New Album in 2012 - "Curve" April 3rd

[todddowney]

I don't completely disagree with you guys, I thought that Wolf was stellar too. I just mean to say that despite the changes, we can still expect a quality song here.

[johnpeterson]

why in the hell would they "borrow elements" (as trusty ever so delicately puts it) from "wolf" instead of just writing a new song entirely? i feel like "wolf" has been condensed into a formulaic pop song and i pine for the stronger, more up-tempo rock song that was "wolf".

did they not learn anything from the HIPT session disaster, where they kept revising songs so much that the original demos sounded 10x better than the finished product?

[xjsb125]

You're still basing this off a 30 second clip. HIPT revisions were more producer and label forces instead of the band making changes towards the end. Regardless, I'll reserve final judgement for the full song.

[DG]

We've heard 30 seconds. We have no idea what the chorus is even. I don't think it's really anything to get upset about until we hear the whole thing.


I'm a proud supporter of The Wolf, but Henhouse could be better than sliced bread.

[todddowney]

We've heard 30 seconds. We have no idea what the chorus is even. I don't think it's really anything to get upset about until we hear the whole thing.


I'm a proud supporter of The Wolf, but Henhouse could be better than sliced bread.

[DG]

While it very well could be gone, I never saw it mentioned that the chorus was completely done away with.

[senseofurgency]

i'm probably in the minority but the more i listened to the live version of wolf, the more i got bored of it. same thing happened with monkey brains for me, first impression was great but then as time went on...... meh. i think it would've been a better fit for burn burn, which needed a straight forward rock song like that but if the band is looking for fresh and innovative ideas then i can see why they may have felt the need to change it up.

[faninor]

Personally I wasn't a big fan of the chorus itself in the older versions, it had a good energy but I didn't think the lyrics were particularly outstanding, and if it has been replaced, new lyrics may inevitably have a different feel with a different delivery and energy. I don't think I'll mind any of that. But I did really miss some of the changed elements in Not Afraid and Will the Future Blame Us and I can see how this could be similar for some people.

[Flynner]

Although I did like the Wolfs chorus I'm going to wait for the full song to make my judgements. I don't mind the clip at, but I hope that that isn't the chorus and is a lead up to a big chorus

[faninor]

It's tough though, we're all asking to hear new music early and stuff, then they let us in on the recording sessions with the webcasts and youtube clips, plus play The Wolf live a bunch, now they give us the finished product and some people will be like "I liked the early version better!" or "I liked the other songs better!" If they had been less open we wouldn't have those glimpses to compare to, and who knows how that has changed our opinions.

I think the band feels very strongly about the album as a whole and I want to listen to the whole thing myself before I criticize the final tracklist.

Oh yeah, Arrogant too, the early version of Innocent. That's a demo I'd love to hear.

[johnpeterson]

i suppose its not wise to judge a song on a 30 second clip, but as others have said raine's vocals are very catatonic and the new chorus is very weak if that's all there is to it.... there could be more after the cutoff, but it really sounds like its about to wrap up at the end of that clip.

[SpiritualJunkie]

I like "The Wolf" but I'm actually really digging this clip of "Fire in the Henhouse"...particularly what goes on after the 17 second mark. Love the chromaticism of the song. It's a completely different style for OLP - dark with bits that remind me of Radiohead's "Karma Police". Spiritual Machines was dark but not in the way "Fire in the Henhouse" is. Like I said, I like "The Wolf" but personally, I think that song could have fit with "Healthy in Paranoid Times" or "Burn Burn". Also, who knows if this clip is the chorus. I can't wait to hear how the rest of the song sounds.

[carleiu]

I know a lot of people are going to hate this comment, but, hey, just being honest...

IMHO, the original version of "The Wolf" was blatantly the same sound they've been trying to capture in the past several years (i.e. radio-friendly "mainstream rock"), and I was very disappointed. Bob Rock-esque lyrics, musically simple and repetitive, and showing none of the awesomely overproduced OLP of the good ol' days (yes, I prefer that era of OLP). It's what came naturally to them, before producers starting changing their writing style and singing coaches started singing Raine's singing style. Raw and energetic was great for OLP when they created Naveed, but "The Wolf"--for me at least--contrasted more than compared with Naveed-era OLP and was instead more comparable with "All You Did...", which I thought was one of the worst songs they ever wrote, and the only OLP song except for maybe "Hello Oskar" that I never got into. I'm really digging the non-mainstream sound of the new version of "Fire in the Henhouse."

