New Album in 2012 - "Curve" April 3rd

[Tattooed Angels]

RileyLewis
I did not have time to read through all you wrote but,
I said that in the end the band probably cares about more what long time fans or FANS IN GENERAl think.. As to Critics

I have been into the band since Naveed days.. I am not a fan of Happiness at all . I actually love Burn Burn. Probalby one the few that does. HOnestly though really do not care if Raine sings Falsetto or not. As long as he sings good and it fits the songs he is singing. I have always been a bigger fan of his lyrics then his vocals to tell you the truth.

[RileyLewis]

And that's valid. People like them for different reasons. But it's not cool for some people to say that you're not a true fan if you are disappointed in them not doing something anymore that you like. When someone around here mentions that the band may be lacking in some area compared to the past it's common for apologists to jump out of the woodwork to slam other fans for doubting anything OLP does, and I think that's stupid, to be frank. OLP is just people, and they make bad decisions or have bad ideas like anybody else. For me, the vocals were the largest part of the attraction, and that attraction has gone away, really. The lyrics are better on this album than before, so that's good, and the music is better too. But overall Raine can't re-create the sounds of his past, for whatever reason, and I think it's valid to be critical of that. I'm not bashing him, nor are others, it's just recognizing that his voice made them very unique, and now he is more generic, vocally, than he used to be. It's all subjective though, what people like about bands. I'm just saying that it's all valid, and it's stupid for people to say that nothing is wrong in some area or another, or that one person's viewpoint as a fan is invalid for whatever reason.

[Tattooed Angels]

And that's valid. People like them for different reasons. But it's not cool for some people to say that you're not a true fan if you are disappointed in them not doing something anymore that you like. When someone around here mentions that the band may be lacking in some area compared to the past it's common for apologists to jump out of the woodwork to slam other fans for doubting anything OLP does, and I think that's stupid, to be frank. OLP is just people, and they make bad decisions or have bad ideas like anybody else. For me, the vocals were the largest part of the attraction, and that attraction has gone away, really. The lyrics are better on this album than before, so that's good, and the music is better too. But overall Raine can't re-create the sounds of his past, for whatever reason, and I think it's valid to be critical of that. I'm not bashing him, nor are others, it's just recognizing that his voice made them very unique, and now he is more generic, vocally, than he used to be. It's all subjective though, what people like about bands. I'm just saying that it's all valid, and it's stupid for people to say that nothing is wrong in some area or another, or that one person's viewpoint as a fan is invalid for whatever reason.

I did not say anything about being a true fan so do not know directed at me or not. I said I think critics are negative cause OLP are not the band they once were as to just reviewing cd on it's own. If that is the case then there would be so many bad reviews for alot of bands cause they are not what they once were...I said long time or fans cause they are not critics. SOme critics might be fans of a certain band or love a certain band but most are just reviewing cd's for work. Not really objective in my opinion. Maybe cause I read so many horrible reviews and you wonder if the person writing it even listen to the same cd as you did. Whether you like it or not. That is where I am coming from. I take my music very seriously..I read reviews of cd's that were horrible yet the cd did well on charts and with fans. It is all people's opinions and you are right they are valid. I do not argue that . Just feel alot of critics are allthe same to me.

[Mr. Sixkiller]

Does transparent humans have anything to do with Curve? The site still says coming soon.

[faninor]

Does transparent humans have anything to do with Curve? The site still says coming soon.

No, I don't think the band is involved with that site.

[Mr. Sixkiller]

But it has ourladypeace.net listed on the splash page.

[faninor]

Right, but I don't think it's one of their "official" OLP sites.

[todddowney]

http://dailycollegian.com/2012/04/24/ou ... ansitions/

Contrary to popular belief, reality is not singular – there are always at least two realities at any given time. One is actual, factual, concrete and more importantly, demonstratively so. The other type of reality is no less real, per se, but it’s constructed, and, most disconcertingly, it’s not only weighed down by a subjective distortion of history but is typically prioritized above the former reality.



