Our Lady Peace - Spiritual Machines 2 (January 28, 2022) Album • Page 2

Only a few songs in but I'm really enjoying this on first listen. I even liked "Stop Making Stupid People Famous" a lot more on this listen after not hearing it for months. It reminds me of New Radicals.

 

Obviously they're never going to be the band they were through those first 5 albums.

 

Yeah, I'm only about halfway, but it's hard to remain super excited about this. I think the problem lies in that the band knew they were going to get a large chunk of their fanbase VERY intrigued at the idea of something even similar to Spiritual Machines, as it has always been a favorite.

Realistically, I'd also venture to guess that many of those same fans do not realize they 4 studio albums in the last ~16 years, each one getting a little bit less "alt-rock" than the one that preceded it. I recall enjoying Healthy in Paranoid Times quite a bit, but hell again, that was 16 YEARS ago! The last 3 prior to this I have probably only listened to maybe 1-2 times all the way through, each.

If they had called this album something entirely different, I doubt the backlash would be as strong as it is.... likely just because less people would even have been hyped about it in the first place.

 

This sums up my TL;DR post really well lol

 

Maybe part of this is why I enjoy it, since I really didn't go into it with any expectations. I like Spiritual Machines, but I have not listened to it in full in ages and it was always my least favorite out of those first albums (though songs like "Life" and "Are You Sad?" are all-time classics).

 

Yeah , like reading comments on their official social media accounts and such are cringe-worthy:

"WHERE'S THE ROCK?" - "WHAT IS THIS POP CRAP?"

Like, what the hell did you expect, its 20+ years later....? Artists do evolve. lol

 

There's also definitely rock in here. It's closer to contemporary rock - like I could hear some of these songs fitting in on like SiriusXM's AltNation - than late-90's / early-00's though.

 

I'm going to try to give it a headphones listen this weekend and remove myself from social media (even here) while doing so. I LOVED this band growing up.

 

curve was ten years ago (lol what is time) and that album is dope and weird

the singles for this were godawful but i'm giving it a shot

 

i just saw OLP for the first time ever a few weeks ago in Hollywood only knowing 'the hits' from the 90s/Somewhere Out There. They were good, mixed in some of this new material and it definitely sounded starkly different, haha

 

In the official facebook group opinions are also very polarizing. Most either love it or hate it. I love it personally and think it's their finest work in years.

*edit: I see that's already been said.

 

Honestly - as I got through one full listen I found myself enjoying it. Def one that will grow with treated listens.

 

I just listened to it and my initial impression is that I really enjoyed it.

It does sound different from previous OLP releases in some respects. Some songs feature styles and sounds that I don't think I've heard in an OLP song before, and I do wonder if some of that is influence from the producer, TV On The Radio's Dave Sitek.

And yet, on the other hand, this is the first OLP album in a while that has made me feel like I'm listening to an OLP album. My favorite OLP album is actually Happiness, and part of that is because of how wildly varying the style is on that album. It feels the same here. There's bouncy songs, melancholy, some rocking, and just overall it feels like an album that's trying to paint with a full palette and not just a single color.

Songs that struck me off the bat are "Holes", "Wish You Well", "19 Days", "Run", and "Temporary Healing".

Is it as good as Spiritual Machines? Probably not, but that album has also had over two decades to sit with me, so it's unfair to compare it to something with so much history. Also, I think people look at this being Spiritual Machines II and assume it's trying to recapture the style of that album, which it clearly isn't. It's more about the themes and concept than anything else. If anything, all the electronic and dance vibes probably fits that concept better.

Anyway, I'm probably gonna go on a discography run.

 

This was my band before I found this scene. Saw them like 13 times on SM and Gravity cycles.

Unfortunately I couldn’t make it past the 3rd song on this.

Glad some of the guys are still together putting out tunes and people are still listening. I’ll always have those five albums that I can go back and enjoy.

 

It always strikes me odd that Gravity is the cutoff point for so many people, if only because I feel like Healthy In Paranoid Times is not really that different sonically from Gravity and has some really great songs. But that's just my opinion.

Anyway, stay positive.

 

So before most of the best songs on the album...

