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Rank Somethingness (Album & Songs) **originally Rank Curve**

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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby meandmyonemanarmy » 3/30/2012, 8:58 pm

Albums:

1. Happiness
2. Spiritual Machines
3. Clumsy
4. Naveed
5. Curve
6. Gravity
7. HIPT
8. Burn Burn

Songs:

1. Heavyweight
2. Window Seat
3. As Fast As You Can
4. Allowance
5. Will Someday Change
6. Fire In The Henhouse
7. Rabbits
8. Find Our Way
9. If This Is It
10. Mettle

and I don't get the hate on for window seat, the song is chill and I love the fade out at the end it's so different than anything I've ever heard them do.
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby Teedus » 3/31/2012, 11:51 am

Albums:

1. Happiness
2. Curve
3. Spiritual Machines
4. Clumsy
5. Gravity
6. Naveed
7. Health in Paranoid Times

Songs:

1. Allowance
2. As Fast as You Can
3. Heavyweight
4. Fire in the Henhouse
5. If This is It
6. Will Someday Change
7. Find Our Way
8. Window Seat
9. Rabbits
10. Mettle
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby Driven » 4/2/2012, 10:02 pm

I was expecting everyone to say If This is It was the best song they've made since Spiritual Machines, but I guess not.

I'll also be in the minority here... but Fire In the Henhouse is better than the Wolf. The Wolf was just a generic rock song, IMO. I like Allowance, too. Those three and Heavyweight are my favs.
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby todddowney » 4/2/2012, 10:19 pm

:)
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby wl671127 » 4/2/2012, 10:33 pm

I like "If This Is it", mostly, but Raine's pronunciation of "accident" in the first verse erks me every time.

Aside from that little nitpick, I feel like the only other song that isn't catching me is "Find Our Way". The opening synth is such a nice melody, only to be ruined by what sounds like (to me) a very amateurish rock riff.

Songs:

1. Rabbits
2. As Fast As You Can
3. Window Seat
4. Will Someday Change
5. Heavyweight
6. Fire In The Hen House
7. Allowance
8. If This Is It
9. Find Our Way
10. Mettle
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby Furious George » 4/3/2012, 12:37 am

Driven wrote:I was expecting everyone to say If This is It was the best song they've made since Spiritual Machines, but I guess not.

I'll also be in the minority here... but Fire In the Henhouse is better than the Wolf. The Wolf was just a generic rock song, IMO. I like Allowance, too. Those three and Heavyweight are my favs.



Actually judging from a lot of the posts in the main album thread, the general consensus definitely seems to have swayed in favor of Fire in the Henhouse over The Wolf. Everyone was hating on FITH until they heard the full version..
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby Maine Raida » 4/3/2012, 1:32 am

After some very close consideration and thoughtful listening in which I gave each song a score and then took the average of the song scores for each album's overall score, this is how I would rank the albums and Curve's songs:

Albums:

1. Spiritual Machines
2. Naveed
3. Curve
4. Happiness...
5. Gravity
6. Healthy in Paranoid Times
7. Clumsy
8. Burn Burn

Curve:

1. Rabbits
2. Heavyweight
3. If This Is It
4. Fire In The Henhouse
5. Allowance
6. Find Our Way
7. Mettle
8. Will Someday Change
9. Window Seat
10. As Fast as You Can

Clumsy finishes in 7th place overall simply because half of the album (Automatic Flowers, 4 am, Clumsy, Superman's Dead, Car Crash, Carnival) and the band's performance is brilliant, while the other half of the album (Shaking, Big Dumb Rocket, Hello Oskar, Let You Down, The Story of 100 Aisles) is utterly mediocre in comparison to even some of their Gravity and beyond work. Even Gravity is far more listenable as an ALBUM than Clumsy in my opinion. Gravity would have been higher if it weren't for the inclusion of Innocent and Somewhere Out There, which leaves me wondering what the scrapped songs from those sessions might sound like (i.e., Angelina's Song and Stop Screaming), which might have pushed the album past Happiness... overall. Even if they had retained Arrogant over Innocent it would have been so much better. I gave Burn Burn the benefit of having its bonus songs (The Right Stuff and Time Bomb), which raise the average song score on that album, but it still turned out to be the overall lowest.
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby OLPManiac » 4/3/2012, 6:07 am

For me Rabbits and Find Our Way(and maybe If This Is It) are better than some songs on the first three albums(not on SM because here the songs are all amazing) ...and with the two of Curve i add also Paper Moon that is one of my favourites OLP's songs! Also Escape Artist and Refuge are amazing but Raine's voice doesn't shine here...
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby Corey » 4/3/2012, 12:44 pm

Driven wrote:I was expecting everyone to say If This is It was the best song they've made since Spiritual Machines, but I guess not.

I'll also be in the minority here... but Fire In the Henhouse is better than the Wolf. The Wolf was just a generic rock song, IMO. I like Allowance, too. Those three and Heavyweight are my favs.