Now, in spite of that breathless and seemingly unnecessary preface, this is a music review – specifically, a review of perennial Canadian rockers Our Lady Peace’s most recent album “Curve,” which quietly dropped a week or so ago. So, “Why the sub-Metaphysics 101 philosophical rumination?” asks the voice of reason. Well, 1) the pretentiousness of people who will judge a band like OLP’s entire eight-album, two-decade career based solely on the existence of a singular (albeit subpar) mainstream rock radio single must be countered somehow; and, more importantly, 2) Our Lady Peace is a band whose current artistic existence is precariously straddled between the two previously stated kinds of realities – and thus, so is “Curve.”

See, the answer to the simple question, “Who is Our Lady Peace?” can be answered two different ways depending on which reality you’re talking about, both of which are technically true.

To most people in America (I’m in no position to opine on the current mindset of citizens of the band’s native Canada), OLP is essentially the band that wrote and recorded the 2002 hit “Somewhere Out There.” In the nicest terms possible, they’re a post-grunge-lite outfit whose resume is headed up with a power ballad that cracked the Billboard Top 100 and was almost featured in the soundtrack to the first “Spiderman” film.

But this reality, though perfectly suitable for many, is a constructed one. That one terrible song from that one terrible album (2002’s “Gravity,” which could easily be labeled the band’s “St. Anger,” mostly due to production duties by Bob Rock and its ensuing massive levels of suck) is the consensus representative for what OLP is.

Of course, this is rather disingenuous. Taking into heavy consideration that one awful song, or even that entire awful album, or even the slightly less awful but still pretty bad follow-up “Healthy In Paranoid Times” (also sadly helmed by Bob Rock) actually undercuts the legacy of a band who in many ways swam against the stream of ’90s alt-rock, while the current mostly turned to watered-down Brit-pop and powerpop.

Not many other bands were writing alternative rock albums that were influenced as much by Jack Kerouac as by Kurt Cobain, infused with accessibility and integrity – and even fewer were spawning concept albums based on futurism, AI and Ra Kurzweil novels (see OLP’s 2000 magnum opus “Spiritual Machines”). Our Lady Peace is/was an alt-rock band that didn’t make alt-rock albums, and that is arguably as transcendent as a form of pop culture gets.

Listen to songs from the album “Clumsy,” even songs that charted fairly successfully in Canada, and you will hear lead vocalist Raine Maida sing in a way that no one at the time was singing. And by no one, I don’t mean few people – I mean no living person sang like Raine Maida used to sing. In short, things potheads say about their favorite bands were actually true about Our Lady Peace in the ’90s.

But these two realities share a very jarring co-existence; going from one of the only good-to-great bands to ever be appropriately labeled as “post-grunge” to Bob Rock-assisted artistic suicide is the musical equivalent of someone with a really good driving record drunkenly overshooting their driveway and smashing their car into their neighbor’s living room. OLP have made more good albums than bad – but they still crashed their car into a house.

This brings us to “Curve,” an album that represents a conscious effort on OLP’s part to make an album just like ones they’ve already made. And this isn’t just an inferential observation – every single member of the band has gone on record in interviews saying that this album was an attempt to reanimate the processes behind their first couple albums. In fact, that’s all they’ve been saying about every album for the last decade since the hopelessly inept radio-friendliness of “Gravity.” Ditching Bob Rock was a good first step, but while 2009’s “Burn, Burn” was a step in the right direction, it was definitely a baby step.

So, is “Curve” a return to form? Well, yes and no – mostly no – but not in a bad way, though not necessarily in a great way. Reports have circulated that longtime friend of the band and “Curve” producer Jason Lader supposedly asked the band, “Why don’t you make an album that you would listen to,” the answer to that query apparently being “Arcade Fire does their best Radiohead impression.”

