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Receiving Happiness after Clumsy

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Receiving Happiness after Clumsy

Postby ivewaited » 2/11/2012, 3:28 am

What was the reaction like??? I was listening to all of Clumsy tonight and then it went into Happiness and I was thinking.. "whoa, this is a bit of a drastic change (clumsy was more darker musically) but in a good way".

While we're at it, what was your reaction to SM after happiness?
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Postby Heavy Alibi » 2/11/2012, 4:24 am

I only became a hardcore OLP fan around 2006, so I don't have any linear type of reaction. I actually listened to Happiness in full before Clumsy, and SM was the very last album I played in full, including HIPT and Gravity. Overall, I notice quite a progressive thread of change from Naveed to SM, from a grittier, darker grunge sound to gradually a lighter, airier but still metaphorical and alt.rock sound. Raine's voice also changed gradually from a dirgy, throaty yowl in songs like The Birdman & Neon Crossing to more of a lightweight high-nasal falsetto in Wonderful Future and Are You Sad.

In terms of Clumsy–Happiness, the biggest change I notice is in the melodies, which are much bouncier although retaining the dark themes and lyrics. Raine's voice also changes to a more atmospheric and ethereal sound. I consider Happiness a sort of crossbreed between Clumsy and SM, which is why I prefer both Clumsy and SM to Happiness... to me they feel more whole and have their own distinct sound. As for Happiness–SM, the biggest change I see is with the lyrics and themes, which are much more positive and uplifting.
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Postby AnnieDreams » 2/11/2012, 7:08 am

Back when I first starting obsessing over OLP and was browsing all the fansites, I noticed some of them stopped operating and updating after Happiness was released. So I guess some people were as disappointed with it as the people here were with Gravity.

I think it's my favourite though. It's always been down to Clumsy, Happiness, and SM for me.
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Postby faninor » 2/11/2012, 12:09 pm

There are lots of people who only like Naveed and Clumsy but they don't make a big stink about it because there wasn't some factor like a band member getting kicked out or a new producer to blame anything on.
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Postby MindsOnLoan » 2/11/2012, 1:30 pm

Didn't start listening until 2006 or 2007.. I could definitely see some fans being shocked though. Happiness is a lot more experimental than Clumsy. It's a lot brighter sounding, doesn't really have those dark, heavy 90s alt rock guitars, and is a lot more synth driven. Raine's voice is also softer than any point before.

This in no way is a shot at Clumsy, as I love that album, but it sounds like an album that would only be released in the 90s... It's not something you could hear a band making today. With Happiness though, it honestly sounds like it could be released today and not be out of place.
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Postby ajk » 2/12/2012, 9:36 pm

With the success of Clumsy and the fact that OMA was a huge rock single there was a ton of hype with the Happiness.... release. I remember there were listening parties all over the country and they had the synched up radio show premiering the album.

I remember the old Clumsy Congress responding to the album pretty positively.... the main issue was that it was a 'softer' album. Part of the issue was that OLP's fanbase back then was absolutely massive so you had a bunch of tweener fans that just wanted Clumsy PT 2. They were the 'it' band at that point in time.

I think the album that really caught people offguard was SM actually. You still heard influences of Naveed/Clumsy in Happiness.... but SM was so far out there that they lost a lot of their core base initially (although SM was a great piece of work)
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Postby carleiu » 2/17/2012, 12:37 am

I was around since before Clumsy. In my experience a lot of hardcore fans thought of Happiness as different but in a really innovative way. For me, SM was even better. Out of the three, SM is my favorite, followed by Happiness and then Clumsy.

That said, all three albums are phenomenal.
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Postby bd007h » 2/17/2012, 9:32 pm

I honestly enjoyed it right off the bat. As for Spiritual Machines, it came out in Canada before it came out here in the States, but a cousin of mine came to visit in December of 2000 and already had the CD, so I recorded it onto a cassette. The first side of the cassette ended on the intro to All My Friends, which I initially thought was very eery sounding, in a good way. I also liked the experimental nature of the album. I however had to wait 3 months until it was released on cd in the states in March of 2001 before being able to purchase it. I was 14 at the time.

