Originality is missing from new OLP album
By GEORGETTE LEONARD
Scene Music Critic
Our Lady Peace's live shows are not to be missed. They are explosive and they make cover songs sound fresh again. Early in their career as an opening band, OLP often outperformed the headliners. As a live band, they have their act down. As recording artists, OLP has its act down too, but not in a good way.
Our Lady Peace's third release is disappointing. That's the word to sum up "Happiness … is Not a Fish That You Can Catch." It sounds like the band has not evolved from one album to another.
Their first two releases, "Naveed" and "Clumsy", featured well-crafted alternative rock songs. Both albums received a lot of radio play, from 1995's "Starseed" to 1997's "Superman's Dead" and "Automatic Flowers."
"Happiness" has well-crafted songs too, but it sounds like they were pulled from the same notebook as "Clumsy." In some ways, that's good, since "Clumsy" was so commercially successful. However, truly dedicated bands expand their craft and constantly grow their sound. Think the Beatles. Think Pearl Jam.
With Our Lady Peace, you think Bush. They have slipped into a formulaic state where each album sounds like the last. OLP has the potential of the aforementioned bands, but they aren't living up to their possibilities. That's too bad, since the musicianship in this band is amazing.
Mike Turner is an impressive guitarist, Duncan Coutts is a bassist with a gift for melody, and Jeremy Taggart is a wunderkind drummer. The guy blows others out of the water with his talent.
Raine Maida, OLP's frontman, has a wide vocal range and sometimes sounds a bit like Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins. His lyrics are emotional, but half the time you don't know where he's going with them. "Happiness" is stale and devoid of a general theme to follow throughout the album. It sounds patched together and, at times, Maida's vocals are overly sneering and sarcastic.
Sure, there are the radio hits off of "Happiness" The first track, "One Man Army," has received decent airplay and will probably be followed by "Blister," "Waited" and "Lying Awake." All of these songs are good and deserve attention, but sound like they could have been leftovers from their previous albums. "Potato Girl" highlights Maida's searing vocal style as he loops around many different timing changes.
"Stealing Babies," featuring jazz artist Elvin James, is perhaps the most ambitious track on the album. The song switches tempos and rock/jazz styles back and forth. While it is somewhat jolting and doesn't flow with the rest of the album, hopefully, this kind of experimentation is a sign of things to come from the band.
If you want to hear a great Our Lady Peace album, buy "Clumsy." A lot of great performers have come out of Canada recently, and OLP is part of the recent wave to hit the States.
Unfortunately, the band is dangerously close to becoming extinct as alternative rock's popularity wanes. our Lady Peace doesn't deserve to be seen as the Guess Who of alternative rock, but you can't help but feel that's where they are headed if they keep sticking to the formula.
All Scene Stories for Tuesday, December 7, 1999
