Gravity - Our Lady Peace

Although many bands will tell you that their second album was the most difficult to make, particularly if it’s an offering following commercial success, I often view a bands fifth or sixth album to be among their most significant. It’s not only down to the fact that I like the numbers five and six but it seems to be a turning point for many bands – The Beatles went on to release another cracking movie soundtrack for ‘Help!’ with album number five ...
...studio release, ‘Battle For The Sun’ and sadly it’s a trap Our Lady Peace fell into back in the June of 2002.

By the time you get to a fifth album, bands perhaps see it as a time for extreme change; the majority of the bands I like fit the tag of ‘alternative’ so with each record, you’d expect a group to grow out of their teenage angst days before gradually moving into a more considered, reflective species of songs prior to experimenting ... more

Although many bands will tell you that their second album was the most difficult to make, particularly if it’s an offering following commercial success, I often view a bands fifth or sixth album to be among their most significant. It’s not only down to the fact that I like the numbers five and six but it seems to be a turning point for many bands – The Beatles went on to release another cracking movie soundtrack for ‘Help!’ with album number five whilst Placebo, many decades later, completely bombed with their sixth studio release, ‘Battle For The Sun’ and sadly it’s a trap Our Lady Peace fell into back in the June of 2002.

By the time you get to a fifth album, bands perhaps see it as a time for extreme change; the majority of the bands I like fit the tag of ‘alternative’ so with each record, you’d expect a group to grow out of their teenage angst days before gradually moving into a more considered, reflective species of songs prior to experimenting a little bit more. Our Lady Peace have certainly done that; from their grungy punk debut album ‘Naveed’ all the way back in 1994 to the hard rocking but touching efforts of ‘Clumsy’ (1997) and ‘Happiness Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch’ (1999), the band decided to go with a concept album in 2001, blending musings from a novelist to create their most daring album at that time, ‘Spiritual Machines’.

So, Our Lady Peace naturally had three directions to go in: the four piece Canadian outfit could either revert back to their older, high energy days and continue to fuse electronic guitars and falsetto vocals with dark lyrics or make another concept album or else forget the underground sound they’d always sought to epitomise in their works and go full blown mainstream. Sadly, the band went for the latter and fans were left with the album ‘Gravity’, containing ten tracks of optimistic, corny ramblings against a soft rock background that even Bryan Adams would be cringing at. Ten tracks isn’t a lot for any album and I was slightly alarmed to discover that OLP had only managed to write 12 tracks in preparation for this release. I know many people would be thinking ‘surely it should be a case of quality over quantity’ but it made me wonder if the band were lacking any inspiration at all and just decided to release ‘Gravity’ in preparation for a Live CD/DVD package to be sold the following year.

Let me take you on a journey of ‘Gravity’ and I’ll let you decide whether there was any need for such cynicism a little later on...

OK BUT BEFORE THE RANT – COULD THERE BE A LOGICAL EXPLANATION FOR THE CHANGE OF SOUND?
Guitarists in all rock bands are just as important as the singers, especially if the two aren’t combined: they bring their own sound and attitude to their playing and again I’ll use Placebo as an example with Brian Molko’s guitar craftsmanship being very distinctive with a screeching and alarmed resonance. Our Lady Peace’s original guitarist, Mike Turner, was largely influenced by punk music when he was a child so obviously that impacted his guitar playing a great deal. Although he recorded the first and last songs on the record, it’s only the first track that you can ‘tell’ it’s his handy work; the guitars are a lot more urgent and hard working than on many of the tracks where Steve Mazur controls the six strings and Mazur himself, prior to joining OLP, often plays acoustic renditions of his favourite songs.

Although there are very rarely acoustic moments on ‘Gravity’, there is a bit of a change in the guitar style; the melodies are still loud and dominating but there is something lacking in their depiction. Whereas the Our Lady Peace of old used to be pretty uncompromising and chaotic when need be with the electric guitar, here things seem to be a bit unspectacular and less intimidating, resulting in a lot of lifeless and unspectacular sounds along the way.

