I'm just gonna say it HIPT was one of their stronger albums

[ShatsBassoon]

I've followed OLP since '95 and Naveed is still my favourite album, but HIPT doesn't get enough credit.
Maybe it's just me, but I'd put it above Burn Burn, Curve and Gravity.
If I'm being completley honest, and I might get some heat for this, but I think Clumsy isn't as strong of an album as people make it out to be. Don't get me wrong, i think it's a solid album, maybe radio has killed it for me.
Either way I don't think HIPT gets the credit it deserves.
The entire album is cohesive, has a theme. It maybe lacking in the signature falsetto and heavy grunge sound, but dammit I love the vibe and grooves of this album.
1 Naveed
2 Happiness
3 Spiritual Machines
4 HIPT
5 Clumsy
6 Somethingness
7 Burn Burn
8 Curve

[xjsb125]

It's a solid album. Lyrically, it's very straightforward. Musically it struggles, but perhaps that's symbolic of the struggle to make it.

[titanMAX]

It has high peaks and low valleys imo. Not really a fan of Raine's voice on this album. It often sounds something like he's swallowing his toungue. Absolutely no edge in his voice. I'm not saying it's bad but it stands out to me as particularly bland in their discography.

[OLPManiac]

Well I don't know....I love some songs from there, but for me is one of those albums that misses a OLP Masterpiece....I'm also unpopular though cause I think that Curve and Burn Burn are two good albums (with some masterpieces inside )

[titanMAX]

Curve is a really fun album. Musically very interesting. Burn Burn is pretty bland but has Paper Moon and some lyrics that have really resonated with me over the years.

HIPT has Angels which I think is a top ever OLP track. It's got stuff to like but more to dislike imo.

[ShatsBassoon]

Maybe it's because I've recently listened to the album in it's entirety. Boy and world on a string are a bit weak and out of place, but I enjoyed how the music flowed from one song to the next. The vocals and lyrics are low point, but the music is solid. Picture and apology are amazing jams that I could listen to if they carried on for another 10 minutes. Walking in circles is a killer track. Where are you and will the future blame us, although on the pop side are solid rock songs. Wipe that smile is gritty, and they kick it all off with ALS which I think is universally liked.
I think the album gets a hard time because it's such a massive departure from the original OLP sound. Apparently change is frowned upon.
All things being said, HIPT has less songs I'd skip than Clumsy, Burn Burn and curve.
Obviously music is subjective and I enjoy all of their music. Just speaking for myself.

[titanMAX]

The more I've analyzed over the past couple days, I've come to the conclusion that it's the vocals. I really want to love Wipe That Smile but Raine at the end just ruins all that it was building to for me. I always had a soft spot for Love and Trust but even it irks me nowadays. Raine's voice before and after this record I find immensely more enjoyable.

The music itself is pretty good. Will always love Walking in Circles, no doubt. Just an irritating listen to me on like half the songs.

[ShatsBassoon]

[xjsb125]

I'd agree that the vocals are probably the weakest part of the album. I loved the early live versions of WTSOYF, and Walking in Circles, but the album versions lacked edge, especially after changing the lead guitar part on WIC. Lyrically, I'm fine with it being straight forward. I can easily relate to Boy, WTFBU. I really miss Picture being in the live rotation. Great song, great imagery used in it. Angels is still the top song on the album. Where Are You is one of my least favorites. Don't Stop is the sleeper in the album. Should have been played live.

[carleiu]

HIPT is the first album that Raine started singing from the gut (technically, the more "correct" way of singing) instead of from the lungs. Which in my opinion was an unfortunate change because it caused him to get rid of his gritty, post-grunge style of singing. It also caused him to knock down his range several notches and truncate his previously (more) nasally style of singing and use of falsetto. The falsetto he uses today is a soft falsetto, whereas back then it was more of a burst of aggressive lung-originating belting.

I prefer the older style, but can acknowledge the change was in attempt to become more of a traditional rock singer to appease Bob Rock rather than the Sinead O'Connor influenced style he had used before.

Every band and singer evolves over time, and many rock bands chill out on the pace and aggression in their playing/singing, but for OLP, this essentially equated to ditching their proven styles for new territory. On one hand, I miss the old style, but on the other hand, the evolution probably has a lot to do with why they're still making music (and the less aggressive style probably saves Raine's vocal cords from damage). Although, I've heard many people say over the years that his previous falsetto was harmful and likely painful to his vocal cords--as a person who can sing in a similar falsetto range myself, I can attest to the fact that it is not painful and is actually easier on the vocal cords than most forms of singing due to slower air flow through the vocal procedure. The gritty, grungy singing style would've definitely been more painful, though.