To me, the chorus sounds like that "Fabric of our lives" cotton commercial which ruins it for me.
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby Heavy Alibi » 4/3/2012, 2:10 pm

My album ranking (5th place) hasn't change yet for Curve, but after a week of listening I have adjusted my song ranking accordingly:

THEN:
1. Fire in the Henhouse
2. Find Our Way
3. Heavyweight
4. As Fast As You Can
5. Allowance
6. If This Is It
7. Will Someday Change
8. Rabbits
9. Window Seat
10. Mettle


NOW:
1. Find Our Way
2. Will Someday Change
3. Heavyweight
4. Rabbits
5. Fire in the Henhouse
6. As Fast As You Can
7. Allowance
8. Mettle
9. Window Seat
10. If This Is It

Overall, the instrumentals, song structures, lyrics and melodies are a huge leap far and above Gravity, HIPT and Burn Burn, and there isn't one skippable song on the album.

However, the vocals are definitely the least impressive aspect of Curve, especially considering Raine's vocal reputation and ability. They're not outright disappointing or awful, but they are IMO outshined on every other OLP record except BB.
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby Corey » 4/3/2012, 2:15 pm

My song order after only a few listens:

1) Heavyweight
2) Fire in the Hen House
3) Rabbits
4) Find Our Way
5) Allowance
6) Window Seat
7) Will Someday Change
8) If this is it
9) As Fast As You Can
10) Mettle

I'd say at this point, about half the album is going to be very skippable for me. Who knows, that might change. I keep holding on to the dream that OLP will rock like they used to but I think that dream is dead. They seem to want to be Coldplay or U2 these days. Those are great bands and all, just not my taste.
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby Johnny » 4/3/2012, 5:04 pm

What the fuck is up with the creepy ass'd signature in this topic?
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby A2K » 4/3/2012, 6:18 pm

So I've been a member on this forum for years but I've never posted anything. Not sure why not, spent most of my time on R&S but here goes.

1. Happiness
2. Gravity
3. SM
4. Clumsy
5. Burn Burn
6. Curve
7. Naveed
8. HIPT

OK......After looking at this list, and how it differs from everyone else's I hope everyone doesn't think I am tone deaf, especially considering this is my first post. But I connected with my heart and this is how I feel, I am not likely looking at these albums artistically, but emotionally and on a song by song basis.

I didn't know everyone had such a hate on for Burn Burn, and to be honest I am a little surprised. That album really swept me away like no other since Happiness. There was definitely some filler in there but I think the same can be said for Naveed, and certainly for HIPT, maybe even SM (Wonderful Future).

I can understand why Gravity is looked upon so negatively, but if you look at it for what it was which is a solid commercial pop album, it accomplished exactly that and with top tier artistic performance even as a whole album. Anyway I hope I've explained myself enough so my album list doesn't make me look like a complete moron. I'd like to spend some more time on here and I don't want everyone to treat me like the kid in the corner who eats glue.

Below is my list for Curve Tracks:

1. If This Is It
2. Allowance
3. Find Our Way
4. Window Seat
5. Fire in the Henhouse
6. Heavyweight
7. Rabbits
8. As Fast As You Can
9. Will Someday Change
10. Mettle

Mettle is a very important piece to this album. The fact that it is # 10 in most peoples list I think is because as a song in and of itself it doesn't listen well, but in terms of importance to the over all feel of this album it might be number 1.
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby senseofurgency » 4/3/2012, 6:32 pm

A2K wrote:
I can understand why Gravity is looked upon so negatively, but if you look at it for what it was which is a solid commercial pop album, it accomplished exactly that and with top tier artistic performance even as a whole album. Anyway I hope I've explained myself enough so my album list doesn't make me look like a complete moron. I'd like to spend some more time on here and I don't want everyone to treat me like the kid in the corner who eats glue.


no opinions are wrong :).. i, for example, think clumsy (the song) is pretty weak, i don't think i've listened to the studio version in years.
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby Heavy Alibi » 4/3/2012, 7:08 pm

A2K wrote:So I've been a member on this forum for years but I've never posted anything.


Welcome to the forum (even though you've been here 4 years longer than me)! We're a respectful and tolerant bunch here, so no one is going to attack you for your slightly divergent opinions. In fact, it's rather fresh to see a differing opinion.

When you say "Wonderful Future" is filler, are you talking about the 4-minute song or the 15 minutes of silence/Ray Kurzweil afterward? Because WF is one of my favorite SM tracks, in fact it's one of my favorite OLP songs of all time, and many others would agree. It did take a lot of listening to get used to and fully appreciate, which can also be said about Curve by the way.

As for Burn Burn, I'm curious to know what your track listing rank would be for that album? Raine recently spoke against songs like All You Did and The End Is Where We Begin as basically "generic radio filler", so I wonder if you prefer those songs over ones like Escape Artist and Paper Moon, which I do enjoy but not enough to rank BB over any other OLP release.