‘I NEED RELEVANCE, INTELLIGENCE, A NEW TATTOO, A LOT MORE SEX’ (Lyrics from ‘All For You’)
I probably forgot to mention in the opening few paragraphs that ‘Gravity’ isn’t all bad; there are a couple of tracks that could stand alone as some of the most powerful and thought provoking that the band have ever dared. The opening track, ‘All For You’, is one of the finest examples of a traditional Our Lady Peace song, in spite of the fact it was a deceiving opener for an album destined to be anything but a typical OLP record. ‘All For You’ is a song that takes a paranoid look at the average man or woman, fearing debt collectors during financial crisis. It sounds like an obscure and perhaps a little strange topic for a song but it’s one of the few songs on the album where the listener can develop compassion for the character; lead singer and songwriter Raine Maida’s vocals are spot on, dipping between confused yelps of terror to lower tones that bring out the desperation of the person who just wants an honest companion in times of such hardship. Everything seems really cohesive from the grinding guitars and thrashes from the cymbal, played with gusto by Jeremy Taggart, to emphasise how the person is never at peace and always scared of whoever’s lurking behind the front door.

‘All For You’, although an impressive first track, lacks a certain magic that the live version of the song possesses; perhaps it’s because I heard the live version of ‘All For You’ before the album edition but there seems to be something much more authentic and uncompromising about the live rendition; the guitars seem bolder, from their muted presence in the middle to the final burst of oomph at the very end, but none-the-less, ‘All For You’ is my favourite song from ‘Gravity’ – there’s a passion and intensity there that’s unrecognisable (or even worse, not there) on so many of the tracks on this album so it’s at least an excellent way to get things going.

Even if the rest of the album isn’t so convincing and doesn’t follow suit...

‘I HATE MYSELF FOR LISTENING TO YOU’ (Lyrics from ‘Do You Like It’)
Unfortunately, the only way is downwards but not until after the raw sob story that is ‘Do You Like It’, a song about a man and a woman who are constantly trying the others patience to the point where it’s impossible to break away. ‘Do You Like It’ finds solace in Raine’s vocals once again where his whimperings are contrasted against the mean yet repetitive guitar riff to denote that although the relationship is psychologically draining, it’s a cycle that is impossible to break. Although ‘Do You Like It’ isn’t a song that has an unusual central theme, what I do like about it is the fact that the band have kept things simple: ‘Do You Like It’ might not be the most distinctive of all of their works but it manages to portray a story that many listeners could well identify with whilst keeping things sincere and engaging, which is more than can be said for many of the songs on ‘Gravity’.

Slowing things down quite considerably with an acoustic guitar is one of the bands most famous singles, ‘Somewhere Out There’, a song that contemplates whether re-meeting that special person will ever become a reality again. I initially liked ‘Somewhere Out There’; it begins quite softly and really showcases the contemplation of loneliness. However, the song is spoiled by the chorus as OLP decide – rather predictably – to go all out with the electric guitars which essentially loses the gorgeous meaning of the rest of the song. Personally, I would have loved for the band to have kept going with a less over the top acoustic presentation so that the romantic lyrics would have been kept alive and really would have been the driving force behind the whole presentation. However, by increasing the volume at the chorus, Our Lady Peace have made the track more ‘rock friendly’ and made the desperation of the searching lover seem more persistent and frantic.

I’m not normally against the addition of orchestral instruments; such items add texture and an epic feel to a song. However, the string instruments towards the end of ‘Somewhere Out There’ weren’t as effectively used as they could have been; if the band had stuck with the acoustic guitar, the violins and such would have only added to that gentle sound but coupled with the thumping drum beats, it just didn’t work, making it seem as if OLP were trying too hard to be impressive. The same could be said for Raine’s voice; during ‘Somewhere Out There’, it has a scratchy feel to it which I found distracting and took away from the beauty of the lyrics. None-the-less, if ‘Somewhere Out There’ had been performed by a singer with a slightly purer voice, I think it would have been one of the best moments on the album.