Clumsy is the album that introduced me to the band. Heard the song clumsy on the radio once and saw the video once on MTV or VH1 back in 97 and loved it so much I bought the cd shortly after. Got Naveed a few months later for my birthday from my older sister.
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Postby Jskot311 » 2/20/2012, 9:09 am

I was 14 when Clumsy came out and it was the ONLY CD in constant rotation in my Discman. It was also the first year I saw the band so I was obsessed with it. So when Happiness came out, I remember really not liking it at first because it was different and nothing really grabbed me the way songs such as "Car Crash" "Carnival" and "4AM" had. But it really didn't take long for it to grow on me and become my favorite OLP album and still is to this day.

Edit: And as far as Happiness to SM, Ill never forget driving around my town with my then girlfriend and the local alternative radio station debuted "Life". I remembering loving it on first listen, and when Raine came in after the first chorus with "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo" she said, "You actually like this shit?" The relationship didn't end much later than that.
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Postby Illusion » 2/25/2012, 12:12 am

I didn't become a fan until 2003, but I think the reaction to Happiness was quite a bit more muted then it was for Clumsy. Clumsy was an absolute pop-culture masterpiece that pretty much got OLP on top of the musical food chain for a few good years (in Canada at least).

I don't think even the band knows what made Clumsy so magical. Gravity may have come close in terms of commercial success, but Gravity was rife with creative compromise and it was also largely still riding on the commercial coat-tails of Clumsy (ie. the reputation of the band had already been built). Clumsy is definitely the center-piece of OLP's influence and that was even obvious back a couple years ago when OLP did their re-creations of Clumsy and SM (the clumsy nights were considerably more successful in terms of ticket sales).

I think Happiness and SM are absolutely brilliant albums but they just didn't come with that magical pop-culture silver bullet that creates mass appeal.
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Postby gibbits » 2/25/2012, 1:12 pm

faninor wrote:There are lots of people who only like Naveed and Clumsy but they don't make a big stink about it because there wasn't some factor like a band member getting kicked out or a new producer to blame anything on.


There were lots of people in the day who only liked Naveed too and bitched about Clumsy (at least where I lived!) I like Steve, but Bob Rock was definitely a big factor of what distanced myself and other early fans from the band. They went from experimental to commercial overnight. It's been discussed to death how he told the band to simplify their lyrics and sound to appeal to a broader audience. If you like the change, all the power to you. It was disappointing to have a band who was constantly innovating rest on their laurels is all people are saying. I like my OLP complex.

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ON TOPIC:

I remember release day, I had to work so a friend picked it up and we listened to it back to back about a half dozen times when I finally got off my shift. Loved it and didn't mind the change to a more experimental sound, still loved their earlier work too. I think there was a live to air broadcast that day or the day before of a concert they did too but I only vaguely remember that. I know I wanted to go and the merch on that tour was really cool.

Spiritual Machines was INCREDIBLE, the day that came out we had a big snow storm in Toronto and I didn't drive but I walked up to the store to pick it up. I was pissed they didn't have any of the ltd. edition packages but took what I could get. I had already been familiar with In Repair, Life and Everyones a Junkie because the former was the single and the later were played at Summersault, but even still SM was a bigger change IMO, but back then it was exciting to see the guys experimenting with all these sound changes while retaining an alternative feel. I'm hoping the new album is a return to that, as Gravity onwards I can only pick 3 or so songs off each album I like.

For me the release I'd most like to see would be some sort of compilation/box set with lots of early demos and b sides, At the least a Lost Dogs-esque release where it's a double album of b sides/demos. they could break it up into earlier and later works.
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Postby Waiting to Exist » 2/25/2012, 9:20 pm

God, I remember the lead-up to SM. The official site was playing clips from Life and maybe In Repair and I would just listen to them over and over and over again. I was so stoked. And then it came out and I just fell in love immediately.

