Born On A Pirate Ship Video Showcase

Born on a Pirate Ship (sometimes abbreviated BOAPS) was the third full-length album by Barenaked Ladies.

Its well-known tracks are "Shoe Box", "The Old Apartment", "When I Fall" and "Break Your Heart."

"The Old Apartment" would become BNL's first US hit in 1997 and began the process of winning many new American fans. Tracks recorded for this album but left off the finished record are: "Trust Me" (earlier recorded for Maybe You Should Drive but left off the album -- included on the Shoe Box EP) and "Back" (included on the "Brian Wilson 2000" single).

As with each of their early albums, the band recorded one song completely naked. On this album, "Back" was the "naked track". The eye-catching front cover features a boy in a newspaper hat pulling at his cheeks, in reference to the childhood prank alluded to by the album's title.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not a childhood picture of BNL bassist Jim Creeggan, but simply an actor hired for the photos.

The band was a fourpiece during the recording of this album. Kevin Hearn was asked to join the band for the 1995 tour that preceded the album's release and first appears on the live album Rock Spectacle. He is thanked in the liner notes for "injecting new spirit."

Although a hit in Canada, the album only managed #111 in the US. Happily, once the band had achieved success in America, Born On A Pirate Ship would be awarded gold status there in 2000.

Read the Wikipedia article about Born on a Pirate Ship...

Photo author: simonyfrontsjones from flickr.com