Gravity (Our Lady Peace album)
Encyclopedia
Gravity is the title of Canadian alternative rock
band Our Lady Peace
's fifth studio album. It was released on June 18, 2002 by Columbia Records
in North America
. The album became a worldwide success, charting highly both in Canada and the U.S. with the hit singles "Somewhere Out There
" and "Innocent
".
The album title, Gravity, was inspired by the chorus lyrics "Falling back to me, defying gravity" from the track "Somewhere Out There". At the time of the album's release, OLP drummer Jeremy Taggart
said that Gravity was "by far [their] best album".
This was their first album to feature new guitarist, Steve Mazur
, who replaced Mike Turner
after the latter's departure in December 2001. Turner is on some of the albums tracks, however, having recorded parts for several songs on the album prior to his departure. This was also their last album with stunt musician Jamie Edwards, who left the band soon after the album was completed.
Tour in late 2001, Our Lady Peace were becoming restless and close to breaking up. Lead singer Raine Maida
in particular was feeling limited by guitarist Mike Turner's abilities in the studio. Raine would later state in an interview, "I don’t know if Mike was born to be a guitar player. The studio was a tough place for him and we were working too hard to make up for it – we felt like we were cheating ourselves. Four albums is way too fucking long to put up with that. I’m sure he’ll do great things, just not with six-stringed instruments.” They mutually decided to part ways following preliminary sessions for the album.
The band decided that they had gone as far as they could go musically with Spiritual Machines. Looking to reinvigorate themselves and change directions musically, they sought a more stripped down sound as opposed to the multiple layers and textures of their previous albums. It was this idea of simplifying that inspired the title of Gravity. Raine discussed the transition in a 2002 interview. “’Spiritual Machines’ was so out there in talking about the future and trying to perceive man turning into machine, it was very heavy. With this record...it kind of felt like we were being pulled back down to earth, hence the title. It’s such a simple life out there and because of that the album was just based around living day to day rather than looking too far ahead. In that sense ‘Gravity’ is pretty much the opposite of ‘Spiritual Machines’. None of our other albums had been concept records, so it was the right time for us to get away from that whole philosophy. Because of that ‘Gravity’ is probably the most basic album we’ve made since our first.”
Although Raine Maida had begun living in Los Angeles
, The band came together in Toronto
to start writing new material towards the end of touring for Spiritual Machines. They did it this time without the usual help of producer Arnold Lanni, who at the time was working with fellow Canadian band and management-mates Simple Plan
on their debut album, No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls
. Jamie Edwards was credited for the first and last time as a songwriter on this album. Three songs written by the band made the record but most were written by Maida during the 2001 holiday season. Steve Mazur's late official entry into the band meant he took no part in songwriting.
to help with their search for a new sound. According to the band, it was Lanni's idea for them to pursue a new venue lest they regret not trying other producers later on. After visiting with several producers in Los Angeles
including Josh Abraham
, the band seized the opportunity to work with Bob Rock
because they liked his work with artists such as Metallica
and American Hi-Fi
as well as his general passion for music. Raine was particularly convinced he wanted to work with Rock after watching A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica
, the documentary about the making of the Black Album. In the studio, they would even record with the same guitars and amplifiers used by Metallica as well as Pete Townshend
and The Cult
. They first visited Rock's studio in September 2001 to meet him and even wrote and recorded a song while there.
They flew to Hawaii
in November 2001 to Rock's studio in Maui
after their last live show of the season at Music without Borders. They had initially booked ten days of studio time that month to record three tracks that would be included on a live album based on the Spiritual Machines tour. They began recording on the day of their arrival, laying down the initial tracks for "A Story About a Girl", which was written on the spot within 20 minutes after Raine heard Duncan and Jeremy tuning up in the next room. According to Taggart, the making of that song set the pace for the whole album. "He saw us as a rock band as soon as we got there, and the way we recorded it was live off the floor as a rock band as opposed to layering things," Maida stated. "He was a great leader who got the best out of us immediately.". Metallica was originally scheduled to begin work on a new album with Rock in the following months but this was postponed when front man James Hetfield
checked himself into rehab
for alcohol abuse
. Rock then asked the band if they would like to work on an entire album, which they accepted.
Following preliminary recording sessions in Maui, Mike Turner left the band in December 2001 after recording rhythm guitar
parts for several songs that would appear on the album. Band members in interviews said that he and the band weren't seeing eye to eye anymore but according to official press releases the split was amicable. Duncan Coutts said of the split, "We weren't allowing him to do what he really wanted to do, and he wasn't playing what we wanted to hear. ... This recording process magnified that, but it was a long time coming." The remaining band members then commenced a 2-month public search during which the band received thousands of demo tapes, videos and CDs from all over the world, including Australia
and Japan
. They chose Detroit native, Steve Mazur, who Coutts and Taggart knew through mutual friends in Los Angeles
and who had already been filling in for Mike as a session guitarist. After his inception into the band was announced in April, Raine Maida noted: "[It] felt like a cohesive unit...It just felt incredible. It felt like a new band, totally fresh."
During the band's holiday break from recording, Raine received a phone call from Rock on Christmas Eve
, asking him if he had anymore song ideas to consider before they returned to the Maui
studio in January. The call prompted him to write seven songs over the next ten days. Upon returning to the studio, lyrics from several of the songs would be combined to eventually form the hit song, "Somewhere Out There
". Maida explained "It was like a last minute song done really quickly. I demoed a bunch of songs over Christmas, when we had a break for 10 days. I wrote, like, seven songs and brought them back. Bob listened to all seven songs and then listened to song number three halfway through and song number six halfway through and said, 'OK,' told the engineer to stop the CD, and got us to go put the verse from song three and the chorus from song six together and was like, 'That's the song.'"