One last thought, it speaks volumes that Jeremy recently said that AYDWSML was his least favorite song to play, despite having nearly 20 years worth of songs to choose from. The Wolf went from very simple and poppy to more complex and, thus, more reflective of the complexities and strong studio influenced capabilities that OLP possesses.

Just my .02, and I think the stylistic influences from the past are an awesome thing for fans like me, but I can understand why they wouldn't be for those who prefer Gravity era and afterward.

(OL)Peace everyone....

[carleiu]

It's tough though, we're all asking to hear new music early and stuff, then they let us in on the recording sessions with the webcasts and youtube clips, plus play The Wolf live a bunch, now they give us the finished product and some people will be like "I liked the early version better!" or "I liked the other songs better!" If they had been less open we wouldn't have those glimpses to compare to, and who knows how that has changed our opinions.

I think the band feels very strongly about the album as a whole and I want to listen to the whole thing myself before I criticize the final tracklist.

Oh yeah, Arrogant too, the early version of Innocent. That's a demo I'd love to hear.

I agree. OLP has made three consecutive albums where they chose a straightforward, live off the floor, approach to recording. And Gravity, HIPT, and Burn, Burn were what we got. At some point, all those the songs from Clumsy, Happiness, and Spiritual Machines could have been straighforwardly recorded live off the floor, but I'm sure as shit glad they chose not to do that way back then. Honestly, I probably would have never gotten into OLP at all if they were just a plain rock band in the 90s. Bands with the sound that OLP have had in the 2000s were a dime a dozen in the 90s. The sound that OLP had in the 90s, on the other hand, was so individualistic that aside from some basic Radiohead comparisons, there's nothing really else like their stuff back then. If I wanted pop-rock, I'd listen to Nickelback!

By the way, are you serious that there was an early version of "Innocent" called "Arrogant?" If so, how ironic...

[Fox84]

One thing I really do enjoy about FITHH is the second guitar rift work. It sounds a lot like work from Spiritual Machine days. Maybe it's just me

[astute_99]

One thing I really do enjoy about FITHH is the second guitar rift work. It sounds a lot like work from Spiritual Machine days. Maybe it's just me

I agree entirely. One of the main reasons I liked Wolf wasn't the lyrics, but the guitar work. From what we've heard from the guys, this is a much more guitar oriented album than what they've done recently, which for me is a huge plus. Interesting chord progressions and solos are what really elevate a song in my personal opinion. The fact that they kept those cool riffs on FITHH is what gets me stoked!

[Kicker774]

Just read on OLP.com site CURVE comes out April 17th in USA

Oh look, another delay.
*Rolls over and goes back to sleep*

[RileyLewis]

"And Gravity, HIPT, and Burn, Burn were what we got."

I'm not sure where you got your information from, but I think it's incorrect. Burn Burn was a more "live off the floor" album, but the previous two couldn't be further from that. With HIPT in particular, they ended up recording 34 songs, I think, and spent weeks at a time going over the tracks and re-doing things and remixing (check the videos on youtube for proof). It nearly broke the band apart.

Also I think you're confusing two different issues with "over-producing." On the one hand you have Sporitual Machines. It wasn't over-produced, it had many many layers and tracks, but each individual track sounded really raw or edgy. With Burn Burn or Healthy the tracks were more simple but they sounded very clean and polished. I think many people prefer the slightly rougher feel of Naveed-SM (and to an extent Gravity). I'm not saying one is better than the other, just that there is a difference.

[DG]

Just read on OLP.com site CURVE comes out April 17th in USA

Oh look, another delay.
*Rolls over and goes back to sleep*

It's not a delay. It was never stated for release on the third in the US. A lot of Canadian bands tend to have slightly different release in Canada and the US.

[Kicker774]

Just read on OLP.com site CURVE comes out April 17th in USA

Oh look, another delay.
*Rolls over and goes back to sleep*

It's not a delay. It was never stated for release on the third in the US. A lot of Canadian bands tend to have slightly different release in Canada and the US.

Yea I know it's just a different release date. It's just the same thing over and over again.
There's no use getting excited and looking forward to an OLP album coming out. You know it's just going to get delayed or pushed back or witheld for one reason or another.