Born on a Pirate Ship (Barenaked Ladies)

This album is much different than BNL's other material, but it is still great. The best song on this album, which I repeatedly play over and over, is "The Old Apartment". It also has some great songs like "Stomach vs. Heart" and "Shoe Box".

For my money, this is one of the best of all of Barenaked Ladies' albums - better than Stunt, Maroon, or Gordon for sure. They try out new sounds in ways they hadn't before, and haven't since. Born on a Pirate Ship has the ideal blend of maturity and immaturity; Stomach vs. Heart is one of their most lyrically clever songs, I Know makes me smile without fail, When I Fall and Old Apartment are very deserving of their classic status, Break Your Heart breaks mine nearly every time I hear it, and Just a Toy is a hidden gem that keeps getting better.
Spider in my Room and In the Drink are interesting departures in style. Spider's use of chanting and wailing were a shock the first time I heard the song, and its rises and falls keep it interesting despite repetitiveness. In the Drink is... disturbing, actually. But both songs are a part of BNL going places they don't usually go. And apparently, they don't feel like going there again.
There are a few songs that I can do without, which might be what prevents me from saying this is my favorite Barenaked Ladies album ever. I don't know what the big fuss is over Shoe Box; I think the idea of the shoebox of lies is rather underdeveloped, and instead that time was taken repeating the chorus over and over again. Call Me Calmly is one that I seem to forget exists. I Live With It Every Day and Same Thing have their moments, but they fail the test of getting better with further listening.
I think they're improving with age, and I think Born on a Pirate Ship was more in the direction they wanted to be going before popularity steered them Maroon-wards (in my opinion, their worst album).

If you haven't heard of BNL purchase any one of their CD's for an experience you will enjoy forever.

If you have heard of BNL, 'nuff said for you have this album.

For those of you who wonder....there is not another musical group on this planet that has brought such a depth and breath to music since the Beatles. Once again, 'nuff said.

Like the rest of their music - this CD is excellent!

Barenaked Ladies is a fantastic band, but this is not one of their better albums. Half the album is really good and half of it is not so good; I'd feel embarassed to play it to other people. There are several songs that are kind of 'wacky', which sound like someone has written the lyrics and then tried to fit them to a tune - like they're trying to fit in as many random words as they can and the tune is an inconvenient thing they had to come up with at the last minute.

If you've never heard a BNL album before, don't start with this one - it's probably only for the die-hard fan who has to have everything BNL they can find. Most of the good songs from here are already on their Greatest Hits or Rock Spectacle (live) albums, and the ones on Rock Spectacle are better live.

Still, it's definitely got some merit. On repeated playing, some of the songs you initially think "oh geez" do grow on you. I don't think "I know" or "In the drink" will ever grow on me though...

Barenaked Ladies is one of the only groups out there that can continually create CDs that you can listen to without skoppomg any somgs.

What the hell is this record doing in the 'classic' section?

This album is not as appreciated as it should be. It was first released in Canada during an overexposure period for BNL, but would be a hit if promoted on the American market.