For the ten weeks they were in Maui recording (spread over 4 months), the band lived together and would surf and ride mountain bikes in the mornings then work on the album in the evening, usually recording one song in one day and only for a couple of hours before and after dinner. "Leaving Toronto and holing up in a beach house in Maui was a very important step for us," explained Duncan Coutts
. "We lived, ate, and breathed music together away from all distractions." The band recorded most of the album at Rock's Plantation Studio in Haiku, Hawaii
and finished recording and mixing with Randy Staub
at The Warehouse Studio
in Vancouver, B.C. in March 2002.
The track "Made of Steel" was recorded three separate times during the sessions with the last take being used. "Do You Like It" was not recorded until after most of the mixing had been completed in Vancouver. According to Raine, "We had gone back to Maui to finish some small details on the last two songs to be mixed and 'lo and behold!' a new song was born and recorded."
The recording technique for this album began a trend of recording songs live in the studio together without overdubs that continues on their latest album, Burn Burn. According to the band, doing it live works to create a more realistic set of sounds, "a vibe" reminiscent of Led Zeppelin
or early David Bowie
, mistakes and all. In earlier albums, they would record each instrument separately and at different times. They began recording "Bring Back the Sun" before the lyrics were even finished. The final version as heard on the album is only the second take of the demo with strings overdubbed.
Raine said in an interview that most of the lyrics on Gravity were rewritten because producer Bob Rock felt that the songs would be stronger with simpler lyrics, so that listeners could understand what Raine was talking about. "I was really open to him musically, but I wasn't ready to be challenged lyrically like he challenged me. He kept telling me to rewrite stuff because he didn't understand what I was trying to convey in my lyrics. He would say, 'Raine, I don't have a fu-ing clue what you're talking about. Convince me. Explain to me what you're trying to say in your lyrics better.' I would keep rewriting and rewriting, and sometimes I felt I would never please him. I would say, 'Jesus, I don't know what you're asking me to do here. I don't think I can do whatever it is you want.' He would say, 'Yes, you can, get back in there.' And I did it. Looking back now, I'm a better writer for it." The stress caused by this challenge eventually led to Raine having to go to a hospital; contracting shingles. Raine had also cited his and his wife Chantal Kreviazuk
's recent trips to Iraq
with War Child Canada as inspiration to simplify his lyrics and to 'get to the point'. The results were considered some of Raine's most personal lyrics to date while others lamented the loss of Maida's more ambiguous lyrical style.
Gravity debuted at #2 on the Canadian sales charts and at #9 in the United States. By October 2002, it had been certified Gold by the RIAA in the U.S. and on November 23 of that year won a CASBY Award
for best new album. By November 2003, Gravity had been certified double-platinum in Canada (200,000 units).
On November 26, 2002 a deluxe limited edition version of the album was released as part of the Sound Plus Collector's Series. This version, with a different cover, came with a special bonus DVD of live tracks and the music videos for "Somewhere Out There" and "Innocent" (see below) as well as footage from the Gravity tour. The back cover states that the live tracks were recorded on the Spiritual Machines Tour of 2001. The following text is also included:
Bob Rock
of Aerosmith
and Metallica
fame. Some reviewers went as far to call it a "plea for mainstream American acceptance." On the other hand, one publication said the album was noteworthy for its simple, direct approach. A reviewer from Vue Weekly
stated that "It sounds like a brand new band, but the jury is out on whether it’s better." Gravity was a big change from their last successful album, Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch. Vocalist Raine Maida
's signature falsetto
is scarce on the album, with his overall tone changing as well or as a reviewer from Kludge Sound put it, "Gravity is almost completely void of Raine Maida’s urgent, almost-squaking, one-of-a-kind vocals and, save three tracks, almost any sense of creativity." Andrew Bonazelli of CMJ New Music Monthly criticized the album's "soul-deadening production" as well as string arrangements for several songs being a "contrived lunge towards accessibility."
In the June 22nd issue of Billboard
, Larry Flick wrote: "Gravity is a giant leap forward...emerging with a crisp, highly commercial collection of guitar-driven jams." That sentiment was shared by Guitar World
s Gary Graff
who praised the record in the magazine's August 2002 issue: "...OLP have turned in an album more streamlined and punchy than their previous recordings. Most impressive is the wide assortment of styles here -- a tuneful anthem ('Innocent'), crunchy metal ('All for You') and spacey prog ('Bring Back the Sun') -- with which OLP defy the 'gravity' that personnel changes can have on a band."
Recently, Gravity`s single "Innocent" received widespread media attention when American Idol
winner David Cook
performed it on the program. Many, including American Idol judges, criticized both Cook's performance and song choice. Vocalist Raine Maida
reportedly contacted Cook and they have since written some songs together.
Gravity's two songs were used in World Wrestling Entertainment. The song "Not Enough" was used to make a WWF Desire tribute video to Jeff Hardy
and Lita
and "Whatever" was used as WWE wrestler Chris Benoit
's entrance theme from 2002 till his death in 2007.
