Customer Reviews

Clumsy

5 star:		(109)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Naveed was a light affair. Simple grungy rock songs with typical lyrics and typical vocals. Good stuff to listen to without much depth. Our Lady Peace's second album, Clumsy, immidiately lays waste to the sound established on Naveed. The first spin I gave this album, I was almost appalled. My mind was not ready for the transition from Naveed to this. But, this album, except for Spiritual Machines, is the one I come back to the most because of the fact that it has what Naveed lacks, and that is depth. Let's talk about the sound a little more. The spacey guitar chords and lazy tempos have been dropped for tight riffs and tense beats. The real strength in this album though, is not it's dark heavy rockers, but it's quiet and reflective ballads. 4 AM and the title track show true emotion and talent. 4 AM goes from a lone guitar and a hushed voice, to a beautiful climaxing finale that shows maturity of a band way beyond OLP's age, and is easily the best track on the album. It's not to say the heavy music isn't noteworthy either, Superman's Dead, Automatic Flowers, Big Dumb Rocket and the Story of 100 Aisles all rock mightily and are great songs. One song that really is worth mentioning in detail is the 3rd track, Carnival. The music and lyrics combine during the verses to really put your mindframe in an apocolypitic carnival, which blasts into an anthemic chorus that is most likely the strongest on the album. This one is an experiment that could have gone both ways, but luckily, stands out as one of the albums best tracks.

OLP never again visited the pure anger displayed by Clumsy, and went on to make great uplifting music in Spiritual Machines and Happiness. But this album spotlights more dark feelings, brooding melodies and a sense of urgency in every song. It's an experience that should not be missed out on. OLP freaking rocks by the way, and Gravity's release is a mere 3 days away! Enjoy and thanks for reading.

Dan

When I bought this CD, I already owned Gravity, Spiritual Machines, and Happiness...is not a fish that you can catch. I would have considered myself a fan, but not nearly to the extent I would now. What made that transfer was Clumsy. And I will tell you why in my review/best parts.
1. Superman's Dead- An excellent start to this excellent albumn. Great guitar, and if you're a fan of Naveed you'll see that Maida's vocals have expanded. Best part: Doesn't anybody ever know that the world's a subway?
2. Automatic Flowers- This song paints an interesting picture of a girl whose pop-up book is driving her insane. This song is actually sort of personal to me because there have been many days where I'll be alone in my room, doing anything to keep myself afloat.
3. Carnival- The tune at the beginning is actually the type of music you would expect to be played at a carnival. It has melodic verses with a harder chorus, keeping it interesting. Best part: You worry about the future, sign said, "Yoga Class for Cats".
4. Big Dumb Rocket- The humming at the beginning is brilliance.
5. 4 A.M.- Called this because it's when Raine wrote it and his father's initials are "A.M." By far, it is OLP'###### personal song. Very well written.
6. Shaking- This is my least favourite song on the disc. The verses aren't bad, in fact it's rather catchy. But it's just the way he says, "Why"- dragging it out. It sort of hits a nerve. Best part: You're rushing to meditate, should eat but probably wait. And when they clap.
7. Clumsy- This is sort of reminiscent of Carnival. It's the encouraging I'm-here-for-you type song Our Lady Peace has on every albumn. Best part: You realize that sometimes you're just not okay, you level off...but it's not alright now.
8. Hello Oskar- I love this song. It has such a momentum. You could crash a car to this song. Best part: He'll build up a bridge then walk around, don't ever call him dumb. He's not that bright, he's just not himself.
9. Let You Go- The beginning isn't great, but it gets better I promise. It's a weird song, a different beat. But it's still really good. Best part: There's a cigarette theif, stealing cigarette disease and I wish I was there.
10. 100 Aisles- This probably isn't a really popular song. But I think it hits something, with the yelling and the bass solo. It hits something and then it's stuck in your head. Best part: This is not what you wanted, this is pain, this is pain: Anacin.
11. Car Crash: Hello Oskar was my favourite song until I discovered this one. It's slower, but heavy, and Raine experiments with his vocals wonderfully. It's intriguing. Best part: They'll wake up today to the papers that say, "oh well", it was too hard to tell- he was swerving, they were swerving much to late.
I truly advise you to get this albumn. I think it shaped who Our Lady Peace is today, and you can't appreciate them until you appreciate Clumsy.

Clumsy wasn't quite up to Naveed's quality, yet it was close. Mike Turner had some great guitar on this, Raine had even more vocal tweaking parts, Jeremy had important drums on tracks such as 4a.m. Duncan Coutts, the bassist of OLP had an intro on Car Crash that stood out, but wasn't as good as the bass on Naveed.

Superman's Dead- The best track on the album. Uses a twelve string acoustic for the intro and stuff. Raine really had some creative parts for this song, with the "Ah awhoo woo" parts. Excellent song.