On the positive, the slow process of returning some level of grit to their sound from the saccharine levels of radio-friendliness of their early 2000s disappointments is finally coming to fruition, and there are some genuinely eyebrow-lifting moments (in a good way) on this album. The intro to lead single “Heavyweight” sounds more Daft Punk noir than guitar rock, and the expected sentimental ballad is pleasantly broken up by a Sabbath-esque breakdown.

Both of these examples are counterpoints to the cry many longtime OLP fan boys like to air out whenever they’re within arms reach of a YouTube comments page, namely that guitarist Steve Mazur, who had the unfortunate luck of taking over for forming member Mike Turner about 10 years ago, is apparently the root of everything bad that Our Lady Peace has ever done since he joined ship.

Mazur’s guitar lends the long-amiss punch to a lot of the tracks on “Curve,” whether it’s the sleek riffage on tracks like “Heavyweight” and “Fire In The Henhouse” or the wall-of-sound distorted lines that are more reminiscent of Electric Wizard than alt-pop. Plus, the guy’s got some vocal chops that lend to some pleasant duality in the vocals department on “Curve.” Check the high top harmonies on album opener “Allowance.”

A big plus on this album is lead vocalist Raine Maida’s incorporation of the more dynamic style he was known for in the ’90s. While it’s impressive that someone who was once known as a countertenor can now reach the low, droning baritone style he’s taken to in recent years, there’s finally some re-emergence of the nasally falsetto he perfected on albums like “Clumsy” and “Happiness Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch.” It’s nice to hear him finally balance these two styles well throughout “Curve.”

The atmosphere on this album approaches greatness at times but is also its undoing in the long run. On the one hand, the listener gets pulled into the dark reverberation of “Fire In The Henhouse,” the dissonant and fleeting beauty of “Window Seat,” the chilled modalities of “Will Someday Change” and the wonderful sparseness of closer “Mettle.” These are all singularly engrossing vibes – in fact, there’s a distinct, if distantly related, ambient post-rock feel to some of the album’s best moments, helping to evenly ground some of bigger, bombastic chorus hook moments, which helps the album retain a decent balance of immediacy and atmosphere throughout.

But the overall mood of the album seems wrought with disconnectedness; the songs approach greatness, and some even are great – “Rabbits” is probably the best song the band has written in over a decade – but “Curve” is hampered by its transitions. Tunes like “Find Our Way and “If This Is It” are spot-on “The Bends” era Radiohead tributes, numbers such as “Mettle” and “Will Someday Change” pleasurably blend post-rock and alternative, “Allowance” and “As Fast As You Can” brush up against indie-folk stylings, and one would think this would serve to display some considerable range. However, all it realistically does is shed light on the fact that Our Lady Peace wasn’t trying to make some sort of convoluted post-rock/indie-folk/alt-throwback hybridization; they were trying desperately – and by any means necessary – to finally make good on their effort to distance themselves from a mediocre mid-career stain that happened 10 years ago.

The album is good, but not good enough to make up for the disjointedness that is the result of their perpetual state of artistic panic. Rock bands who decide to steadfastly keep their white-knuckled grip on the paradigm of long-play records in a world of digital download must remember the number one thing that has made all the great records in rock history better than simply a dozen or so songs packaged together, and that is the concept of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

For a band like Our Lady Peace, this pressure is 10-fold, since not only do they have considerably good albums that permanently set the bar of comparison relatively high, they also have a couple stinkers that make proving they can return from one reality into another to be a long leap. “Curve” represents a band admirably making that leap, but currently lacking the focus to cross the divide between their two realities.

Dave Coffey can be reached dscoffey@student.umass.edu.

I actually liked this review, as it was thoughtful. I have to say, I wonder if some reviewers base their opinions/grades solely on innovation while in the process. Is it okay for a band to emulate an influence and be evaluated on execution alone? Sure, I get some of the vibes the reviewer mentioned, but my first thought isn't "rip-off." I find it cool that other elements from bands I also like (and they do too) have found their way into OLP's music. Perhaps people feel that OLP had a sound so unique that they won't let them live it down after the last three records. In a nut shell, for some reason, I just feel like Curve is getting called out more than other albums for what critics believe it attempts to sound like.