", released on April 5, 2002. Four versions of the single were released. In the United States
and Canada
(SAMPCS11757), a one-track promotional CD was sent to radio stations only. In Australia
and Europe
, where the single was commercially released respectively on September 9 and September 16, 2002 (Columbia 672965 2), three live bonus tracks, "Starseed
", "Whatever", and "4 AM" were included. They were recorded in June 2001 in Syracuse, New York
during the Spiritual Machines
tour. "4 AM" is sung entirely by the audience. The fourth version (Columbia 79943) contains the live version of "Bring Back the Sun". "Somewhere Out There" became one of Our Lady Peace's most successful singles, generating the most chart activity of any of their songs released to radio. In the United States, the song reached #7 on the Modern Rock Tracks Chart, their highest on that chart since "Clumsy" in 1998.
The second single, "Innocent" was released to radio during August 2002. It was commercially released in Europe and Australia with the live tracks "Naveed", "4 AM" and a live cover of John Lennon
's "Imagine" as well as the music video for "Innocent". The live tracks from this single and "Somewhere out There" would be included on the limited edition releases of Gravity. While not as successful as the first single, "Innocent" achieved minor success with its music video. The song received some attention in 2008 when American Idol
contenstant David Cook
, who revealed himself to be a huge OLP fan, sang it on the show. Raine Maida
and him have since written together.
The third and final single, "Made of Steel" was released only to radio on January 11, 2003. It made no appearance on any charts.
The band discussed the release of more singles from the album such as the popular "Not Enough" but single releases after "Made of Steel" were supplanted by those from the 2003 Live
album, which included a live version of "Not Enough".
joined the band as a stunt musician following Jamie Edwards' departure in April due to creative and personal differences. They opened on May 15, 2002 in Dayton, Ohio
where many of the songs from Gravity were premiered.
They followed this up with appearances at various music festivals across the United States including Pointfest
in St. Louis, Missouri
. The tour continued through September 2002 dipping in and out of Canada with the bands Ash
, Greenwheel
and Audiovent
opening for many shows. For most of November the band toured in Europe, their first visit to Europe since 1998. Touring resumed in January 2003 with a Canadian arena tour dubbed "Fear of the Trailer Park". Opening for Our Lady Peace were management-mates Finger Eleven
as well as comedy troupe Trailer Park Boys
and South African band Seether
. The band's arena shows in Calgary
and Edmonton
would be recorded and released as their first official Live
album later that year.
They returned to Europe in March as an opening act for Avril Lavigne
. During this leg of the tour two new songs, "Not Afraid" and "Talk is Cheap" were premiered. "Not Afraid" would later be recorded for and rejected from their following studio album, Healthy in Paranoid Times
. Following the European tour, the band took off most of June 2003 to begin recording Healthy... and resumed touring throughout America for the rest of the year with 3 Doors Down
opening for the majority of the shows. The tour concluded in September 2003.
; all music written by Our Lady Peace
.
In the midst of touring in October 2002, Our Lady Peace briefly returned to Bob Rock's studio in Maui to finish two songs left off of Gravity for an upcoming soundtrack. Maida mentioned on the band's website that they are both riff based songs that probably sound closer to "Whatever" than anything else. One of these songs was "Our Time Is Fading" a.k.a "The End Always Comes Last", which was one of the last songs written with Mike Turner. The song never made the soundtrack and a studio version was never released but the song was played live multiple times and a live version was released on the Live
album in 2003.
Additional string arrangements by Bob Buckley
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Headed by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band additionally consists of Jeremy Taggart on percussion, Duncan Coutts on bass, and Steve Mazur as lead guitarist...
's fifth studio album. It was released on June 18, 2002 by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The album became a worldwide success, charting highly both in Canada and the U.S. with the hit singles "Somewhere Out There
Somewhere Out There (Our Lady Peace song)
"Somewhere Out There" is the title of a song recorded by Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released in March 2002 as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Gravity...
" and "Innocent
Innocent (Our Lady Peace song)
"Innocent" is a single that was released by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace in late summer of 2002 from their album Gravity. It was written by lead vocalist Raine Maida.-Song information:...
".
The album title, Gravity, was inspired by the chorus lyrics "Falling back to me, defying gravity" from the track "Somewhere Out There". At the time of the album's release, OLP drummer Jeremy Taggart
Jeremy Taggart
Jeremy Ronald John Taggart is a Canadian drummer, best known for playing with Our Lady Peace since 1993.-Early life:Taggart was born in Toronto, Ontario and has two brothers and one sister. Music was a central part of his youth, as his parents were also musicians, and Taggart learned to play drums...
said that Gravity was "by far [their] best album".
This was their first album to feature new guitarist, Steve Mazur
Steve Mazur
Notable InstrumentsGibson Trini LopezSteven Theodore Mazur is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for alternative rock band Our Lady Peace...
, who replaced Mike Turner
Mike Turner (musician)
Mike A. Turner is a musician and producer. He is the former lead guitarist of the band Our Lady Peace. After his departure from OLP he began producing music and played guitar in the Canadian band Fair Ground, with Harem Scarem guitarist Pete Lesperance...
after the latter's departure in December 2001. Turner is on some of the albums tracks, however, having recorded parts for several songs on the album prior to his departure. This was also their last album with stunt musician Jamie Edwards, who left the band soon after the album was completed.
Background and writing
After wrapping up the Spiritual MachinesSpiritual Machines
Spiritual Machines is the fourth studio album by the Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released by Columbia Records in December 2000. Although not initially intended, the project evolved into a conceptual interpretation of futurist and inventor Raymond Kurzweil's 1999 book The Age of...
