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Our Lady Peace extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace members street performing in 2008
Background information
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genre(s)	Alternative rock, post-grunge
Years active	1992–present
Label(s)	Sony, Warner
Associated acts	Crash Karma, Pedestrian
Website	Ourladypeace.net Ourladypeace.com
Members
Raine Maida Jeremy Taggart Duncan Coutts Steve Mazur
Former members
Mike Turner Chris Eacrett Jim Newell

Our Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in Toronto, Canada in 1992.¹ Widely recognized by its abbreviation OLP, the band currently consists of members Raine Maida, Duncan Coutts, Jeremy Taggart and Steve Mazur. Throughout their career, the band has sold over five million albums worldwide,² won four Juno Awards, and won ten MuchMusic Video Awards—the most MMVAs ever awarded to any artist or group.³

OLP has released six studio albums, one live album, and two compilation albums, with their 1997 album Clumsy often being considered their signature and most widely recognized work to date.⁴ They have enjoyed many hit singles, ranging from "Starseed" in 1994, to "Somewhere Out There" in 2002.

While the band's first four albums have been praised for their unique sound and style, their two most recent studio albums—Gravity and Healthy in Paranoid Times—are sometimes believed to have been a "radical departure"⁵ from their distinctive style of music, and have been criticized as being "too mainstream" or "uninspired".⁶ The 2001 departures of both founding member Mike Turner and longtime-producer Arnold Lanni in combination with influence from then-new producer Bob Rock is often credited as a main factor in the style change.⁷

Our Lady Peace began work on their seventh studio album, titled Burn Burn, in early 2007. The album will be released on July 21, 2009,⁸ marking the longest time gap between OLP studio albums to date.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Formation and debut (1992–1994) 1.2 Naveed and Clumsy (1994–1998) 1.3 Happiness, touring and Spiritual Machines (1998–2001) 1.4 Changes in direction (2001–2005) 1.4.1 Gravity 1.4.2 Live 1.4.3 Healthy in Paranoid Times 1.5 Compilation albums (2006, 2009) 1.6 Burn Burn (2007–present) 2 Style and themes 2.1 Maida's vocals 2.2 Saul Fox theme 3 Discography 3.1 Studio albums 3.1.1 Live albums 3.1.2 Compilation albums 4 Band member information 4.1 Current members 4.2 Former members 4.2.1 Record producers 5 References 6 External links

History

Formation and debut (1992–1994)

In 1992, guitarist Mike Turner placed a "musicians wanted" ad in Toronto-based Now Magazine looking to form a new band. Michael Maida, a criminology student at the University of Toronto, was the first to reply. The two formed a band called As If with Jim Newell playing drums and a friend of Mike Turner's, Paul Martin, playing bass. Having played a number of gigs in Oshawa with sets containing a mix of original and cover material, Turner's friend departed and the band placed a "musicians wanted" ad for a replacement bass player. Chris Eacrett, a business student at Ryerson University, replied and was accepted after the audition. During that time, Turner and Maida attended a music seminar where they met songwriter and producer Arnold Lanni, the owner of Arnyard Studios. The band, with Lanni, commenced writing new material and recorded some material under the As If name.

To better reflect the new musical direction, the name of the band was changed to Our Lady Peace, and with encouragement from Lanni and his management team, they performed some gigs in Eastern Ontario and Montreal with the assistance of D.J. Williams (a Ridley College alumnus and classmate of Maida, also a Ridley College alumnus), in conjunction with The Tea Party. During this time, Maida began using the name Raine to reduce the confusion of having two Mikes in the band. An independent video of the song "Out of Here" was also created during this time period by Sam Siciliano, a Ryerson University film student and friend of Mike Turner, who produced, edited, and directed the video. The video was aired on MuchMusic on their Indie show.