‘BUT IT ALL SEEMS SO CONTAGIOUS/NOT TO BE YOURSELF AND FACELESS/IN A SONG THAT HAS NO SOUL’ (Lyrics from ‘Innocent’)
‘Innocent’, although another pretty well known song by OLP in the US of A and Canada, is quite frankly diabolical; it’s cheesy, boring and smug, three qualities you really can do without in a song. Although providing a good message all about being yourself and being grateful for your own life rather than intimidating someone elses, ‘Innocent’ doesn’t communicate these thoughts in an intelligent way. Raine has decided to make the lyrics so blatant and dull that it’s just an unbearable listen, not just for the fact that he repeats the word ‘innocent’ over and over again but for the fact that you can just feel the self-satisfaction seeping from your earphones from the low key guitar at the beginning and thrusting drum beat to the chanting by Raine and the others. It’s terrible right until the fuzzing, disjointed guitar at the end and is a song that any idiot sat at home alone whilst contemplating life could have written.

Unfortunately, things don’t pick up drastically by track number five; ‘Made of Steel’ feels a lot like ‘Innocent’ but actually verges on listenable...it might have just been because of Raine’s imploring to use him as a punching bag that I find appealing or it might be because ‘Made of Steel’ has been controlled and comes across as less pretentious. The song itself has been largely built around the rather fine but ordinary use of guitars that stops and starts between harder and softer tempos to add to the notion of sticking up for someone who is drowning in their own sorrow. The idea of being someone who can mould themselves around another is interesting and it’s about as interesting as the rest of the lyrics on ‘Gravity’ get. Ultimately ‘Made of Steel’ isn’t a great track – it’s decent in the sense of I don’t want to destroy my CD player straight after listening to it but that’s about as far as I can compliment it as it’s slightly unmemorable really.

‘WHEN THEY SAY YOU’RE NOT THAT STRONG/YOU’RE NOT THAT WEAK/IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT’ (Lyrics from ‘Not Enough’)
As we venture into the second half of ‘Gravity’ (gosh I can’t believe I’m writing that after just five tracks!) Our Lady Peace decide to slow things right down once again with ‘Not Enough’, a song that has been used a couple of times on World Wrestling Entertainment TV just so you can picture the mentality of the song; all about the struggle of someone who really has nothing left to prove, I find ‘Not Enough’ to be a confused song. Although the tune is quite reflective to begin with, the build up in the middle and the abrasive vocal effort reminds me of a couple of prepubescent boys dabbling in music. ‘Not Enough’ is quite bland as although the song gets louder, the reason for this being the case doesn’t seem clear and altogether it just sounds like a rather poor and lacklustre effort that drags on for far too long for the sake of it.

After a song that repeats the words ‘nothing’ and ‘what’ at the start of every sentence, ‘Sell My Soul’ decides to switch to the phrase ‘how’ just for a nice change. Alas, that is the only change that the song accomplishes as in actual fact the music is drearily similar and is presented in the same way to ‘Not Enough’ and it’s almost like listening to a reflection of track number six. ‘Sell My Soul’ relishes in its misery; Raine’s vocals have hardly been at their most spectacular throughout the album and they’ve actually been really monotonous. On previous records, I’ve enjoyed listening to his off-kilter falsetto notes that have added some spontaneity and zest to the songs but thus far, Raine has decided to keep to a fairly safe baritone which is as flat as the lyrics in question. ‘Sell My Soul’ is about the closest thing to a ballad on ‘Gravity’ but the problem is I don’t believe Raine is completely entrapped inside his lover; I don’t believe that he’s loving her but not receiving any back (probably reverts back to his thoughts in ‘All For You’ when he wants more sex) because of just how insipid his vocals are.