Tour in late 2001, Our Lady Peace were becoming restless and close to breaking up. Lead singer Raine Maida
Raine Maida
Raine Maida , is a Canadian musician best known as being the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. He has come to be known for his unique countertenor nasal falsetto singing voice, as well as his cryptic and poetry-influenced song lyrics...
in particular was feeling limited by guitarist Mike Turner's abilities in the studio. Raine would later state in an interview, "I don’t know if Mike was born to be a guitar player. The studio was a tough place for him and we were working too hard to make up for it – we felt like we were cheating ourselves. Four albums is way too fucking long to put up with that. I’m sure he’ll do great things, just not with six-stringed instruments.” They mutually decided to part ways following preliminary sessions for the album.
The band decided that they had gone as far as they could go musically with Spiritual Machines. Looking to reinvigorate themselves and change directions musically, they sought a more stripped down sound as opposed to the multiple layers and textures of their previous albums. It was this idea of simplifying that inspired the title of Gravity. Raine discussed the transition in a 2002 interview. “’Spiritual Machines’ was so out there in talking about the future and trying to perceive man turning into machine, it was very heavy. With this record...it kind of felt like we were being pulled back down to earth, hence the title. It’s such a simple life out there and because of that the album was just based around living day to day rather than looking too far ahead. In that sense ‘Gravity’ is pretty much the opposite of ‘Spiritual Machines’. None of our other albums had been concept records, so it was the right time for us to get away from that whole philosophy. Because of that ‘Gravity’ is probably the most basic album we’ve made since our first.”
Although Raine Maida had begun living in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, The band came together in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
to start writing new material towards the end of touring for Spiritual Machines. They did it this time without the usual help of producer Arnold Lanni, who at the time was working with fellow Canadian band and management-mates Simple Plan
Simple Plan
Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...
on their debut album, No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls
No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls
No Pads, No Helmets... Just Balls is the debut album by Canadian pop punk band Simple Plan. It was released on March 19, 2002 on Atlantic Records. The band released four singles from the album. In the band's native, Canada, the album peaked at No. 8 on the Canadian Albums Chart and was certified...
. Jamie Edwards was credited for the first and last time as a songwriter on this album. Three songs written by the band made the record but most were written by Maida during the 2001 holiday season. Steve Mazur's late official entry into the band meant he took no part in songwriting.
Recording and production
For this album, Our Lady Peace sought a new producer rather than long-time collaborator Arnold LanniArnold Lanni
Arnold David Lanni is a Canadian record producer, and former member of both Frozen Ghost and Sheriff. He wrote Sheriff's most successful song, "When I'm With You."-History:...
to help with their search for a new sound. According to the band, it was Lanni's idea for them to pursue a new venue lest they regret not trying other producers later on. After visiting with several producers in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
including Josh Abraham
Josh Abraham
Josh Abraham is a Grammy-winning record producer and co-owner of Pulse Management and Check Your Pulse Publishing. He has produced songs and albums for many of the industry's most successful artists such as Velvet Revolver, 30 Seconds to Mars, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson and Courtney Love...
, the band seized the opportunity to work with Bob Rock
Bob Rock
Robert Jens Rock, , is a Canadian musician, sound engineer, and record producer best known for producing bands such as Aerosmith, The Cult, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, 311, Metallica, Our Lady Peace, The Offspring and most recently Bush.-Payola$ and Rock and Hyde:Rock began his music career in Langford,...
because they liked his work with artists such as Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
and American Hi-Fi
American Hi-Fi
American Hi-Fi is an American pop punk band from Los Angeles, California, which originally hailed from Boston, Massachusetts. The band consists of vocalist Stacy Jones, guitarist Jamie Arentzen, bassist Drew Parsons, and drummer Brian Nolan...
as well as his general passion for music. Raine was particularly convinced he wanted to work with Rock after watching A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica
A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica
A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica is a two-part documentary about the process of making the Metallica album , and the following tour. It was produced by Juliana Roberts and directed by Adam Dubin....
, the documentary about the making of the Black Album. In the studio, they would even record with the same guitars and amplifiers used by Metallica as well as Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
and The Cult
The Cult
The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...
. They first visited Rock's studio in September 2001 to meet him and even wrote and recorded a song while there.
They flew to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
in November 2001 to Rock's studio in Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
after their last live show of the season at Music without Borders. They had initially booked ten days of studio time that month to record three tracks that would be included on a live album based on the Spiritual Machines tour. They began recording on the day of their arrival, laying down the initial tracks for "A Story About a Girl", which was written on the spot within 20 minutes after Raine heard Duncan and Jeremy tuning up in the next room. According to Taggart, the making of that song set the pace for the whole album. "He saw us as a rock band as soon as we got there, and the way we recorded it was live off the floor as a rock band as opposed to layering things," Maida stated. "He was a great leader who got the best out of us immediately.". Metallica was originally scheduled to begin work on a new album with Rock in the following months but this was postponed when front man James Hetfield
James Hetfield
James Alan Hetfield is the rhythm guitarist, co-founder, main songwriter, and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Metallica. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering a classified advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler,...
checked himself into rehab
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
for alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. Alcohol abuse eventually progresses to alcoholism, a condition in which an individual becomes dependent on alcoholic beverages in order to avoid...
