Our Lady Peace
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- "OLP" redirects here. For other uses, see OLP (disambiguation).
| Our Lady Peace | ||
|---|---|---|
 Our Lady Peace 2005. L to R: Jeremy Taggart, Steve Mazur, Raine Maida, Duncan Coutts.
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada  |
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| Genre(s) | Alternative Rock, Rock | |
| Years active | 1992–present | |
| Label(s) | Sony BMG Music Canada | |
| Associated acts |
Raine Maida, Fair Ground, Pedestrian | |
| Website | http://www.ourladypeace.com | |
| Members | ||
| Raine Maida Jeremy Taggart (1993– ) Duncan Coutts (1995– ) Steve Mazur (2002– ) |
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| Former members | ||
| Mike Turner (1992–2001) Chris Eacrett (1992–1995) Jim Newell (1992–1993) |
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Our Lady Peace, abbreviated as OLP, is a Canadian alternative rock band consisting of Raine Maida (vocals), Duncan Coutts (bass), Jeremy Taggart (drums), and Steve Mazur (guitar). Until 2001, guitarist and founding member Mike Turner was a member of the band. During their career they have sold over 5 million albums worldwide,[1] won four Juno Awards out of twenty nominations, and won six MuchMusic Video Awards, including the People's Choice Award in 1997, 1998 and 2000.[2] The band has finished its 'Paranoid Times Tour', which saw them stopping in several North American cities between April and May of 2006. With them was a fifth stage member, Joel Shearer (of the band Pedestrian).
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[edit] Band history
Mike Turner placed a "musicians wanted" ad in Toronto-based Now Magazine in 1992. 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, Mike'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, Mike and Michael attended a music seminar where they met songwriter/producer Arnold Lanni, the owner of Arnyard Studios. The band, with Arnold, 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 Arnold and his management team, they performed some gigs in Eastern Ontario and Montreal with the assistance of D.J. Williams (a Ridley College alumni and classmate of Michael Maida, also a Ridley College alumni), in conjunction with The Tea Party. During this time, Michael included 'Raine' to reduce the confusion of having two Mikes. 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 players John Bouvette on drums and Phil X contributing on lead guitar. 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 president, Rick Camilleri, along with vice-president of A&R Mike Roth and Gary Furniss, director of 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. Jeremy Taggart answered the ad, and on the strength of his potential, the producer and band asked that he join the band.
After additional material was written and recorded with the continued assistance of John Bouvette and Phil X, 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" a hit in both Canada and the United States. "Starseed" would later be featured on the Armageddon film soundtrack. After touring as the opening act for Van Halen through the summer of 1995, and as the band began writing material for their follow-up album, 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. Jamie Edwards, a keyboardist, joined in 1996 and was an unofficial member until 2002.
Their second album, Clumsy, was released in 1997. It features the hit songs "Superman's Dead", "4AM", "Automatic Flowers", and the title track "Clumsy". It is widely considered the group's best effort. It established Our Lady Peace as a leading band in the Canadian rock scene, and provided them with and international presence.
In 1999, the band released their album entitled Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch. The album included such hits as "Thief", a song centered around a young girl the band met who had cancer, as well as "One Man Army" and "Is Anybody Home?". The band also played an 11 track setlist at Woodstock.
In 2000, the band released Spiritual Machines, a concept album inspired by Ray Kurzweil's book The Age of Spiritual Machines. Spiritual Machines sold below expectations. This album featured the singles "In Repair", "Life" and "Right Behind You (Mafia)". Shortly thereafter, in December 2001, after commencing work with a new songwriter/producer, Bob Rock, Mike Turner left the band citing creative differences. According to the band members the separation was amicable. Turner later joined Fair Ground. In April of 2002, Steve Mazur was announced as the new guitarist for the band.
Some critics contended that in the early 2000s the band's new music changed, adopting an increasingly mainstream sound and softening the music considerably. Some critics of the band's fifth album, Gravity, called it "overproduced" and "too mainstream". However, its 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". "Made of Steel" was also a large hit across North America.
On 2 July 2005 the group played at the Canadian Live 8 concert in Barrie. In August, the band released their sixth album, Healthy in Paranoid Times, which included the tracks "Where Are You?", "Angels/Losing/Sleep" and "Will the Future Blame Us". Shortly after recording the album, the band disclosed that during the making of this album, they nearly broke up.[3]
However, the band has also said that they were really proud of the album. According to Rolling Stone, it took 1165 days to create it and its 12 tracks were chosen from 45 written and produced (most of which will almost certainly never see the light of day).