[Tattooed Angels]

http://dailycollegian.com/2012/04/24/our-lady-peaces-latest-album-hampered-by-transitions/

To most people in America (I’m in no position to opine on the current mindset of citizens of the band’s native Canada), OLP is essentially the band that wrote and recorded the 2002 hit “Somewhere Out There.” In the nicest terms possible, they’re a post-grunge-lite outfit whose resume is headed up with a power ballad that cracked the Billboard Top 100 and was almost featured in the soundtrack to the first “Spiderman” film.

]Figures that really one of their worse songs is their biggest song down here. No counting for taste. Actually though SOT was big on all charts.. That is pretty impressive coming from OLP. And they had some minor hits( Modern Rock Charts) with other songs..


Listen to songs from the album “Clumsy,” even songs that charted fairly successfully in Canada, and you will hear lead vocalist Raine Maida sing in a way that no one at the time was singing. And by no one, I don’t mean few people – I mean no living person sang like Raine Maida used to sing. In short, things potheads say about their favorite bands were actually true about Our Lady Peace in the ’90s.

I beg to differ cause If you listen to Sinead O'Connor or Jeff Buckley you can see their influence a bit on Raine's singing.


On the positive, the slow process of returning some level of grit to their sound from the saccharine levels of radio-friendliness of their early 2000s disappointments is finally coming to fruition, and there are some genuinely eyebrow-lifting moments (in a good way) on this album. The intro to lead single “Heavyweight” sounds more Daft Punk noir than guitar rock, and the expected sentimental ballad is pleasantly broken up by a Sabbath-esque breakdown.

Both of these examples are counterpoints to the cry many longtime OLP fan boys like to air out whenever they’re within arms reach of a YouTube comments page, namely that guitarist Steve Mazur, who had the unfortunate luck of taking over for forming member Mike Turner about 10 years ago, is apparently the root of everything bad that Our Lady Peace has ever done since he joined ship.

THAT GUITARIST !!!WTF..That is the biggest insult I have seen.. and I do not think Steve is to blame for all that is wrong with OLP ( according to this guy). I highly doubt the band went. HEY STEVE- Here do what you want and we will play along..and I would not say he was unfortuante getting to step into Mike's shoes. Yes it was a major undertaking but for a young guitar player with not much experience in a established band he got the job a lifetime I would say.. BTW Mike Turner told me personally he thinks Steve is doing a good job and was a good player.

Mazur’s guitar lends the long-amiss punch to a lot of the tracks on “Curve,” whether it’s the sleek riffage on tracks like “Heavyweight” and “Fire In The Henhouse” or the wall-of-sound distorted lines that are more reminiscent of Electric Wizard than alt-pop. Plus, the guy’s got some vocal chops that lend to some pleasant duality in the vocals department on “Curve.” Check the high top harmonies on album opener “Allowance.”

I can not remember who it was live but the higher harmonies were probably Duncan.Though Steve holds his own..


I agree with you on the review. It was more then the norm. THEY SOUND LIKE XYZ OR NOT SOUNDING LIKE CLUMSY..

I only wonder which version of Radiohead are they sounding like? Radiohead does not even sound like Radiohead anymore. lol

[Waiting to Exist]

"THAT GUITARIST !!!WTF..That is the biggest insult I have seen.. and I do not think Steve is to blame for all that is wrong with OLP ( according to this guy). "

Read the paragraph again, Gail. He's agreeing with you, and highlighting the absurdity of blaming Steve for the band's recent, lackluster efforts.

[RileyLewis]

Also he didn't call him "that guitarist", with the emphasis on 'that', he was using the word 'that' in a way like "did you know that trees are green."

[OLPManiac]

FYI i created a playlist with the whole Curve...i take the songs directly from OLP Official Youtube's Channel i didn't upload anything...i know that probably all of us have the album...but enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... re=mh_lolz

[OLPManiac]

http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?p=107066562
Interview with Steve...he talks of the new album...and he tells also that in the summer the will make festivals and European Tour! Then they will make other dates beside London! Can't wait!