. Rock then asked the band if they would like to work on an entire album, which they accepted.
Following preliminary recording sessions in Maui, Mike Turner left the band in December 2001 after recording rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
parts for several songs that would appear on the album. Band members in interviews said that he and the band weren't seeing eye to eye anymore but according to official press releases the split was amicable. Duncan Coutts said of the split, "We weren't allowing him to do what he really wanted to do, and he wasn't playing what we wanted to hear. ... This recording process magnified that, but it was a long time coming." The remaining band members then commenced a 2-month public search during which the band received thousands of demo tapes, videos and CDs from all over the world, including Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. They chose Detroit native, Steve Mazur, who Coutts and Taggart knew through mutual friends in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and who had already been filling in for Mike as a session guitarist. After his inception into the band was announced in April, Raine Maida noted: "[It] felt like a cohesive unit...It just felt incredible. It felt like a new band, totally fresh."
During the band's holiday break from recording, Raine received a phone call from Rock on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, asking him if he had anymore song ideas to consider before they returned to the Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
studio in January. The call prompted him to write seven songs over the next ten days. Upon returning to the studio, lyrics from several of the songs would be combined to eventually form the hit song, "Somewhere Out There
Somewhere Out There (Our Lady Peace song)
"Somewhere Out There" is the title of a song recorded by Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released in March 2002 as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Gravity...
". Maida explained "It was like a last minute song done really quickly. I demoed a bunch of songs over Christmas, when we had a break for 10 days. I wrote, like, seven songs and brought them back. Bob listened to all seven songs and then listened to song number three halfway through and song number six halfway through and said, 'OK,' told the engineer to stop the CD, and got us to go put the verse from song three and the chorus from song six together and was like, 'That's the song.'"
For the ten weeks they were in Maui recording (spread over 4 months), the band lived together and would surf and ride mountain bikes in the mornings then work on the album in the evening, usually recording one song in one day and only for a couple of hours before and after dinner. "Leaving Toronto and holing up in a beach house in Maui was a very important step for us," explained Duncan Coutts
Duncan Coutts
Robert Duncan Coutts is a Canadian musician, best known for being the bassist for Our Lady Peace since 1995.-Our Lady Peace:...
. "We lived, ate, and breathed music together away from all distractions." The band recorded most of the album at Rock's Plantation Studio in Haiku, Hawaii
Haiku, Hawaii
Haiku is an unincorporated community in Maui County on the island of Maui in the state of Hawaii. For United States Census purposes, it is part of the Haiku-Pauwela, Hawaii census-designated place, which also includes Pauwela....
and finished recording and mixing with Randy Staub
Randy Staub
Randy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' "Recording Engineer of the Year" award nine times. He won in 2002 for the songs "How You Remind Me" and "Too Bad" by Nickelback. Staub also mixed Alice in Chains' fourth studio album, Black Gives Way to...
at The Warehouse Studio
The Warehouse Studio
The Warehouse Studio is a music recording facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, owned by Bryan Adams.- The building :The Warehouse Studio is housed in the oldest brick building in Vancouver, which is located in present-day Gastown...
in Vancouver, B.C. in March 2002.
The track "Made of Steel" was recorded three separate times during the sessions with the last take being used. "Do You Like It" was not recorded until after most of the mixing had been completed in Vancouver. According to Raine, "We had gone back to Maui to finish some small details on the last two songs to be mixed and 'lo and behold!' a new song was born and recorded."
The recording technique for this album began a trend of recording songs live in the studio together without overdubs that continues on their latest album, Burn Burn. According to the band, doing it live works to create a more realistic set of sounds, "a vibe" reminiscent of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
or early David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, mistakes and all. In earlier albums, they would record each instrument separately and at different times. They began recording "Bring Back the Sun" before the lyrics were even finished. The final version as heard on the album is only the second take of the demo with strings overdubbed.
Music and lyrics
Raine stated his intent for the album's sound, "Basically what he [Rock] did with Metallica on the 'black record', we talked and wanted to take that kind of approach. Let him simplify stuff. Let him take away... We always usually try add as many layers as we can to our music, and Bob said, 'Let's try to add not so many.'" The goal was also to make the album's sound more akin to what the band sounded live and to make the songs easier to reproduce on stage. "We'd record a song, sit back and ask, 'Why isn't this sounding like everyone is hearing it in their heads?' Bob would say 'let's simplify the drums,' or 'let's make that bass line simpler.' He was able to pull out why we didn't sound on albums like we do live."Raine said in an interview that most of the lyrics on Gravity were rewritten because producer Bob Rock felt that the songs would be stronger with simpler lyrics, so that listeners could understand what Raine was talking about. "I was really open to him musically, but I wasn't ready to be challenged lyrically like he challenged me. He kept telling me to rewrite stuff because he didn't understand what I was trying to convey in my lyrics. He would say, 'Raine, I don't have a fu-ing clue what you're talking about. Convince me. Explain to me what you're trying to say in your lyrics better.' I would keep rewriting and rewriting, and sometimes I felt I would never please him. I would say, 'Jesus, I don't know what you're asking me to do here. I don't think I can do whatever it is you want.' He would say, 'Yes, you can, get back in there.' And I did it. Looking back now, I'm a better writer for it." The stress caused by this challenge eventually led to Raine having to go to a hospital; contracting shingles. Raine had also cited his and his wife Chantal Kreviazuk
Chantal Kreviazuk
Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk is a Canadian singer-songwriter of the adult contemporary music genre. She is also a classically trained pianist, and can play the guitar.-Albums:...