After returning to Arnyard Studios to continue writing and recording material, Jim Newell departed the band. Writing and recording continued with session drummer John Bouvette. With Coalition Management (Rob Lanni and Eric Lawrence) representing the band, and temporary drummer Jody Wilson, short showcases were arranged with Warner Canada, EMI Canada, and Sony Music Canada. Sony Music Canada head of A&R, Richard Zuckerman, liked what he heard and along with Sony president, Rick Camilleri, Mike Roth and Gary Furniss (both with Sony Music Publishing), saw the potential of the producer, the band, and band management, and made an offer. The band commenced writing additional material for a first album, as well placed a "musicians wanted" ad for a drummer. Seventeen-year-old Jeremy Taggart answered the ad, and on the strength of his potential, the producer and band asked that he join.

Naveed and Clumsy (1994–1998)

After additional material was written and recorded, with the continued assistance of John Bouvette on several tracks and guitarist Phil X contributing a solo on "Denied", Our Lady Peace released its debut album Naveed in 1994 on Sony Records. The record was later picked up and released in the United States in 1995. Following the release of the album, the band toured with fellow Canadian acts I Mother Earth and 54-40. Touring continued on into 1996 with time spent touring with Canadian Alanis Morissette. The title track, "Naveed", became a hit in Canada, while "Starseed" became a hit in both Canada and the United States. "Starseed" would later be featured on the Armageddon film soundtrack.

After Naveed had launched Our Lady Peace into international stardom, the band began work on their second studio album. As the writing process ensued, bassist Chris Eacrett and the band parted ways due to musical differences. Rob Coutts, a Ridley College alumni and classmate of Raine Maida, joined the band as Duncan Coutts on bass during the recording of their second album.

Entitled Clumsy, the band's second album was released in 1997. It features the hit songs "Superman's Dead", "4 AM", "Automatic Flowers", "Carnival" and the title track "Clumsy". It is widely considered the group's best effort.^{citation needed} It established Our Lady Peace as a leading band in the Canadian rock scene, and provided them with an international presence. Clumsy became a diamond-certified album in Canada in February 2001.

In 1998, Our Lady Peace founded the Summersault festival, that toured across Canada in 1998 and 2000 with lineups that included Foo Fighters, A Perfect Circle and The Smashing Pumpkins.

The album cover was based on a song called "Trapeze", which was initially going to be the name of the album. They decided to leave the song off the album but still performed it live.

Happiness, touring and Spiritual Machines (1998–2001)

In 1999, the band released their third album, entitled Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch. The album included such hits as "Thief", a song about a young girl, named Mina Kim, the band met who had cancer, as well as "One Man Army" and "Is Anybody Home?" Legendary jazz drummer Elvin Jones was featured on the song "Stealing Babies". Jamie Edwards, a multi-instrumentalist, was brought in on the sessions for Happiness... in 1996 and remained an unofficial member until 2001 when he was asked to officially join the band to finish the album Gravity. Shortly after the completion of the record Jamie chose to leave the band, returning briefly to stand in for Mike Eisenstein during the Canadian tour of Gravity. The band also played an eleven song set at Woodstock 1999.

In 2000, the band released Spiritual Machines, a concept album inspired by Ray Kurzweil's book The Age of Spiritual Machines. During the recording of this album, drummer Jeremy Taggart was sidelined with an ankle injury; Matt Cameron, Pearl Jam's drummer and former member of Soundgarden, played drums on "Right Behind You (Mafia)" and "Are You Sad?" in his place. Spiritual Machines was less commercially successful than its predecessors. The album featured the singles "In Repair", "Life" and "Right Behind You (Mafia)". "Life" was also featured in the soundtrack for the Canadian sports comedy film Men with Brooms.

