This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
“Well, that song was meaningless,” dryly intones the voice of cartoon crackpot Dale Gribble after Get In Line, Barenaked Ladies’ poppy contribution to this cartoon companion CD.
As usual, he’s got it backwards: BNL’s typically sunny pop offering is one of just a few original and worthy tunes here. Otherwise, this is just another so-so set of mixed-marriage, cross-cultural cover tunes. You know the drill: Country stars do rock tunes (Deana Carter tackles Tom Petty’s Free Falling) and vice versa (Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath duets with Willie Nelson on Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground). Some work, like Willie and Mark or the Old 97’s cowpunk take on Marty Robbins’ El Paso; others, like Deana or Faith Hill’s glossy version of Piece Of My Heart, are cartoonish. But nothing could be worse than Mike Judge singing Red Sovine’s trucker classic Teddy Bear in his Hank Hill voice. Now that’s meaningless.