's recent trips to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
with War Child Canada as inspiration to simplify his lyrics and to 'get to the point'. The results were considered some of Raine's most personal lyrics to date while others lamented the loss of Maida's more ambiguous lyrical style.
Commercial
The album was originally planned to be released on June 11 but was pushed to June 18 because the artwork was not ready in time.Gravity debuted at #2 on the Canadian sales charts and at #9 in the United States. By October 2002, it had been certified Gold by the RIAA in the U.S. and on November 23 of that year won a CASBY Award
CASBY Award
The CASBY Award is a Canadian award for independent and alternative music, presented annually by Toronto, Ontario radio station CFNY, currently branded as 102.1 The Edge. The name CASBY stands for Canadian Artists Selected By You....
for best new album. By November 2003, Gravity had been certified double-platinum in Canada (200,000 units).
On November 26, 2002 a deluxe limited edition version of the album was released as part of the Sound Plus Collector's Series. This version, with a different cover, came with a special bonus DVD of live tracks and the music videos for "Somewhere Out There" and "Innocent" (see below) as well as footage from the Gravity tour. The back cover states that the live tracks were recorded on the Spiritual Machines Tour of 2001. The following text is also included:
Critical
Despite its success, many critics panned the album. They said the album developed a more extreme "mainstream sound" and was "overproduced" in order to appeal to the American market, this may have been partly due to new producerRecord producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Bob Rock
Bob Rock
Robert Jens Rock, , is a Canadian musician, sound engineer, and record producer best known for producing bands such as Aerosmith, The Cult, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, 311, Metallica, Our Lady Peace, The Offspring and most recently Bush.-Payola$ and Rock and Hyde:Rock began his music career in Langford,...
of Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
and Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
fame. Some reviewers went as far to call it a "plea for mainstream American acceptance." On the other hand, one publication said the album was noteworthy for its simple, direct approach. A reviewer from Vue Weekly
Vue Weekly
Vue Weekly is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and with new issues coming out every Thursday.Vue was founded in 1995 by former employees and owners of SEE Magazine, upset over losing control of SEE to creditors...
stated that "It sounds like a brand new band, but the jury is out on whether it’s better." Gravity was a big change from their last successful album, Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch. Vocalist Raine Maida
Raine Maida
Raine Maida , is a Canadian musician best known as being the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. He has come to be known for his unique countertenor nasal falsetto singing voice, as well as his cryptic and poetry-influenced song lyrics...
's signature falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
is scarce on the album, with his overall tone changing as well or as a reviewer from Kludge Sound put it, "Gravity is almost completely void of Raine Maida’s urgent, almost-squaking, one-of-a-kind vocals and, save three tracks, almost any sense of creativity." Andrew Bonazelli of CMJ New Music Monthly criticized the album's "soul-deadening production" as well as string arrangements for several songs being a "contrived lunge towards accessibility."
In the June 22nd issue of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, Larry Flick wrote: "Gravity is a giant leap forward...emerging with a crisp, highly commercial collection of guitar-driven jams." That sentiment was shared by Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
s Gary Graff
Gary Graff
Gary Graff is an American music journalist and author.-Biography:Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Graff attended Taylor Allderdice High School where he wrote for school newspaper The Taylor Allderdice Foreword. He received his Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri...
who praised the record in the magazine's August 2002 issue: "...OLP have turned in an album more streamlined and punchy than their previous recordings. Most impressive is the wide assortment of styles here -- a tuneful anthem ('Innocent'), crunchy metal ('All for You') and spacey prog ('Bring Back the Sun') -- with which OLP defy the 'gravity' that personnel changes can have on a band."
Impact
With the mainstream success of Gravity and "Somewhere Out There", Our Lady Peace's fan base was split between fans of the new material and fans of the old material who, like several critics, cited the band's new direction as sell-out tactic. In 2010, online music magazine Popmatters looked back on the rift saying:Recently, Gravity`s single "Innocent" received widespread media attention when American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
winner David Cook
David Cook (singer)
David Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...
performed it on the program. Many, including American Idol judges, criticized both Cook's performance and song choice. Vocalist Raine Maida
Raine Maida
Raine Maida , is a Canadian musician best known as being the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. He has come to be known for his unique countertenor nasal falsetto singing voice, as well as his cryptic and poetry-influenced song lyrics...
reportedly contacted Cook and they have since written some songs together.
Gravity's two songs were used in World Wrestling Entertainment. The song "Not Enough" was used to make a WWF Desire tribute video to Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he is a former two–time TNA World Heavyweight Champion...
and Lita
Amy Dumas
Amy Christine Dumas , known by her primary stage name Lita, is the lead singer for the band The Luchagors as well as a retired professional wrestler and WWE Diva active from 1999 to 2006....
and "Whatever" was used as WWE wrestler Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide...
's entrance theme from 2002 till his death in 2007.
Singles
The lead single for Gravity was "Somewhere Out ThereSomewhere Out There (Our Lady Peace song)
"Somewhere Out There" is the title of a song recorded by Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released in March 2002 as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Gravity...
", released on April 5, 2002. Four versions of the single were released. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(SAMPCS11757), a one-track promotional CD was sent to radio stations only. In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, where the single was commercially released respectively on September 9 and September 16, 2002 (Columbia 672965 2), three live bonus tracks, "Starseed
Starseed (song)
"Starseed" is the second single off Our Lady Peace's first album Naveed, released in 1994. It was remixed and released on the soundtrack to Armageddon. Also, a live version from the 2003 Live album was released as a single. The song was also planned to be included on the soundtrack for Drew...