Automatic Flowers- Another great song, not quite as good, but played a great part in the success of Clumsy. This kind of went back to the style of Naveed, but posseses more anger (as does this CD over any of OLP's others).

Carnival- This song uses the "Don't step on a crack or you'll break your mother's back" thing to produce a good song.

Big Dumb Rocket- There was a nice guitar in this song, and it helped the song get stuck in my head at least.

4am- The slowest track on this CD until around the last third, where it speeds up. Very great lyrics than mean a lot. Jeremy has good drums on this track.

Shaking- The second worst song on this album. Not much more to say than that.

Clumsy- This song goes up with Automatic Flowers in a way. The guitar part was nice.

Hello Oskar- The worst song on the album by far.

Let You Down- A so so track that is kind of weird in the beginning. Not top notch OLP.

The Story of 100 Aisles- A great song, but makes you wonder. The instruments really helped on this one.

Car Crash- Seems like OLP went back to the Naveed (the song) formula, as they tried the little bass part. I consider this the Little Known Naveed.

The angst in this album was dropped and is yet to return in an OLP album.

I believe that this is Our Lady Peace's best work. I have the "canadian" version and as i see on the "u.s." tracklist, there's three different versions of clumsy? What's up with that?

Anyway, he's a closer look at clumsy (note: the tracklist im using the canadian version)

1. Superman's Dead 5/5 - The rise to OLP's stardom 2. Automatic Flowers 5/5 - This track was not origanlly supposed to be on clumsy but im glad it's on 3. Carnival 5/5 - another great olp song that will stay in your head for days 4. Big Dumb Rocket 5/5 - this is a great song 5. 4am 5/5 - a song about Raine's father, excellent song 6. shaking 4/5 - make that a 4 and a half 7. clumsy 5/5 - two words - IT ROCKS!!!! 8. hello oskar 4/5 - not the best on the cd, but still worth a listen 9. let you down 5/5 10. the story of 100 aisles 5/5 - it takes two listens and your hooked 11. car crash 5/5 - great ending for a cd

anyways, to sum it up, in my opinon, this is one of the greatest CD's ever made

im very new to olp. i just bought naveed 2 weeks ago and i liked it very much.But when i bought CLUMSY i was amazed at how good these guys really are.Now believe me when i say u will not be dissapointed with this cd.Songs like "4am",and"clumsy" are very emotional yet great rock songs.While songs like "superman's dead","automatic flowers","hello oscar","big dumb rocket",and "let u down" are great hard rock songs.Every songs chorus is the best. You can let this cd play through the whole way w/o skipping at all. This cd has great guitar riffs, probably the best drums iv'e ever heard, and great vocals by raine.please buy this cd u will not be dissapointed it is the best.olp is the best.

I first heard this album in my biology class. The first song I heard was 4 AM. My friend was listening to it, and I noticed a tear in his eye, so I listened to it, and I too, found myself crying.. really powerful music. Which is extremely odd for myself, because I'm more partial to bands such as Lacuna Coil and Cradle of Filth. But I really loved the song. I heard a few more off the album.. not really my thing, but I can definately respect this group.

I'm not one to become obsessed with pop stars, actors, and the like, but these guys are completely obsession worthy! Raine's vocals are perfect for the sometimes unusual, but always interesting lyrics. I like their other CD's very much, but Clumsy is by far my favorite. Buy this cd if you like strong, deep music that is at the same time very "easy listening". 4AM is one of their best, and it really strikes something in me.

Yeah, so you like Naveed? That's kind of a shame considering you won't find one song to get even close to that sound. Instead you'll find Raine Maida experimenting a little with his voice. Some people may call it "whining", but I call it genius. Have you ever heard a man who can move through tones like he can, it's simply amazing, especially on the track "Car Crash". But don't just listen to olp for Raine's stunning voice and lyrical composition. Don't forget about the amazing drumming of Jeremy Taggart. Probably the best drummer to come around in the nineties (listen to The Story of One Hundred Aisles he's simply amazing in it). Standout tracks include "Automatic Flowers" "Carnival" "Clumsy" "The Story of 100 Aisles" and "Car Crash". Though you may be disapointed by "Shaking" on this album, it's the only disapointment. Buy this album, you won't regret it.

I love this CD. It is my fav. of all time.... I'm going to their concert in toronto coming up. 4am is my second favorite song (my favorite song is apparitions by matthew good band). This is the best cd by anyone. the best songs are 4am, automatic flowers, superman's dead big dumb rocket, clumsy, and carnival. Buy it right now!

Rich vocals, original lyrics, and a wide variety of tunes and styles, Clumsy left me wanting more. Superman's Dead, Automatic Flowers, Carnival, 4am, and Clumsy are by far excellent songs, and they are all completely different, unlike most bands out there who produce many songs sounding the same. If you have enough money and common sence, buy this CD. Don't believe me? Look at the other reviews.