Why I Like It:
Alright people we made it! It's my 100th blog post! Never thought I would make it this far to be honest. It was a hobby I picked up during the height of covid, when I was consuming tons of music and had no way to write about my thoughts or categorize it. Ok I could have used Twitter/X or Instagram (which I use now to mainly advertise this blog) but I like this longform method better. Call me old fashioned. To anyone that's somehow found this site, thanks for taking the time to read my amateur writing and ramblings! You are awesome and don't forget it.
So for my 100th post I decided to do one of my all time favorite bands, that's been instrumental to my musical taste journey, Our Lady Peace. I've put this off purposely because it's the hardest to write about something that's so important to me but, gosh darn, this needs to be done!
So, when I was growing up there were a couple ways I was introduced to music. There was the CDs that my parents would either own already or buy for me, the MuchMusic Countdown show, and the local rock radio station. My dad is someone who's a music appreciator, and would encourage my tastes. So when a band called Our Lady Peace would play on the radio, we would both sing along to hits like "Clumsy", "One Man Army", and "Innocent" with terrible vocals. Then I would hear Our Lady Peace in a copy of Big Shiny Tunes 6, and finally see the music vidoes on MuchMusic. It all accumulated together at the right time for a young pre-teen to decide this is her band.
Why this particular band you may wonder? I think it was the difference of the vocals and style of rock from everything else I was hearing at the time. You cannot mistake Raine Maida's raspy vocals. He has this way of saying words, like altering the word why to why-e-i-e-ya, that I couldn't get enough of. Eventually this different sound of alternative rock got me into checking out other alternative Canadian acts (that I have added in the Similar Bands to Check Out section below).
Examples of the subject matter that Our Lady Peace would cover was struggling with mental health afflictions and hardships such as losing someone. It was usually done in way that would uplift you however, either from the upbeat rock sounds or lyrics that have a hopeful tinge to them. Now that I've been reflecting on the band more, I can say this was one of my first introductions to emotional music, that would later catapult to my tastes to other heartfelt music down the line. It was a pinnacle band, along with Mathew Good Band, that would lay the foundation down for everything else I would like as I grew older. Bands with different vocal styles, sad lyrics overlayed with energized music, and genres that are not very defined in a box.
I picked the album Clumsy because it has the songs that spoke to me most at the time, "Clumsy" and "Superman's Dead". Honestly I could have also gone for Happiness...Is Not A Fish You Can Catch or Spiritual Machines as well. Sadly their latest albums have not been for me, especially Spiritual Machines II, but I will always be a diehard fan and go to concerts when they are available to see (which I highly recommend going to).
Thank-you Our Lady Peace for being the catalyst that got me into discovering what my musical tastes are!
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Highlighted song and lyrics:
Clumsy-"You need to understand/There's nothing strange about this"
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Similar bands to check out:
I Mother Earth, Matthew Good Band, Big Wreck, The Tea Party
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Reviews and links to check out:
Thereviewsarein.com- Retrospective
Woodstock 99 performance- They are still amazing live!
Mindyourmind- Interview
Chris Demakes a Podcast- Discusses the song "Clumsy"