Changes in direction (2001–2005)

In December 2001, after commencing work with producer Bob Rock on a new album, founding guitarist Mike Turner left the band, citing "creative differences".¹⁰¹¹¹² According to the band members the separation was amicable. Turner later formed the band Fair Ground. In April 2002, Steve Mazur was announced as the new guitarist for the band.¹³ Turner's last performance with the band was for "Music Without Borders" at Toronto's Air Canada Centre.¹⁴

Gravity

OLP's fifth studio album, Gravity, was released later that year to mixed reviews. Some critics and fans contended that the album was a radical departure from Our Lady Peace's musical style, adopting an increasingly mainstream sound. Percussionist Jeremy Taggart disclosed in a 2002 interview that the new direction was intentional, and that Gravity was "by far their best album".⁵

The album's chart-topping first single, "Somewhere Out There", became the band's biggest international hit to date. The second single released off the album was "Innocent", which was also popular, and also regained popularity recently through American Idol. "Made of Steel" was also a hit across North America.

Live

On June 24, 2003 Live was released on Sony BMG. Live contains some of the band's most epic songs as played throughout tours in Canada. Notable differences to the studio versions are Naveed / Life, which was played as one single song throughout the supporting tour.

Healthy in Paranoid Times

In August 2005, the band released their sixth album Healthy in Paranoid Times, which included the tracks "Angels/Losing/Sleep", "Will the Future Blame Us", and "Where Are You?" Shortly after recording the album, the band disclosed that during the making of the album, they nearly broke up.² According to Rolling Stone, it took 1165 days to create it, and its twelve tracks were chosen from forty-five that the band had written and produced.

Maida has since criticized Healthy in Paranoid Times, saying that "(the) record was total excess, total bullshit in the sense of, we finally had succumbed to a label: making us record that many songs, trying to find the right singles for American radio and MTV."⁷

Compilation albums (2006, 2009)

In November 2006, their greatest hits compilation entitled A Decade was released. There were two new songs on the album, "Kiss On The Mouth" and "Better Than Here". Steve Mazur wrote in a blog on the band's fan club that the new songs on the disc were two unreleased songs from the Healthy in Paranoid Times sessions.

The collection also included a bonus DVD containing live concert footage and exclusive interviews at the Massey Hall concert. The single "Kiss On The Mouth", the first off A Decade, has received play on radio stations across Canada.

On March 31, 2009, Sony records released OLP's second compilation album, The Very Best of Our Lady Peace.¹⁵ The album includes famed singles such as "Naveed" and "Somewhere Out There", as well as lesser-known songs such as "Car Crash" and "Stealing Babies".¹⁵

Burn Burn (2007–present)

After the release of their 2006 compilation album, A Decade, the band entered a short hiatus period. Lead vocalist Raine Maida began work on his first solo album, The Hunter's Lullaby, which was released in 2007, while the remaining members of the band also became occupied with other personal endeavors. The hiatus would cause the time gap between their sixth and seventh studio albums to be the longest to-date.

The band began working on their seventh studio album Burn Burn in February 2007, completing it in March 2009. Raine Maida calls the new album "huge", and said that it is a "proper rock album again"—featuring a return to the raw originality of the band's first album Naveed, though a "little more mature".¹⁶ Maida solely produced the album, noting his excitement over "not (having had) anybody intrude on (recording) sessions".¹⁶

The album contains 10 tracks—of the 30 that were written¹⁷—and is reportedly 38 minutes in length. The album is set to be released on July 21, 2009.⁸ Burn Burn's first single, "All You Did Was Save My Life", was released on May 24.

Style and themes

Through the band's early years and especially in Naveed, Our Lady Peace's overall sound was often compared to alternative rock bands including Soundgarden, The Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam.¹⁸ The band's melodic structure was also said to echo that of bands such as The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.¹⁸

Maida's vocals

Lead singer Raine Maida's voice was called "erratic", and "truly unrivaled" in his field.¹⁸ In albums Naveed through Spiritual Machines, Maida sang in a countertenor vocal register, and used his falsetto almost exclusively when singing. This singing method, in combination with the band's melody structure, often gave many songs a surreal sound and effect.