At a November 2005 concert at Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, it was announced that the concert would be filmed for the purpose of creating a DVD.
[edit] Recent developments
On November 21, 2006 (November 28, 2006 in USA), their greatest hits compilation entitled A Decade was released. There are 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 are two unreleased songs from the Healthy in Paranoid Times sessions. The collection also includes the Top 10 tracks: "Where Are You," "Clumsy," "In Repair," "Somewhere Out There," "Innocent," "Thief," "Naveed," "Starseed" and "4AM." A Decade also includes a bonus DVD containing live concert footage and exclusive interviews at the Massey Hall concert. Currently, "Kiss On The Mouth", the first single off A Decade, is on radio stations across Canada.
According to a popular OLP fansite, the band has stated on their official website that they have already begun working on a new album as of February 2007.[4]
[edit] Discography
| Year | Album | US | CA | Label | US Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994/1995 | Naveed | - | - | Columbia Records | 400,000 |
| 1997 | Clumsy | #76 | #1 | Columbia Records | 1,000,000 |
| 1999 | Happiness... | #69 | #1 | Columbia Records | 300,000+ |
| 2000/2001 | Spiritual Machines | #81 | #10 | Columbia Records | 200,000+ |
| 2002 | Gravity | #9 | #2 | Columbia Records | 600,000+ |
| 2003 | Live | #112 | #5 | Columbia Records | |
| 2005 | Healthy in Paranoid Times | #45 | #2 | Sony Records | |
| 2006 | A Decade | N/A | N/A | Sony Records | 200,000+ |
| 2007/2008? | Untitled 9th album[5] | Sony Records |
[edit] Band member timeline
[edit] Trivia
- The band's song "Whatever" is used as the entrance music of professional wrestler Chris Benoit.
- The song "Somewhere Out There" was used in the film, soundtrack, and advertising of the action movie XXX (film) starring Vin Diesel.
- Matt Cameron, Pearl Jam's drummer and former member of Soundgarden, is a good friend of Our Lady Peace's drummer, Jeremy Taggart. When Taggart was sidelined with an ankle injury during the recording of Spiritual Machines, Cameron played drums on "Right Behind You (Mafia)" and "Are You Sad?".
- Naveed means "bearer of good news".
- Legendary jazz drummer Elvin Jones played drums on the song "Stealing Babies", featured on the album Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch.
- The band has covered many songs, such as "Drive" by The Cars, "Imagine" by John Lennon, "The Needle And The Damage Done" by Neil Young, "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "Dear Prudence" by The Beatles, "Eternal Life" by Jeff Buckley, "With Or Without You" and "All I Want Is You" by U2, "Teardrop" by Massive Attack, as well as many others.
- The band performed at the XVI International AIDS Conference Benefit Concert on August 13th, 2006, which took place at the Rogers Centre, in Toronto, Ontario.
- Our Lady Peace were the founders of the Summersault festival that toured across Canada in 1998 and 2000 with lineups that included Foo Fighters, A Perfect Circle and The Smashing Pumpkins.
- Saul Fox is the man pictured on the album covers of Naveed, Clumsy, Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch, Spiritual Machines, and has reappeared on the band's greatest hits album, A Decade.
- Many episodes of Degrassi:The Next Generation that have scenes taking place in Emma's room, you can see a promotional poster for Our Lady Peace's Gravity album.
[edit] References
- ^ "Our Lady Peace Get Well", Rolling Stone, August 1, 2005.
- ^ MuchMusic.com > MMVA06 > REWIND > 97, 98, 00. MuchMusic. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
- ^ "Our Lady Peace Get Well", Rolling Stone, August 1, 2005.
- ^ http://www.ourladypeace.cc/index.htm
- ^ http://www.ourladypeace.cc/index.htm
[edit] External links
- OurLadyPeace.com (Official Band Page)
- Clumsy Congress (Official Message Board)
- OurLadyPeace.net (Official Fan Club)
- Our Lady Peace on MySpace (Official)
- Official UK Band Page
- OurLadyPeace.cc by Rich & Shelley (Unofficial Fan Page)
- OurLadyPeace.us
- OurLadyPeace.de German Fansite
| Our Lady Peace |
| Raine Maida | Duncan Coutts | Jeremy Taggart | Steve Mazur |
| Mike Turner | Chris Eacrett | Jamie Edwards | Joel Shearer | Mike Eisenstein | Jim Newell |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums: Naveed | Clumsy | Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch | Spiritual Machines | Gravity | Live | Healthy in Paranoid Times | A Decade |
