Customer Reviews

A Decade

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Our Lady Peace is the pinnacle rock band of Canada. Having formed years before Nickelback and garnering more awards than fellow counterpart Alanis Morisette, Our Lady Peace made a niche for themselves in their homeland of Canada, but they also made a big dent in the United States. A DECADE is a proper compilation of all their big hits, minus one hit that was left off and should have been on here, plus two brand new songs never before released to cd or the airwaves.

You get all the big hits from NAVEED, except "Hope", which should have made this compilation. But still, there's no arguing with the alternative rocker "Starseed", the acoustic/electric anthem title track, and the blustery fierce "The Birdman". All of these songs were great choices from this great debut. Next up are the big three singles from CLUMSY, the generational anthem rocker "Superman's Dead", the melodic title track, and the live favorite sing-a-long "4am". From HAPPINESS you get "One Man Army", "Is Anybody Home", and "Thief", all solid cuts. From SPIRITUAL MACHINES we include "Life" and "In Repair", while "Right Behind You" was also left off and was a minor hit and video. From GRAVITY you get the two big soaring rock anthems "Somewhere Out There" and "Innocent", and then to finish you get "Where Are You", a peppy rocker; "Angels/Losing/Sleep", a melodic, sweeping grand stage; and "Will The Future Blame Us", all 3 from HEALTHY IN PARANOID TIMES. To close the compilation you get an unreleased cut "Kiss on the Mouth" and a demo version of "Better Than Here" to entice casual fans.

For the most part, A DECADE is really an OLP fans dream compilation and a casual fan's perfect introduction to one of the most intriguing and best rock bands to descend from Canada. A DECADE also comes with a bonus DVD of live material and unreleased interview footage. Don't wait and let A DECADE get away...pick this up if you're an OLP fan or curious!

I own all of Our Lady Peace's records, and wanted to give my opinion of this collection of tunes. Who are Our Lady Peace? They are a canadian alt-rock trio that arguably should have been huge in the states. The singer sounds a bit like Smashing Pumpkins' vocalist, and I believe that is what pigeon-holed them. Their music is so different than Smashing Pumpkins, and has evolved on every record. For the most-part, they are great pop-rock songwriters. If you love melodic rock, then OLP is for you. This collection has tunes from all 6 of their full records. I would omit several of the tracks, and use several replacements as listed below.

Their first record "Naveed" was riff-rock that relied on choppy guitar or bass lines. This record doesn't really sound like what OLP became. It had a couple minor radio hits, but I would not have included either in a retrospective collection. To me the track "Julia" is the only one that had OLP's future sound.

Their second record "Clumsy" was true alternative rock. It had strange chord progressions that are not usually as pretty to listen to. There are 2 exceptions that stand out on this record. "4AM" and "Clumsy". This is where OLP started to find themselves.

Their next record "Happiness Is A Fish That You Can't Catch" is simply a masterpiece. You must own this record if no other OLP record. They hit it out of the park on this one, and it is simply by far, their best record. Every song on this record is great. I would pick the following tunes from this record for a collection: "One Man Army", "Potato Girl", "Blister", "Is Anybody Home", "Waited", "Thief", and "Stealing Babies".

Their next "Spiritual Machines" was an attempt at an art-rock record. Think of it as their "Dark Side Of The Moon". In all honesty, it didn't work that well. It was way too experimental. I would choose "Right Behind You", "In Repair", and "Made To Heal" for a collection.

On "Gravity" they returned to form with Bob Rock producing. This is an excellent record, and one that you should definitely own if you like "Happiness the Fish". I would select "All For You", "Do You Like It", "Somewhere Out There", "Made Of Steel", "Not Enough", and "Sorry".

Their last record "Healthy In Paranoid Times" is a hard one to describe. It seems to me more like a singer/songwriter record than a band record. It sounds almost too pop in many ways, yet the lyrics are more depressing than anything previously done by OLP. It's about how bad the world is screwed up, and comes across as preachy to me. The other thing is the production. It sounds way too digital. If you've never made music, then you might not understand that statement. Digital recordings made fully on computers many times lack the power, and fullness that analog tape had. This record sounds pristine, but has no balls. Rock bands many times steer clear of full digital recordings, and for good reason. I would select only 3 tunes from this record: "Angels/Losing/Sleep", "Love And Trust", and "Walking In Circles".

I hope that OLP is not done yet, as I really like this band, but I have a suspicion that they are.

If you are a diehard fan, this record is worth getting, but if you want a good overview, buy the tunes I've listed from Itunes, or just get "Happiness The Fish" and "Gravity".

The material here is worth 5 stars. As an introduction to the band, you can't go wrong. For those interested in some non-hit tracks to check out by the band, I will list a few.

Naveed Album
Julia
Dirty Walls
Under Zenith
Neon Crossing

Clumsy Album
Big Dumb Rocket
Automatic Flowers
Hello Oskar
Story of 100 Aisles
Shaking
Car Crash

Happiness is a Fish Album
Annie
Waited
Blister
Potato Girl
Happiness and the Fish

Spiritual Machines Album
Just get the whole damn album.
It's maybe the best 40 minutes of rock to ever come out of the Canadian music scene.

Gravity Album
A Story about a Girl
Bring back the sun
Not Enough

So there's some ideas for further listening.

I have followed these guys for most of the 10 years since they hit the US. I have also seen them live, and this album I have been waiting for for a while. Now I have nicely compiled, great sounding single disc with their best tracks on it. Plus the two new tracks are good as well (kiss on the mouth and better than here demo. This does omit one of their best tracks, and possibly their heaviest, "Whatever", and that is the only reason that keeps me from giving this a five star. However, this is very well worth picking up for a first time listener to get an idea why this band should be included in your collection.

Greatest hits are usually disappointing because you never get exactly what you think should be on the compilation. That being said, my interest in this disc was only for the two rare tracks. Which I do feel are very good. It also helps the album is remastered. Over all, very nice.

This is a good cross-section of OLP in my opinion. If you are new to OLP, pick this up and you can get an idea about the greatness that it Our Lady Peace. I've not gotten into many of the newer bands, but these guys, I like. Yeah, Raine Maida does sound a tad whiny in his singing, but it works. These guys are modern with a little of an old school sound about them. Enjoy.

This is not a bad greatest hits for those who want to get a taste of what OLP has to offer. I think they did a good job in picking out the hits. The only thing that I didn't like was that they missed some other great songs from Gravity that would have made it even better. Overall, I would have to say it is a great greatest hit set.

This collection does a pretty good job of assembling most of OLP's best songs together on one disc. However, the two new songs don't stack up to the other tracks and really just distract from the brilliance of the rest of the album. My main complaint would be that there should be more material from the Spiritual Machines album included. How could they leave off Right Behind You (Mafia) or Everyone's A Junkie? Made to Heal is also a standout track from that album that could have made the cut. I completely disagree with the review below which claims that Happiness Is Not A Fish You Can Catch is OLP's best album. For me it's just average when compared to Spiritual Machines or even Gravity. I would also have preferred to have the song Do You Like It from Gravity included. Overall, a good collection with some minor flaws.