After working with Bob Rock on their 2002 studio album Gravity, Maida stopped using his trademark falsetto voice, and began to sing in more of a baritone vocal register. Maida has for the most part continued singing without his falsetto since that time, including when singing live renditions of pre-Gravity songs.

Saul Fox theme

After meeting then-70-year-old art model Saul Fox in 1993, the band asked him to pose for Naveed's album cover.¹⁹ Since then, Fox has been used on four additional Our Lady Peace album covers: Clumsy, Happiness..., Spiritual Machines and A Decade.

According to lead singer Maida in a 1998 interview, Fox "represent(ed) a whole lot of stuff with the band ... he's a very unique individual, a very inspiring individual".¹⁹ Fox, when asked about the meaning of his use in Our Lady Peace's artwork, said: "What they have to say inside is difficult for them to express. They don't have the vocabulary. They don't have the ability to express it in words. They have a difficult time even identifying it. All they know is that their soul has a feeling and they've got to express it." ¹⁹

When the band changed their musical and artistic direction in 2002, they stopped using Fox on their album covers. On Gravity's album cover, a photo of the band members was used, and on the cover for Healthy in Paranoid Times, a painting of a 20-something man sitting on a chair was used.

For the album cover of their 2009 album Burn Burn, the band re-embraced the Saul Fox theme concept, incorporating a middle-aged Fox look-alike²⁰ wearing an outfit similar to the one used by Fox on the cover of the band's 1999 album Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch.

Discography

Studio albums

• 1994: Naveed
• 1997: Clumsy
• 1999: Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch
• 2001: Spiritual Machines
• 2002: Gravity
• 2005: Healthy in Paranoid Times
• 2009: Burn Burn

Live albums

• 2003: Live

Compilation albums

• 2006: A Decade
• 2009: The Very Best of Our Lady Peace

Band member information

Current members

• Raine Maida (1992–present): vocals, acoustic guitar
• Jeremy Taggart (1993–present): percussion
• Duncan Coutts (1995–present): bass guitar, backing vocals
• Steve Mazur (2002–present): guitar, backing vocals

Former members

• Mike Turner (1992–2001): guitar, backing vocals
• Chris Eacrett (1992–1995): bass
• Jim Newell (1992–1993): percussion

Record producers

• Arnold Lanni (1992–2001): Naveed, Clumsy, Happiness, Spiritual Machines
• Bob Rock (2001–2005): Gravity, Healthy in Paranoid Times
• Raine Maida (2007–present): Burn Burn¹⁶

References

External links

• Our Lady Peace official website
• Clumsy Congress official message board
• OurLadyPeace.net official fan club
• Our Lady Peace at MySpace
• Raine Maida official website

v • d • e Our Lady Peace Raine Maida · Jeremy Taggart · Duncan Coutts · Steve Mazur Mike Turner · Jim Newell · Chris Eacrett · Joel Shearer · Mike Eisenstein · Jamie Edwards Studio albums Naveed · Clumsy · Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch · Spiritual Machines · Gravity · Healthy in Paranoid Times · Burn Burn Live albums Live Compilations A Decade · The Very Best of Our Lady Peace Singles (1993–2009) "Out of Here" · "The Birdman" · "Starseed" · "Hope" · "Supersatellite" · "Naveed" · "Superman's Dead" · "Automatic Flowers" · "Carnival" · "4 AM" · "Clumsy" · "One Man Army" · "Is Anybody Home?" · "Thief" · "In Repair" · "Life" · "Right Behind You (Mafia)" · "Somewhere out There" · "Innocent" · "Made of Steel" · "Where Are You" · "Angels Losing Sleep" · "Will the Future Blame Us?" · "Kiss on the Mouth" · "All You Did Was Save My Life" Producers Arnold Lanni (1992–2001) · Bob Rock (2001–2005) · Raine Maida (2007–present) Related articles Discography · The Age of Spiritual Machines · Fair Ground · Crash Karma · Summersault