Gordon

Friday approaches but tomorrow will be a bonus disc due to Aston Villa playing at home, but for now, the debut album by Canada’s Barenaked Ladies, Gordon.
Let me tell you a little story about the album Gordon. When I first purchased this album, possibly 93 or 94, I took it home and played it and was convinced that it was the greatest album ever written. I played it a lot and with each play it got better and better and better. I wanted to share this great album with my friends, it was so good, they needed it in their lives. The next time my very best friends came round I played them this album and to put it bluntly, they thought it was shit, and told me so. Its shit Peter. As a result of this criticism, I asked them to leave. I kicked them out of my house.
So here we are some 15 years after that incident, for the main part those friends are still my friends and potentially it has been around 10 years since I listened to Gordon. If I have heard it recently, I can’t recall.
It hasn’t weathered well in all honesty, I would be reluctant to side with friends summary of it, but it isn’t the greatest album in the world that the 20 something me though it was. It seems very heavy on ironic name dropping, Madonna, New Kids On The Block, Milli Vanilli etc, and I don’t really like irony. At times its almost like Harry Hill on You’ve Been Framed where he implies that hapless man on video clip is John Noakes or Simon Le Bon. This album is very quick to make comparisons, Brian Wilson or even Yoko Ono.
The songs though are fun and in the main upbeat, borderline comedy on Be My Yoko Ono and If I Had $1000000, considering my love of Tenacious D and Flight Of The Conchords, you may think that I find this side enamouring, you would be wrong, it is these sort of songs that have spoiled this album for me, and that so far is without mentioning the sleeve.
Let me mention the sleeve, its absolutely ghastly, it is dated, “wacky” and awful, I would not by this album now if I was judging it by it’s sleeve, it lends itself to the “zany” songs contained within, but doesn’t hint at the more serious side to this album, a side which has stood the test of time.
As I said, not a bad album, an average album, but if I had a $1000000 I would buy Vampire Weekend. 5 out of 10.



Brian Wilson by The Barenaked Ladies