Happiness was my first OLP album, so I dunno what it would've been like hearing it after Clumsy. I know Naveed took me a long time to get into, though.
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Postby Tattooed Angels » 2/26/2012, 12:37 pm

I have been a fan since Naveed. When I first heard Clumsy I thought it was mellow compared to Naveed. I like the Clumsy cd as whole but something about it was too mellow for me. Though there are some heavy hitters on it..

Happiness felt too polished for my taste. Honestly( and I know will get beating for this) Happiness is my least favorite OLP cd.. Not a big fan of the cd. Thought love a few songs on it.Overall I felt it was overdone..

Spiritual Machines I love. Favorite OLP cd and in MHO their best.Everything seem to work with that cd from the music to the lyrics to the flow. I also think this is the cd where Raine really came into his own as a songwriter. The songs are a bit more profound here. This is also the cd where he took on more of a production..

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Postby gibbits » 3/1/2012, 11:29 am

Remember Spiritual Machines they teamed up with Realnetworks to stream the album? Revolutionary for its time, that was a wicked lead up I must have listened to that low quality feed on dial up non-stop.
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Re: Receiving Happiness after Clumsy

Postby the_99th_aisle » 3/31/2012, 2:46 am

I started with Clumsy, and it made OLP my favorite band. I played the hell out of that album, and still do occasionally. Happiness was a different-sounding album, but to me it showed artistic growth and a more experimental sound. Lying Awake became my favorite song (by any band), until a few years ago when One Man Army unseated it. I really think the standout performer on Happiness is Duncan; the basslines on Clumsy were interesting, but on Happiness Duncan really stretched out and explored his instrument, and his work on Clumsy and Happiness was largely responsible for me learning to play bass and being a bassist in bands later in life. Happiness is still my favorite OLP album, with Spiritual Machines taking second place. I love SM too, but to be honest I've never liked Life or The Wonderful Future. I think when it was time for OLP to write their fourth record, a concept album was a good choice. I agree with Heavy Alibi that Clumsy->Happiness->Spiritual Machines was a natural progression with Happiness treading the space between the other two, but my take on it is more of a best-of-both-worlds kind of thing.
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Re: Receiving Happiness after Clumsy

Postby MindsOnLoan » 3/31/2012, 3:11 pm

the_99th_aisle wrote:I started with Clumsy, and it made OLP my favorite band. I played the hell out of that album, and still do occasionally. Happiness was a different-sounding album, but to me it showed artistic growth and a more experimental sound. Lying Awake became my favorite song (by any band), until a few years ago when One Man Army unseated it. I really think the standout performer on Happiness is Duncan; the basslines on Clumsy were interesting, but on Happiness Duncan really stretched out and explored his instrument, and his work on Clumsy and Happiness was largely responsible for me learning to play bass and being a bassist in bands later in life. Happiness is still my favorite OLP album, with Spiritual Machines taking second place. I love SM too, but to be honest I've never liked Life or The Wonderful Future. I think when it was time for OLP to write their fourth record, a concept album was a good choice. I agree with Heavy Alibi that Clumsy->Happiness->Spiritual Machines was a natural progression with Happiness treading the space between the other two, but my take on it is more of a best-of-both-worlds kind of thing.



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Re: Receiving Happiness after Clumsy

Postby the_99th_aisle » 3/31/2012, 8:35 pm

I know, I know. :P The stuttery drums and minimalist bassline just never did it for me.
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Re: Receiving Happiness after Clumsy

Postby Johnny » 4/3/2012, 5:06 pm

I remember the commercial for clumsy.



It was of raine taking a piss in a dirty urinal and in the end, you see the word Clumsy etched in urine in the urinal.
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