Barenaked Ladies

It's approaching five years since Stephen Page left The Barenaked Ladies. I'm sure many people don't care, since BNL only means One Week to them, maybe If I Had $1,000,000 as well. BNL is way more than that to me, though.
I'm pretty sure I can blame my friend Aaron for getting me to listen to more Barenaked Ladies. I picked up their album Are Me (the first disc of the double album Are Men) on a whim after hearing Aaron talk about them. It was a really solid purchase, and soon Aaron shared his mp3 collection with me. I don't think I was ever as into them as he is (I've deleted many of their songs that I just didn't care for), but what stuck with me stuck hard, and when I'm feeling tired or down I can usually rely on a BNL kick to lift me up again.

To be honest, though, I didn't keep up with them after that. I worked backward from Are Men, chose some favorites, then left it at that. So, when Stephen Page left the band nearly five years ago I was a little concerned, but it was hardly a big deal to me.

Recently, though, I happened upon one of BNL's new songs, Odds Are. It's a really catchy tune and, like so many of their songs, oddly relatable to me. (You can watch the video Rooster Teeth made for the song here.)

I downloaded the new album Grinning Streak based on the strength of that song. I've listened to the album a few times now and, while there are a few songs I like, on the whole it feels like something's missing. It seems unfair to blame it all on the absence of Stephen Page, but I can't deny that it's a factor.

It's funny to say this, considering how long it took me to be able to distinguish Stephen's voice from Ed's, but Ed really just doesn't have Stephen's voice. Without him it seems like we'll never again have those powerful moments, like the end to Maybe You're Right, which still sends shivers down my spine.

Upside Down, The Humour of the Situation, Everything Had Changed, Baby Seat... I don't think it's wrong to say that all of my top favorite BNL songs were sung by Stephen Page.

In the end, Grinning Streak is just one huge reminder of that fact. It's not a bad album, really, but I don't think I'll ever fall in love with it the way I fell in love with Are Me.