Instead of trying to make up for such a severe lack of heart in the past couple of songs, Our Lady Peace decide to rip off ‘Innocent’ yet again with ‘Sorry’, the albums eighth album track which is just as self-righteous as the fourth and just as banal. ‘Sorry’ decides to continue where ‘Innocent’ left off with the simple message of enjoy life and seeking the most from it but the bands enthusiasm just comes across as cheap; the juxtaposition between the ‘old’ self-centred version of a person and the ‘new’ persona who wants to live life to the fullest is just too ridiculous and again evidently written and they’ve once again used the obvious trick of keeping the tune fairly quiet during the verses and louder during the chorus’ as a way to allow the listener to contemplate what little meaning there actually is there. I don’t consider the notion of the past being a ‘freak’ to be a good metaphor as it essentially means nothing and that is a bit of a tragedy about ‘Gravity’ in general; the lyrics lack any real sort of meaning, other than clichés such as ‘tasting the honey’, and when the tune is kept at a fairly low level, the words are really shown to be very insincere and depthless.

‘A LITTLE WHITE HOUSE/IT’S EVERYTHING WE’VE DREAMED ABOUT’ (Lyrics to ‘Bring Back The Sun’)
When I first listened to ‘Bring Back The Sun’, the mention of a White House instantly made me think of the American government; in recent years, Raine has taken a political stance with many of his songs but this was back in 2002 so I suppose I could be wrong and in fact, Raine is singing about the eventual demise of a relationship. The initial perception of a ‘little white house’ being a dream for someone represents to me security and a safe haven but coupled with notions of fighting or worrying about paying debts off, the innocence of the colour white is undermined by the solemn tale of two exhausted partners who have failed one another and who don’t know how to repent.

‘Bring Back The Sun’ is definitely the deepest song from ‘Gravity’; Raine’s voice has sunk to its lowest pitch to really emphasise the anxiety of finding a solution to the couples problems and united with the less bawdy electric guitars, everything seems to work better on ‘Bring Back The Sun’ than on most of the tracks so far on the album. The orchestra is finally utilised in a credible and measured method just before the second verse to add a little more sorrow to the song, in addition to the less manic pace of the rest of the instruments before the middle eight; one of the partners admits their failings in a bold and reasonably compassionate outburst from Raine which is actually a pleasant surprise.

However, in spite of that rather subdued praise, I still don’t like ‘Bring Back The Sun’ all that much; after trying to polish too many turds prior to the penultimate track on ‘Gravity’, ‘Bring Back The Sun’ reeks of something rotten, as if the band themselves knew they needed a really substantial slower song to make the rest of the album seem more happy-go-lucky and vibrant. Alas, ‘Bring Back The Sun’ is still lurking in the shadows after so many really appalling and over indulgent tracks so you do wonder if there is any genuineness here at all or whether I found it because I was searching too hard for it. Despite that the fact I’ve slated the band so far in this review, I do want to find more reasons to compliment their fifth effort because Our Lady Peace have in the past been a great little band. Yet I have to be truthful: I was already far too fed up of this album by track number nine and I doubt the most inspired and accomplished track would have saved ‘Gravity’ after six songs of utter rot.

‘THIS IS NOT SOME PARADISE’ (Lyrics from ‘A Story About A Girl’)
Sadly, ‘Gravity’ doesn’t seek to end on too much of a high either with another blatant and lacking song in the form of ‘Story About A Girl’. With a guitar melody that tries to imitate Green Day but songs more like ‘Pink and Purple’ Day, the albums final outing is another corny offering that is quite frankly laughable. All about trying to convince someone to stand up for themselves in such a corrupt world is one thing but there is something really unlikeable about this song; it tries to be catchy with the bubbles of the guitar at the beginning before once again bursting into a stunted bout of thrash metal at the chorus but overall, it ends the album poorly and you realise that perhaps even as early on as ‘Spiritual Machines’, OLP have been having a bit of an identity crisis and the final song does nothing but confirm this.

