''Silverball'' is the 11th full-length original-material studio album by
Barenaked Ladies. The album was released on 2 June 2015. The album is the band's third studio album since the departure of founding member
Steven Page
Steven Jay Page (born June 22, 1970) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was a founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and a primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies. Page left the band in Februar ...
in February 2009. The album was recorded in late 2014 and early 2015 with producer
Gavin Brown.
The cover art depicts a
pinball
Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
sitting on a pinball table surface, reflecting the darkened figure of a man playing. Lead singer and guitarist
Ed Robertson
Lloyd Edward Elwyn Robertson (born October 25, 1970) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band Barenaked Ladies. He, along with former member Steven Page, founded the group in 1988. As of Page's ...
, an acknowledged longtime video game fanatic turned his interest towards pinball in the 2010s, amassing a collection of machines.
Best Buy offered a retailer-exclusive limited-time edition of the album in the U.S. including "Counting Down" and "Fall Back On", two songs which were initially cut from the album. Both songs are exclusive to
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
in Canada, who also offer a track-by-track commentary by the band for the album.
The album was released on vinyl on 31 July 2015. ''
BNL Rocks Red Rocks'', a live album recorded at
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheatre built into a rock structure in the western United States, near Morrison, Colorado, west of Denver. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind ...
during the tour for ''Silverball'', was released 20 May 2016.
Reception
In Canada, the album debuted with 4,000 copies sold in its first week of release.
In the U.S., the album debuted at No. 46 on the Billboard 200,
and No. 5 on Top Rock Albums chart, selling 11,000 copies in its first week. The album has sold 28,000 copies in the United States as of April 2016.
Track listing
Singles
The lead single, "
Say What You Want
"Say What You Want" is a song by Scottish rock band Texas, written by band members Johnny McElhone and Sharleen Spiteri. It was the first single to be released from the group's fourth studio album, '' White on Blonde'' (1997). Released in Jan ...
", was made available for streaming on 27 April 2015. On 4 May 2015, a video for "Silverball" was released as a thank you from Robertson to the community of the pinball website Pinside.com for their technical assistance with his pinball machines. It was released for digital download the following day. A lyric video for "Duct Tape Heart" was released 10 July 2015. The official music video for "Duct Tape Heart", containing live footage of the band's performance at
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheatre built into a rock structure in the western United States, near Morrison, Colorado, west of Denver. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind ...
on the Last Summer On Earth 2015 tour, was released on 19 October 2015 to coincide with the start of the Canadian leg of the Silverball tour.
Personnel
*
Jim Creeggan
James Raymond Creeggan (born February 12, 1970) is the bassist for Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies. Early life
Creeggan was born in Scarborough, Ontario. His mother taught piano lessons to neighborhood children, which Creeggan c ...
– Electric bass, background vocals, lead vocal on "Narrow Streets"
*
Kevin Hearn – Piano, synthesizers, keyboards, acoustic and electric guitars, background vocals, lead vocal on "Passcode" and "Tired of Fighting With You"
*
Ed Robertson
Lloyd Edward Elwyn Robertson (born October 25, 1970) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band Barenaked Ladies. He, along with former member Steven Page, founded the group in 1988. As of Page's ...
– Lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, background vocals
*
Tyler Stewart
Tyler Joseph Stewart (born September 21, 1967) is the drummer for the Canadian music group Barenaked Ladies.
Role in Barenaked Ladies
Stewart met Steven Page, Ed Robertson, and Jim Creeggan at the Waterloo Busker Carnival in Waterloo, Ontario ...
– Drums, percussion, mouth guitar, background vocals
Additional:
*Tim Bovaconti – Pedal steel on "Fall Back On"
*
Mike Evin – Keyboards on "Counting Down"
*Lyle Herbert-Robertson – Electric guitar solo on "Piece of Cake"
*Hugh Marsh – Electric violin on "Duct Tape Heart", "Matter of Time", "Piece of Cake" and "Tired of Fighting With You"
*Perry White – Saxophone on "Passcode"
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2015 albums
Barenaked Ladies albums
Vanguard Records albums
Albums produced by Gavin Brown (musician)