
July 15 Columbia , MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
July 16 Boston, MA Bank of America Pavilion ●
July 18 Philadelphia , PA Mann Music Ctr
July 19 Uncasville , CT Mohegan Sun Arena
July 20 Holmdel, NJ PNC
July 21 Bangor , ME Waterfront Park
July 23 Lenox , MA Tanglewood
July 25 Charlotte, NC T W Cable Uptown Amp
July 26 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amp
July 27 Charleston, SC Family Circle Stadium
July 28 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheatre
July 30 Brooklyn, NY Celebrate Brooklyn! at the Prospect Park Bandshell
June 19 Denver , CO Red Rocks
June 20 Salt Lake City , UT USANA Amp
June 22 Santa Barbara , CA Santa Barbara Bowl
June 23 Los Angeles , CA Greek Theatre
June 25 Saratoga , CA Mountain Winery ●
June 26 Saratoga , CA Mountain Winery ●
June 28 Boise , ID Botanical Gardens
June 29 Seattle , WA White River Amp
June 30 Missoula , MT Big Sky Brewing Company
July 3 Fargo , ND Newman Field ●●
July 5 Columbus , OH LC Pavilion
July 6 Cincinnati , OH (Venue TBA March 29)
July 8 Lansing , MI Commonground Festival
July 9 Chicago , IL Charter One Pavilion ●
July 11 Toronto , ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
July 12 Detroit , MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 13 Nashville , TN The Woods at Fontanel
July 15 Columbia , MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
July 16 Boston, MA Bank of America Pavilion ●
July 18 Philadelphia , PA Mann Music Ctr
July 19 Uncasville , CT Mohegan Sun Arena
July 20 Holmdel, NJ PNC
July 21 Bangor , ME Waterfront Park
July 23 Lenox , MA Tanglewood
July 25 Charlotte, NC T W Cable Uptown Amp
July 26 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amp
July 27 Charleston, SC Family Circle Stadium
July 28 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheatre
July 30 Brooklyn, NY Celebrate Brooklyn! at the Prospect Park Bandshell
● = BNL & BF5 only
●● = BNL & Guster only
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