", "Whatever", and "4 AM" were included. They were recorded in June 2001 in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
during the Spiritual Machines
Spiritual Machines
Spiritual Machines is the fourth studio album by the Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released by Columbia Records in December 2000. Although not initially intended, the project evolved into a conceptual interpretation of futurist and inventor Raymond Kurzweil's 1999 book The Age of...
tour. "4 AM" is sung entirely by the audience. The fourth version (Columbia 79943) contains the live version of "Bring Back the Sun". "Somewhere Out There" became one of Our Lady Peace's most successful singles, generating the most chart activity of any of their songs released to radio. In the United States, the song reached #7 on the Modern Rock Tracks Chart, their highest on that chart since "Clumsy" in 1998.
The second single, "Innocent" was released to radio during August 2002. It was commercially released in Europe and Australia with the live tracks "Naveed", "4 AM" and a live cover of John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's "Imagine" as well as the music video for "Innocent". The live tracks from this single and "Somewhere out There" would be included on the limited edition releases of Gravity. While not as successful as the first single, "Innocent" achieved minor success with its music video. The song received some attention in 2008 when American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
contenstant David Cook
David Cook (singer)
David Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...
, who revealed himself to be a huge OLP fan, sang it on the show. Raine Maida
Raine Maida
Raine Maida , is a Canadian musician best known as being the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. He has come to be known for his unique countertenor nasal falsetto singing voice, as well as his cryptic and poetry-influenced song lyrics...
and him have since written together.
The third and final single, "Made of Steel" was released only to radio on January 11, 2003. It made no appearance on any charts.
The band discussed the release of more singles from the album such as the popular "Not Enough" but single releases after "Made of Steel" were supplanted by those from the 2003 Live
Live (Our Lady Peace album)
Live is Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace's first live album. It was recorded during their cross-Canadian "Fear of the Trailer Park" tour in support of their 5th studio album, Gravity. The dates recorded for this album included January 27, 2003 and January 28, 2003 in Calgary and...
album, which included a live version of "Not Enough".
Tour
Our Lady Peace embarked on one of their biggest tours in support of Gravity a month before the album's release. For most of the tour, Mike Eisenstein of the band Letters to CleoLetters to Cleo
Letters to Cleo was an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts perhaps best known for the 1993 single "Here & Now" from their full-length debut album Aurora Gory Alice...
joined the band as a stunt musician following Jamie Edwards' departure in April due to creative and personal differences. They opened on May 15, 2002 in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
where many of the songs from Gravity were premiered.
They followed this up with appearances at various music festivals across the United States including Pointfest
Pointfest
Pointfest is a large outdoor rock music festival previously held once but now held twice every year by radio station KPNT in St. Louis, Missouri at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis...
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. The tour continued through September 2002 dipping in and out of Canada with the bands Ash
Ash (band)
Ash are an alternative rock band that formed in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland in 1992. The band has sold 8 million albums worldwide.-Band beginning, Trailer and 1977 :...
, Greenwheel
Greenwheel
Greenwheel is an American alternative rock band formed by friends Ryan Jordan, Brandon Armstrong, Andrew Dwiggins, Douglas Randall, and Marc Wanninger in November 1998. The band was formed in St. Charles, Missouri in a local record shop. This group of high school bandmates were originally called...
and Audiovent
Audiovent
Audiovent was an American alternative rock band from Calabasas, California. Audiovent was formed in the early 1990s under the name Vent, and broke up in 2004.-History:...
opening for many shows. For most of November the band toured in Europe, their first visit to Europe since 1998. Touring resumed in January 2003 with a Canadian arena tour dubbed "Fear of the Trailer Park". Opening for Our Lady Peace were management-mates Finger Eleven
Finger Eleven
Finger Eleven is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1989. They have currently released five studio albums, with their album The Greyest of Blue Skies bringing them into the mainstream...
as well as comedy troupe Trailer Park Boys
Trailer Park Boys
Trailer Park Boys is a Canadian comedy mockumentary television series created and directed by Mike Clattenburg that focuses on the misadventures of a group of trailer park residents, some of whom are ex-convicts, living in the fictional Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The...
and South African band Seether
Seether
Seether is a post-grunge/alternative metal band from Pretoria, South Africa, formed in 1999. The band is currently signed to Wind-up Records...
. The band's arena shows in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
and Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
would be recorded and released as their first official Live
Live (Our Lady Peace album)
Live is Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace's first live album. It was recorded during their cross-Canadian "Fear of the Trailer Park" tour in support of their 5th studio album, Gravity. The dates recorded for this album included January 27, 2003 and January 28, 2003 in Calgary and...
album later that year.
They returned to Europe in March as an opening act for Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
. During this leg of the tour two new songs, "Not Afraid" and "Talk is Cheap" were premiered. "Not Afraid" would later be recorded for and rejected from their following studio album, Healthy in Paranoid Times
Healthy in Paranoid Times
Healthy in Paranoid Times is the sixth studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released on August 30, 2005 by Columbia Records. The disc was released on a standard CD as well as a DualDisc, with the reverse side containing a documentary on the making of the album...
