[.ca] Gravity

Amazon.ca:
We've been keeping an eye on Our Lady Peace for a few years now, and their widescreen melodies and spine-crunching riffs have rarely let us down. At the same time, we always knew this band were capable of so much more. With Gravity, the Toronto quartet finally deliver their big rock album. Working with producer Bob Rock, the man who took Metallica mainstream, Our Lady Peace have come up with 10 songs that channel their therapeutic thunder to remarkable effect. "I wasted too much time," sings Raine Maida on the passionate "Sorry." The expert playing and towering choruses of slow-burners like "Somewhere Out There" and "Sell My Soul" make up for it, as the front man--part Chad Kroeger, part Jeff Buckley--finally comes across as a force to reckon with. --Aidin Vaziri

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.:
I'm not sure why I decided to write a review of this Album two years after it's release, but I guess this would be more of an opinion of the band's current sound as a whole, as opposed to the tracks on this album. I've been a die-hard OLP fan since the release of Naveed, until now that is. Any true OLP fan knows that the band was always at it's best when not over produced and the music not too thought-out...when the tracks just came together as they did on Naveed and Spiritual Machines. These albums just seemed more...raw, more edgy. There was one member who undoubtedly influenced this aspect of OLP's music - former guitarist Mike Turner. There are only a couple of tracks on this album for which he is credited and you can still hear his influence on them. Why did Mike leave? Though I've never been able to find a difinitive answer (other than the standard "atristic differences"), I've come to assume that it resulted from Raine's (and the record label - Sony) desire to make the music more accessible (meaning, alter the sound) to the masses and go after the American market - more money, even though the band was wildly successful here at home. Mr. Turner, apparently was more worried about his artisitic integrity than breaking into new markets. Hooray for him. Though I will never disparage Raine's lyrical or vocal talents, nor those of Mr. Turner's replacement Steve Mazur, I can't say that I'm a fan anymore. Mike took the soul of he band when he left. I can't blame him for not wanting to put his name on the watered-down, popped-up, whiny version of a formerly great sound that exists today.

Whoa! What caused this change?:
I am a big fan of OLP. I own all five of their CDs, know pretty much all the lyics. They've been one of my favourite bands for a long time. This album just disappointed me, though. Whenever you hear a song on the radio that's by OLP and on one of the first 4 CDs, you can say "hey, that's OLP." That's because they had such a destinctive sound that you could recognize even if you weren't really a fan at all. That sound that was OLP was what defined them as OLP. Gravity ruined that sound. This sounds so droning, so depressing. Jeremy's drumming has turned into a slow and repetitive rumble. Raine's voice is so different and hard to listen to. I don't know if it was Bob Rock who is responsible, but I was disappointed with this album. Hopefully this album was just a phase, and as OLP writes their next album they'll look back at Gravity and reflect upon just what happened to make it so different. But as OLP fans we must support the band, after all, we are all they have. Even though this was a mediocre CD, I'm still just as hardcore a fan of OLP as I ever was. Personally, my favourites are Innocent, Sell My Soul, All for You, and Bring Back the Sun. And I don't mean that they're GREAT songs, they're just my favourite off the CD.

Great, but a step back:
This is a solid rock album. But it's not as good as their previous effort "Spiritual Machines". The sound has more bottom to it (thanks to Bob Rock -- or no thanks?) but at the same time it isn't heavier, which is strange. At first I was very disappointed with the album (I have all their previous recordings), but it eventually grew on me. However, if this is a new direction for the band, I don't know if I like where it's going.

Good Soid Album......:
I have to say this is a very big change for O.L.P. but I hate when people whine about this album. I have been a huge Our lady peace fan ever since they realesed Naveed and out all their six albums this would be about 5th. Now sure they really changed theyr'e style on this album but listen to a song like "Inocent" or "Somewhere out there". Theyre both great rock songs. "Inocent" ranks up their with any OLP song in my mind. As for the rest of the album sure its very bland and mainstream compared to other OLP but it is still catchey. "Do you like it" has a hook you wont be able to get out of your head for weeks. "Not Enough" is another great song with some cool guitar riffs. "Sorry" sounds a-bit like something off of "Spiritual machines". Anyways the point is this is a good solid album and even though its not old OLP its stll damn good. Oh yeah , the band switched guitarist's so that is a key reason why this album sound's alot different. Besides "Healthy In Paranoid Time's" is a step in the right direction! Cheers!

Awesome!!:
I can understand why fans of OLP don't think that this CD lives up to their previous releases but I can sum it up in one word "Mature". This CD is the one that I can say has repeat value and my wife also loves this cd (and she can't speak English).. get it and get some good headphones to blast it in. Do it and do it now!!

• All For You
• Do You Like It
• Somewhere Out There
• Innocent
• Made Of Steel
• Not Enough
• Sell My Soul
• Sorry
• Bring Back The Sun
• A Story About A Girl