Rock Spectacle

Rock Spectacle is the first live album by Barenaked Ladies. It was also the first major success for the band in the United States, selling over one million copies and producing a hit single in the country in its version of "Brian Wilson." The album was recorded at two concerts: at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago and at The Olympia in Montreal during the Born on a Pirate Ship tour.

Rock Spectacle
Live album by Barenaked Ladies
Released	November 19, 1996
Recorded	April 17, 1996 May 23, 1996
Venue	Riviera Theatre, Chicago Olympia, Montreal
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	47:45
Label	Reprise
Producer	Michael Phillip Wojewoda
Barenaked Ladies chronology
Born on a Pirate Ship (1996) Rock Spectacle (1996) Stunt (1998)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	A [3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

A live version of "Shoe Box" was on promotional and advance copies of this record, but was ultimately deleted. The recording would eventually be released on the "One Week" CD single. The album contains two bonus tracks. The first is a banter about an elderly woman Ed Robertson ran into in Chicago. The story is later referenced in "If I Had $1000000". The second is improvised banter about Robertson's Uncle Elwyn.

This disc is an enhanced CD, which means it will display special multimedia features when played on a computer. It includes a program called "BNLTV", a faux collection of various-themed TV programming.

Commercial performance

By July 1998, Rock Spectacle had sold 775,000 copies in the United States and 80,000 copies in Canada.^[5] In September 1998, the album was certified Platinum in the United States.^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Brian Wilson"	Page	Steven Page	4:46
2.	"Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank"		Steven Page	3:38
3.	"Break Your Heart"	Page	Steven Page	5:06
4.	"Jane"	Page Stephen Duffy	Steven Page	3:58
5.	"When I Fall"		Ed Robertson	4:23
6.	"Hello City"		Steven Page	3:13
7.	"What a Good Boy"		Steven Page	4:47
8.	"The Old Apartment"		Steven Page	3:21
9.	"Life, in a Nutshell"		Steven Page	2:40
10.	"These Apples"	Robertson	Ed Robertson	3:59
11.	"Grade 9"/"If I Had $1000000"	Page Robertson Andy Creeggan Jim Creeggan Tyler Stewart	Steven Page Ed Robertson	6:08
12.	"The Sweetest Woman (banter)" (hidden track)		Steven Page Ed Robertson	1:09
13.	"Uncle Elwyn (banter)" (hidden track)		Steven Page Ed Robertson	2:37

All tracks are written by Steven Page and Ed Robertson, except where noted.

Personnel

Barenaked Ladies

• Steven Page – vocals, acoustic guitar (1, 4, 7), electric guitar (8, 10)
• Ed Robertson – vocals, acoustic guitar (all except 3 and 8), electric guitar (3, 8)
• Jim Creeggan – double bass (all but 4), electric bass (4), backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11)
• Tyler Stewart – drums, backing vocals (8, 9, 11)
• Kevin Hearn – keyboards (all but 6), accordion (2, 6), electric guitar (on "Uncle Elwyn" adlib), backing vocals (4, 5, 6, 9, 11)

Production

• Engineers: Marcel Gounin, Michael Phillip Wojewoda
• Assistant engineers: Bernoit Baruvin, Dan Glomski, Mycle Konopka, Timothy R. Powell
• Mixing assistants: Jeff Elliot, Tom Heron
• Mastering: Don C. Tyler
• Digital editing: Jeff Elliot
• Design: Neil Prime
• Photography: Neil Prime

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1996–1998) Peak position US Billboard 200[7] 86 US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[8] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1998) Position US Billboard 200[9] 132

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1997	"Brian Wilson"	Billboard Hot 100	68[citation needed]
1998	"Brian Wilson"	Adult Top 40	37[citation needed]
1998	"Brian Wilson"	Modern Rock	23[citation needed]
2000	"If I Had $1000000"	Adult Top 40	37[citation needed]

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[10]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.