[Tattooed Angels]

http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?p=107066562
Interview with Steve...he talks of the new album...and he tells also that in the summer the will make festivals and European Tour! Then they will make other dates beside London! Can't wait!

They added the July 1st show at Trafalgar Square. If they are adding more dates then they only have 2 weeks cause back in Canada for show on July 13th..

Waiting to Exist and Riley Lewis
Waiting I was merely stating how that statement is so wrong. Whether he agreed or not. It is ridiculous how 10 years later people can not get over Mike leaving and Steve is here to stay.

Riley THAT GUITARIST is an insult. I just get irked when people say THAT xyz when talking about people. I know he was repeating what read but they making statements could of said THEIR GUITARIST. it would be almost like me calling you THAT FAN ..

[Codes]

WTF, I don't take any review serious that throws Steve under the bus, fucking guy owned this cd.

[faninor]

That review didn't throw Steve under the bus, he was commending the guitar work and pointing out how silly it is that there are still people out there who think Mike was untouchable and Steve has two left hands. I actually thought it was a decent review. I disagree with the album feeling disconnected from song to song. While each song sounds different than the one before and the one after, I think it flows very well. I'm surprised by how quickly 40 minutes pass when I listen to the whole album straight through.

Riley was right about how the word "that" was being used -- rather than "that guitarist" it should be read "these examples are counterpoints to the cry [...] that." The sentence was a way too long because he had to let the average reader know that Steve is the guitarist, and that he replaced Mike 10 years ago. Scratch out the extra info and it reads easier:

Both of these examples are counterpoints to the cry many longtime OLP fan boys like to air out whenever they’re within arms reach of a YouTube comments page, namely that Steve Mazur is apparently the root of everything bad that Our Lady Peace has ever done since he joined ship.

[Tattooed Angels]

That review didn't throw Steve under the bus, he was commending the guitar work and pointing out how silly it is that there are still people out there who think Mike was untouchable and Steve has two left hands. I actually thought it was a decent review. I disagree with the album feeling disconnected from song to song. While each song sounds different than the one before and the one after, I think it flows very well. I'm surprised by how quickly 40 minutes pass when I listen to the whole album straight through.

Riley was right about how the word "that" was being used -- rather than "that guitarist" it should be read "these examples are counterpoints to the cry [...] that." The sentence was a way too long because he had to let the average reader know that Steve is the guitarist, and that he replaced Mike 10 years ago. Scratch out the extra info and it reads easier:

Both of these examples are counterpoints to the cry many longtime OLP fan boys like to air out whenever they’re within arms reach of a YouTube comments page, namely that Steve Mazur is apparently the root of everything bad that Our Lady Peace has ever done since he joined ship.

I liked the review. Just some of the things it said I disagree with. I agree the cd flows well.. I have yet to listen to the cd anyway but straight through. I like your sentence better..

oh and sadly so The Best Buy still does not have it in or even OLP on shelf. I only went to two though. Not sure about anywhere else but here it is as if they did not release anything. Not even a review in the local papers about it. Every other cd that came out that day got reviewed. Not OLP..

[ivewaited]

I love curve but I keep finding myself going back to "tales from a grocery list" and listening to it over and over again..

[Tinman]

I love curve but I keep finding myself going back to "tales from a grocery list" and listening to it over and over again..

Ditto... if Tales from the Grocery List and If this is it's original chorus had made this album, it would have bumped it from a 4 star to a 5 star album for me.

Speaking of which... just checked amazon and the album is rated at a 3.5. I think thats really shitty, as I place it at a 4, or 4.5. I wrote a quick review to help provide some enthusiasm for the guys. If any of you have time, maybe you can go say some good stuff about the album and support the band.

[SpiritualJunkie]

Anyone else hearing "As Fast As You Can" on the radio? It's getting played quite a bit on 102.9 Sonic in Edmonton.