Sadly, the whole of the album has pretty much merged into one another and it very much expected that ‘Story About A Girl’ only confirmed that the notion of ‘quality over quantity’ wasn’t one to be taken into consideration with ‘Gravity’.

OVERALL: WHAT IS THE REALITY OF ‘GRAVITY’?
The reality of ‘Gravity’ is that it’s a shameful pop record that even the most bubblegum artists would be second guessing when releasing; the lyrics to so many of the songs are far too radio friendly and corny, something I’d never have expected to associate with a band who’d released some killer rock albums in the past.

As a fan of Our Lady Peace, I should have seen the transition coming: although ‘Spiritual Machines’ had a quirky theme behind it, many of the songs decided to concentrate on the dark side of life but in an almost comical way. ‘Life’, the third track from the said album, was perhaps the prototype for ‘Innocent’ as it too was all about self-esteem boosting and imploring someone to try and break free of their excess baggage. However, ‘Innocent’ and ‘Sorry’ in particular seem to contradict their overall meanings by almost mocking those in need of confidence boosting with bubbly tunes that come across as too tacky to be considered dangerously optimistic. Instead, the band could have adapted each of the songs into ballads which ended with a stroke of happiness with a minor riff on the guitar but instead, everything had to be full throttle to try and disguise just how poor Raine’s song writing and singing was for the majority of the album.

Although I initially complained about the fact that ‘Gravity’ only hosted ten tracks, considering for the most part how badly consistent the album was, I’d dread to think of the standard of those two additional tracks the band wrote in preparation for its release. Original guitarist Mike Turner apparently left the band during recording of this album due to ‘creative and musical differences’, which is, granted, the regular spin that goes with the territory when musicians leave their respected bands. However, I can’t help but think that Turner left at the right time before OLP stood for Obscenely Lacking Perception rather than Our Lady Peace; his replacement, Mazur, did an ok job with guitars but there was something about the whole presentation that said to me that the band were no longer passionate musicians whilst trying to make it seem like they did care about their music with naff, half arsed lyrics and boring tunes. This to me as a listener suggested Our Lady Peace were anything but passionate about their jobs which was a great shame, especially when Raine’s voice which has in the past always managed to veer some of their slightly less amazing songs into better places. Alas, his incredible, slightly wobbly higher pitched vocals were gone in favour of mumblings and that to me really didn’t aid many of their tracks in their hour of need.

If as a songwriter you can only find inspiration for twelve tracks whilst penning songs for a new album, I fear that says it all about the state of the band at the time. It came to light shortly after the release of their sixth album, ‘Healthy In Paranoid Times’ that the group admitted things nearly fell apart completely during that recording. I do have to wonder if so many of the tracks were so repetitive on ‘Gravity’ because of how the band wanted to take the easy way out and just rush an album release before they were in the correct state of mind to release something credible that deserved to be in their otherwise solid discography.

However, I have to say that the most shocking revelation to come out of ‘Gravity’ was the drummer’s statement that this was their ‘best album’ at the time of its release. From someone who considers themselves to be a fan, I’d have to say his perception is clearly blinkered; there is very little to shout about with ‘Gravity’ and whilst ‘All For You’ and ‘Do You Like It’ are pretty amazing tracks, the rest of the album is severely lagging and ostentatious to the point where it does just sound like four men who’ve been given the keys to a recording studio playing at being rock stars.

Oh and was my initial thought that this album was just as a tool for a future Live CD/DVD release accurate? Sadly, I have to say ‘yes’. It seems as if ‘Gravity’ was the catalyst for some commercially successful stadium gigs which isn’t a bad thing for the new fans. But for people like me who preferred the bands older, more distinctive days ‘Gravity’ fell back to the earth with a bump and was altogether a bit of a disaster.

QUICK STATS:
Year: 2002
Length: 41.27 mins
Tracks: 10
Buy at: Play.com for £10.99 (with free delivery) 

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