And I agree with you on Gravity, which is why I rank it above HIPT and Burn Burn. It is a great album for what it tried to be, a stripped down modern 3 Doors Down-esque rock album with some rocking riffs and a few ballads. In fact, I think Burn Burn tried to be Gravity #2 in many respects, but failed, especially in the vocals department. What are your opinions on Raine's vocals and how they've evolved? I found them to be most disappointing and unenthusiastic in Burn Burn, which is a major factor in me listing it last.
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby carleiu » 4/3/2012, 11:06 pm

Since there's been some talk about feelings regarding "If This Is It," I'm going to throw in my two cents.

IMO the song is a good song overall. It does, however, come across as the most generic on the album for me. If would have been far less generic if the band had retained the falsetto and original chorus in some way. I think it would have sounded awesome if the original chorus had been changed to a pre-chorus followed by the final chorus. That would've made it a complete song with OLP's official watermark in the lining. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be....

After a week, I have to admit that all the songs are growing on me, even Mettle and Window Seat. Will Someday Change, Rabbits, and Find Our Way have been slow builders, taking a while to stick in my head, but will definitely stay there now. It reminds me of how long some of the songs on Happiness took to catch on, and that's a damn good thing. If a song is complex enough that it takes many listens to "get familiar" with it, it's a winner in my book. That characteristic is one that made OLP so great in the past. It's very exciting to see them back at that level. Can't wait for the next album already!
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby A2K » 4/4/2012, 7:32 am

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

When you say "Wonderful Future" is filler, are you talking about the 4-minute song or the 15 minutes of silence/Ray Kurzweil afterward? Because WF is one of my favorite SM tracks, in fact it's one of my favorite OLP songs of all time, and many others would agree. It did take a lot of listening to get used to and fully appreciate, which can also be said about Curve by the way.


I was referring to the 4 minute song itself. I do enjoy Wonderful Future and have always found it to have a beautiful melody, especially considering it is likely the most experimental track on SM. However, I've always saw it less as a song and more of a very concise way to end the album, similar to Al Genina in HIPT, which again has a very beautiful melody. Not that I feel this cheapens the tracks or the albums in anyway. When I say filler I simply feel that when compared to let’s say Stealing Babies or Car Crash these tracks are songs first but still successfully close the albums. With that being said SM was certainly less an album and more an experience so it is possible that is just how I experienced it the first time, and never really listened to it in any other context. Which as you said it takes a lot of listening to fully appreciate.

I can definitely see what you are saying about Burn Burn, and for the sake of your curiosity, explaining myself, and the sheer fun of it I will list out the tracks below:

1. Paper Moon
2. White Flags
3. All You Did Was Save My Life
4. Dreamland
5. The End is Where We Begin
6. Never Get Over You
7. Escape Artist
8. Monkey Brains
9. Signs of Life
10. Refuge

I do see the Gravity Lite argument, and when looking at it as an album, and even more so comparing it to Gravity you really do see how incomplete of a record it is. I think a big problem is that the album as a whole is very indecisive, some songs are radio rock, while other tracks show amazing growth. My big issue with it was that when you get toward the late middle; Escape Artist, Refuge, Never Get Over You, it almost gets hard to tell where one song ends and another begins. This is where I feel the "unenthusiastic" vocals you referred to are very apparent. To make matters worse most of the time when we listened to Burn Burn we had The Right Stuff, and Time Bomb playing after Paper Moon which really drove the "This Album Doesn't Know What the Hell it is" feeling home. The reason I had such a strong emotional connection to Burn Burn was because while it may have been kind of a mess, it had pound for pound some pretty strong individual tracks on there. Plus it really painted a picture to me of a band that had been reborn, had a lot to say, just perhaps didn't quite know how to say it, kind of like a new born child.

As for the evolution of Raine's vocals I thought they were best during what my friends call the "whiney albums": Happiness/Spiritual. There was so much apparent emotion, that was lost on Gravity and have yet to fully return. But I do feel Burn Burn kind of brought a little bit of that back, especially in Paper Moon.

I hope I've explained myself in way that makes sense to everyone. I am really enjoying reading all of your thoughts throughout this message board. I've always loved Our Lady Peace, and had no idea there were so many likeminded people out there. This really makes me wish I'd been here more often over the course of the last 8 years. :cry:
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby OLPManiac » 4/5/2012, 9:17 am

More i listen to "Rabbits" and more i think that is one of the best OLP's songs! Fucking amazing!
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"The future brings the truth"


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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby xjsb125 » 4/5/2012, 9:33 am

Rabbits reminds me of something that might have been left off of Avalanche. That's not a bad thing. For me, even though it's not as complex as some of the other songs, If This Is It is the best on the entire album. For me it has a weight to it that makes me just want to fall over and rest for hours. Someday Will Change is probably the weakest song for me, but I like that if you listen to the music, but don't pay attention to the words, you miss how optimistic of a song it is. Great contrast. Find Our Way, and Hen House with that creepy ass intro are great too.
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Re: Rank Curve (Album & Songs)

Postby johnpeterson » 4/5/2012, 9:40 am

"will someday change" is a grower, trust me... others have said that as well. the more you listen, the more it becomes comparable to "are you sad" and "4 am" as an album ballad. the whole album is a grower, and it flows very well as a piece.
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