HIPT is an album that represents that change to me. Musically, I'm good with most of it, although I don't like the blandness and generic (U2-esque) elements of tracks like "Boy." My rankings would be: Spiritual Machines, Happiness, Clumsy, Naveed, Gravity, HIPT, a tie between Curve/ Somethingness, and Burn Burn. Although I could listen to all of them front to back. "AYDWSML" is the low point for me, though. Co-writing with Zac Maloy was a mistake in my opinion--I enjoyed "Baton Rouge" at the time that it was released, but I wouldn't consider The Nixons to have been breaking any creative new ground with any of their music, so the partnership in writing that song was pretty "blah" for me.

That being said, if a band whose existence spans 28 years and counting has a low point of a single song being "blah" for me, then they've done one helluva job. The only other active bands I would put in the category of that much quality from their first album to their last (or most recent) would be Wilco and The New Pornographers.

[Driven]

I find HIPT to be too formulaic for me. Raines vocals don't bother me as much as the music. It sounds like they were trying too hard. And I'm not a fan of the level of "poppiness" on some of the tracks. Another part of the problem for me is that I remember the years leading up to this album. I took a liking to the demos of some of these songs more than the finished product.

Angels/Losing/Sleep - Solid track, no real complaints here

Will the Future Blame Us - Solid track, overproduced. I want more from the song.

Picture - A fan favorite that I never got into. I find that Picture, along with many songs from this album, have solid versus but choruses that are bland and lacking.

Where Are You - See above about choruses.

Love and Trust - Initially my favorite song on the album. Too poppy for me now. Well written.

Boy - Another overproduced song that should have been more.

Apology - Probably the only song other than A/L/S that I would put on a playlist of mine.

The World on a String - Yuck.

Don't Stop - Again, the chorus kills this song for me. Besides that, I quite like it.

Walking in Circles - Fine for what it is. Formulaic and bland.

Al Genina - No real thoughts on this. I like it, not really a song like the others though.

[xjsb125]

The songs that made the album that we heard ahead of time were Will The Future Blame Us, Picture, WTSOYF, Picture, and Walking In Circles. All of those songs were performed live in 2003 and 2004. You only heard WTFBU and Picture if you were at the Red Rocks concert in '04 (I wasn't). WTFBU also appeared in a short clip in the 2003 Christmas video. We did get to hear a very early version of Where Are You, which was the final song recorded for the album. The trying too hard I think is just going back to the well over and over on songs. World On A String is my guilty pleasure track on this album. It was a lot of fun to hear live. If I could pick one lead off song for my dream OLP show, Picture would be in that spot. Joel would have to be playing lead though. It's crazy to think this album is 15 years old this year.

[titanMAX]

I have to agree on World on a String, definite guilty pleasure. I went back and listened to Picture live and i was surprised by how much of a fan I was because I never really liked the chorus. Very enjoyable live.

[Driven]

Joel Shearer was awesome.

[ShatsBassoon]

[carleiu]

I listened to HIPT in full and then went straight to Burn, Burn, and the degree to which Raine's singing style changed and voice deepened between those albums is very noticeable. I wonder if this was intentional, an effect of taking so much time off between albums, or just a natural effect of aging.

With other singers who've used falsetto in the past (although not the same style of falsetto as Raine), I've noticed similar changes in the voices of Carl Newman and even Jeff Tweedy (to a lesser degree since he didn't do as much falsetto earlier in Wilco's career). Anyone else notice differences in other bands with falsetto singers?

Makes me think that it's just a natural effect of aging.

[titanMAX]

I always thought it was on purpose based only on live shows just before and after Burn Burn came out. Major HIPT vibes from Raine. I could totally be mistaken though, it's been years since I scowered for those particular shows.

[xjsb125]

[OLPManiac]

[paintedbynumbers]

It wasn't a bad album. I saw them live twice during this tour once at Slippery Rock and once at X Fest. The songs sound great live. My biggest issue is Where are You is a bad choice for single. You are coming off of US exposure with Innocent and Somewhere Out There and your next single is Where Are You? Why? Picture, Angels Losing Sleep or Wipe That Smile would have all been miles above and probably gotten them more radio play and attention.

Honestly when was the last time you heard Where Are You on the radio? I don't know that I ever did.