Barenaked Ladies - Maroon (2000)

The Canadian Rockers Best Album! 

When the Toronto alternative indie rock band  Barenaked Ladies splendid U.S. breakthrough album, Stunt, released in 1998 to criticial acclaim, it sold over 3 million copies and spawned the verbose hit One Week, which threatened to strip Barenaked Ladies of substance and staying power.

Rather than trade on the frisky charms of that fluke novelty, the Canadian rockers gamble on sophistication, serious life issues and a shameless wallow in classic ska-rap-indie pop in the marvelous Maroon. While Barenaked Ladies' fifth studio album, produced by Don Was, contains ample schoolyard mischief, it also grapples with mature subjects and distinctly unfunny themes, especially in the harrowing and graphic car-crash epic Tonight Is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel.

The 12 tracks nimbly fuse bright jangly guitars and peppy melodies with often disturbing or fretful lyrics. In first single Pinch Me, the dreary tale of a man mired in tedium unfolds over a shimmering slice of upbeat pop. The tug of war between the silly and the serious gets literal in Never Do Anything, where a cheeky remark counters every pained confession. Remove the strident and overwrought Sell Sell Sell and Maroon suggests itself as a worthy disc. In fact, their best!