Silverball (album)

Silverball
Studio album by Barenaked Ladies
Released	June 2, 2015 (2015-06-02)
Recorded	December 2014-February 2015 [1]
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	45:10
Label	Vanguard Records
Producer	Gavin Brown
Barenaked Ladies chronology
Grinning Streak (2013) Silverball (2015) BNL Rocks Red Rocks (2016)
Singles from Silverball
"Say What You Want" Released: April 28, 2015 "Duct Tape Heart" Released: July 10, 2015

Silverball is the eleventh full-length original-material studio album by Barenaked Ladies. The album was released on June 2, 2015.^[2] The album is the band's third studio album since the departure of founding member Steven Page in February 2009. The album was recorded in late 2014 and early 2015 with producer Gavin Brown. "Matter of Time", a song from the album, was a digital pre-release give-away to ticketbuyers of the band's Last Summer On Earth 2015 tour.

The cover art for the album, which shares a name with one of its songs, apparently depicts a pinball sitting on a pinball table surface, reflecting the darkened figure of a man playing. Lead singer and guitarist Ed Robertson, an acknowledged longtime video game fanatic turned his interest towards pinball in the 2010s, amassing a collection of machines.

For a limited time, Best Buy offered a retailer-exclusive edition of the album in the United States including "Counting Down" and "Fall Back On", two songs which were initially cut from the album.^[3] Both songs are exclusive to Spotify in Canada, who also offer a track-by-track commentary by the band for the album.

The album was released on vinyl July 31, 2015. ^[4] BNL Rocks Red Rocks, a live album recorded at Red Rocks Amphitheatre during the tour for Silverball, was released May 20, 2016. ^{[5] [6]}

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[7]
Glide Magazine	[8]
The Muse	(A) [9]
PopMatters	[10]
Renowned for Sound	[11]
Sputnikmusic	[12]

The album has received mostly positive reviews.^{[8] [7]}

In Canada, the album debuted with 4,000 copies sold in its first week of release.^[13]

In the United States, the album debuted at No. 46 on the Billboard 200,^[14] and No. 5 on Top Rock Albums chart,^[15] selling 11,000 copies in its first week. The album has sold 28,000 copies in the United States as of April 2016.^[16]

Track listing

Singles

The lead single from the album, "Say What You Want", was made available for streaming on April 27, 2015,^[17] then for digital download the following day.^[18]

On May 4, 2015, a video for the title track, "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 as well as the experience he has had as a part of the community.^{[19] [20]} It was released for digital download the following day. ^[21]

A lyric video for the second single, "Duct Tape Heart", was released July 10, 2015. ^[22] The official music video for "Duct Tape Heart", containing live footage of the band's performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on the Last Summer On Earth 2015 tour, was released on October 19, 2015 to coincide with the start of the Canadian leg of the Silverball tour. ^[23]

Personnel

Barenaked Ladies:

• Jim Creeggan - 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 - Lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, background vocals
• Tyler Stewart - Drums, percussion, mouth guitar, background vocals

Additional Musicians consist of:

• 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