born on a pirate ship press kit:

                          Born On A Pirate Ship, the new album from Barenaked Ladies, finds the group
                          pared down, buffed-up and hitting on all cylinders with fourteen new originals and a
                          back -to-basics approach.  With the emphasis on a lossened-up, live sound, the
                          album captures the acclaimed band in a feisty mood, with lots of attitude and as
                          always, talent to burn.
                          With sparkling songwriting, seamless ensemble work, razor-sharp wit and an
                          unerring ear for hooks, Born On A Pirate Ship (featuring their new single “Shoe
                          Box”) is everything the Barenaked Ladies do best...and better than ever.
                          The first release since the departure of keyboardist Andy Creeggan, Born On A
                          Pirate Ship sports a more guitar-driven sound, with arrangements that bring out the
                          strengths of a revised, four-man line-up.  “From the songwriting to the actual
                          recording, the whole process was much more collaborative this time around,” says
                          Ladies’ lead vocalist Steven Page.  “We seemed to come together in a new way as a
                          quartet, and got back to what it is that we really enjoy doing.  Playing live has always
                          been a key component of the band and what we wanted this time around was to get
                          some of that live energy on tap.”
                          At the same time, the group found itself responding to the extensive, and often
                          elaborate, recording process that went into their last album, 1994’s Maybe You
                          Should Drive.  “Newton was right,” says Page.  “Everything, at some level, is a
                          reaction to everything else.  We were happy with the way that album came out, but
                          this time around we aimed for something more immediate.  We wanted to have some
                          fun.”
                          With Gordon producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda on board again, work on Born
                          On A Pirate Ship began in May of this year, following an extensive North American
                          tour in support of Maybe You Should Drive.  Cut at the Gas Station, a spacious
                          warehouse studio in the group’s home base of Toronto, recording entailed a
                          minimum of overdubs, with virtually all the vocal tracks cut live.  A dozen new
                          originals written by Page and vocalist/guitarist Ed Robertson joined two older
                          songs--”Same Thing” and “Break Your Heart”-- to comprise a tune stack that brings
                          Barenaked Ladies back to the exuberance and energy that marked their natural
                          emergence on the Canadian music scene.
                          Barenaked Ladies’ extraordinary appeal was evident from that very beginning, back
                          in 1988, when the group first formed as part of Toronto's burgeoning alternative
                          music world.  With a stylistic blend that was more than the sum of their diverse
                          influences, the group toured extensively, even exhaustively, throughout Canada and
                          England, steadily building an enthusiastic fan base.  The 1991 release of their
                          independent EP signaled the groups popular potential with a certified hit single, “Be
                          My Yoko Ono,” and sales that made history as the EP became the first independent
                          release in Canadian history to go gold.  A year later they singed a major label deal
                          with Sire/Reprise Records.
                          Gordon, Barenaked Ladies’ debut album, was another history-making release.  It
                          reached Canadian platinum status in jut over a week, going on to sell over 800,000
                          copies in their home country and remained at Number 1 on album charts of eight
                          straight weeks, and in the Top 10 listings for over a year.  By the end of 1993,
                          Gordon had yielded no less than four hit singles-- “Enid,” “Brian Wilson,” “What A
                          Good Boy” and “If I Had $1,000,000” --and earned Barenaked Ladies Group of
                          the Year honors at the Juno Awards.
                          Critical and popular raves continued to pour in, but the band barely had time to
                          notice.  A crowded concert itinerary took the band across North America and to
                          Europe, performing over 150 shows before returning to the studio to record the
                          afore-mentioned Maybe You Should Drive.
                          Highlighting the hit singles “Jane” and “Alternative Girlfriend,” the album continued to
                          build the band’ international fan base and consolidate their reputation for masterful
                          pop sensibilities.
                          Touring continued until the spring of ‘95, when the band returned home and began
                          pre-production on a new album.  The process was interrupted briefly by the
                          departure of Creeggan.  “The stress level was very high,” admits Page, “but in the
                          end I think we already benefited.  We had a chance to rethink our music, to reinvent
                          ourselves, and keep it fresh.”
                          That change is evident from the opening notes of Born On A Pirate Ship.  Aside
                          from the single “Shoe Box” (also featured on the recently released soundtrack album
                          to the hit TV show Friends), the album includes the track “Spider In My Room,”
                          with drumming and signing by native Canadian group The Stoney Park Pow-Wow
                          Singers.
                          Coinciding with the release of Born On A Pirate Ship, Barenaked Ladies has also
                          prepared Shoe Box, a unique CD ROM that contains special video clips and
                          selections from all three of their albums.
                          Born On A Pirate Ship marks yet another left turn for Barenaked Ladies... an album
                          both accessible and anarchic, familiar and fresh, off-the-cuff and totally on-target.