. Following the European tour, the band took off most of June 2003 to begin recording Healthy... and resumed touring throughout America for the rest of the year with 3 Doors Down
3 Doors Down
3 Doors Down is an American rock band from Escatawpa formed in 1996. The band consists of Brad Arnold , Matt Roberts , Todd Harrell , Chris Henderson , and Greg Upchurch ....
opening for the majority of the shows. The tour concluded in September 2003.
Track listing
All lyrics written by Raine MaidaRaine Maida
Raine Maida , is a Canadian musician best known as being the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. He has come to be known for his unique countertenor nasal falsetto singing voice, as well as his cryptic and poetry-influenced song lyrics...
; all music written by Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Headed by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band additionally consists of Jeremy Taggart on percussion, Duncan Coutts on bass, and Steve Mazur as lead guitarist...
.
Limited edition bonus DVD
The four live tracks were also released on a promo CD.- "NaveedNaveed (song)Naveed is a single from Our Lady Peace's debut album of the same name, Naveed. It was released April 17, 1995 in the United States and in January 1996 in the United Kingdom as the fifth and final single from the album. The song performed well on the charts, and became a smash hit in Canada,...
" (live) - 6:47 - "Whatever" (live) - 4:02
- "StarseedStarseed (song)"Starseed" is the second single off Our Lady Peace's first album Naveed, released in 1994. It was remixed and released on the soundtrack to Armageddon. Also, a live version from the 2003 Live album was released as a single. The song was also planned to be included on the soundtrack for Drew...
" (live) - 7:38 - "4 AM" (live) - 5:01
- "Somewhere Out There" (music video)
- "Innocent" (music videos)
- "On the Road" (live video clip, directed by Micha Dahan)
Studio outtakes
According to Jeremy Taggart, twelve songs were completed (including mixing) for the album but two ("Angelina's Song" and "Stop Screaming") were cut off at the last minute. Duncan Coutts stated in an interview that six songs written by the band including Mike Turner and Jamie Edwards were recorded while only three ("All For You", "Bring Back the Sun" and "A Story About a Girl") made the final cut for the album.In the midst of touring in October 2002, Our Lady Peace briefly returned to Bob Rock's studio in Maui to finish two songs left off of Gravity for an upcoming soundtrack. Maida mentioned on the band's website that they are both riff based songs that probably sound closer to "Whatever" than anything else. One of these songs was "Our Time Is Fading" a.k.a "The End Always Comes Last", which was one of the last songs written with Mike Turner. The song never made the soundtrack and a studio version was never released but the song was played live multiple times and a live version was released on the Live
Live (Our Lady Peace album)
Live is Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace's first live album. It was recorded during their cross-Canadian "Fear of the Trailer Park" tour in support of their 5th studio album, Gravity. The dates recorded for this album included January 27, 2003 and January 28, 2003 in Calgary and...
album in 2003.
Musicians
- Duncan CouttsDuncan CouttsRobert Duncan Coutts is a Canadian musician, best known for being the bassist for Our Lady Peace since 1995.-Our Lady Peace:...
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Jamie Edwards - keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, guitars, string arrangements - Raine MaidaRaine MaidaRaine Maida , is a Canadian musician best known as being the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. He has come to be known for his unique countertenor nasal falsetto singing voice, as well as his cryptic and poetry-influenced song lyrics...
- vocals - Steve MazurSteve MazurNotable InstrumentsGibson Trini LopezSteven Theodore Mazur is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for alternative rock band Our Lady Peace...
- guitars - Jeremy TaggartJeremy TaggartJeremy Ronald John Taggart is a Canadian drummer, best known for playing with Our Lady Peace since 1993.-Early life:Taggart was born in Toronto, Ontario and has two brothers and one sister. Music was a central part of his youth, as his parents were also musicians, and Taggart learned to play drums...
- drums - Mike TurnerMike Turner (musician)Mike A. Turner is a musician and producer. He is the former lead guitarist of the band Our Lady Peace. After his departure from OLP he began producing music and played guitar in the Canadian band Fair Ground, with Harem Scarem guitarist Pete Lesperance...
- rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
on "Innocent", "Sorry", and "Bring Back the Sun"
Additional string arrangements by Bob Buckley
Production
- Zach Blackstone - assistant mixer
- Mike Gillies - digitalDigitalA digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
engineering and editing - Eric Helmkamp - 2nd engineer
- George Marino - master
- Bob RockBob RockRobert Jens Rock, , is a Canadian musician, sound engineer, and record producer best known for producing bands such as Aerosmith, The Cult, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, 311, Metallica, Our Lady Peace, The Offspring and most recently Bush.-Payola$ and Rock and Hyde:Rock began his music career in Langford,...
- producer - Randy StaubRandy StaubRandy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' "Recording Engineer of the Year" award nine times. He won in 2002 for the songs "How You Remind Me" and "Too Bad" by Nickelback. Staub also mixed Alice in Chains' fourth studio album, Black Gives Way to...
- mixer
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | June 18, 2002 | Columbia Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company... |
CD/CS | CK 86585 |
| Canada | - | |||
| November 26, 2002 | CD + DVD | CK 80823 | ||
| Asia | July 31, 2002 | Sony Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... |
CD | SICP 195 |
| United Kingdom | September 30, 2002 | Epic Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A... |
CD | 5087802 |
| Australia | October 7, 2002 | CD | - | |
| France | October 14, 2002 | CD | - | |
External links
- Gravity lyrics at RhapsodyRhapsody (online music service)Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...