At least in my opinion lol

 

First heard of them because of Innocent and was delighted to find their previous discography.
Potato Girl is and will always be my jam. Made them my favorite band before finding Thrice.

My cutoff is after Healthy. Healthy is a lot of fun as an accessible record with the OLP touch.

Haven't kept up but it's weird to listen to these vocals from the single. Don't think I'll be physically able to listen to this.

 

Not sure why I stopped at Healthy. Probably because I got into this scene at that time and never came around to it. I have listened to it and don’t mind it. I guess because I never saw them tour behind it.

It was also weird bc I got so into their past discography during the SM cycle. Then Gravity came out and everyone was all ticked bc they played TRL. Mike left the band. It was a weird time to get on board with the band. I saw them in a giant MSN bubble tent in Central Park and opening for Moby on a pier. Really wild memories of traveling to the city from 16-18 when there wasn’t any social media or smart phones.

I’ll give the rest of the tracks a try. Maybe something will click.

I was pretty big on the Clumsy Monkey forum back in the day and met some good friends there and a long-term ex-gf. So the band will always be a big part of my life. I’m bummed I didn’t travel to the Clumsy/SM shows.

 

I liked the back half a little more the second time I listened but the dance pop vibes aside raine just doesn’t sound good which is a bit of a system shock that’s hard to get past

 

Burn, Burn might actually my overall favorite from them

 

I understand this. I lurked around the boards during the Healthy era because OLP was being really open about their recording process and sharing songs, and anyway, I agree it was a really weird time because everyone felt some kind of way about Mike leaving, and that seemed to put a cloud over everything.

 

I finished relistening to their discography, and I have some renewed thoughts.

My personal ranking probably goes something like this:

Happiness > Clumsy > Spiritual Machines > Naveed > Healthy > Spiritual Machines II > Gravity > Burn Burn = Somethingness > Curve

I fully understand people putting a dividing line between their early discography and latter, and even though I enjoy all their albums to a degree, I also feel the same. I think somewhere along the line, to use a clunky comparison, they decided they wanted to be Snow Patrol instead of Pearl Jam, and not everyone was along for the ride.

Curve is my least favorite. It has some good songs, and I believe "Fire In The Henhouse" and "If This Is It" especially are tremendous, but the back half is devoid of energy, and really loses me. The last track especially I feel was misadvised. That being said, I also respect that Curve feels like a complete album, like they knew what they wanted and went for it.

That I can't say about Burn Burn and Somethingness. I feel like the backlash to Gravity and Healthy really took a toll on the band and put them in a bit of a crisis. Albums started taking longer to make, and they feel less like complete albums and more like collections of ideas. There's an inconsistency to Burn Burn and Somethingness that just keeps them from elevating.

I also don't know if this is a controversial opinion or not, but I realized that I actually don't love Gravity. I love songs on it, like "All For You" and "Not Enough", but it also feels like a very flat album, especially compared to what came before it. I know Raine himself has said that Healthy is where they caved to label interference, but I feel like Healthy is by far the more interesting album. Gravity feels very made for radio.

Anyway, I've decided I at least like Spiritual Machines II more than those albums. It's consistent with a clear idea of where it wants to go and I feel like it's got a bunch of interesting musical ideas happening, even if it is still much different from the OLP of the past.

 

My ranking is probably something like this:

Happiness > Spiritual Machines > Naveed
> Clumsy > Spiritual Machines II > Gravity = Curve > Burn Burn > Somethingness = Healthy

 

Happiness > SM > Clumsy > Healthy > Naveed > Gravity.
Although I'll probably revisit Heatlhy more than Clumsy tbh. It's so catchy.

Gravity isn't bad per se and I listened to it alot, and I'll let the songs play fully on shuffle, but it feels like them going for a simplified Nickleback kind of sound after such a rich history. It's weird but I'm always grateful because that's how I heard of them.

 

I will never forget when I had the TV on and the “Somewhere Out There” video came on MTV. I was livid. So funny to think back on that. I wonder what pushed them that far into the mainstream. They definitely had the right PR team, management at that time. As you said I think Nicklebacks push to mainstream helped as well.

Anyone else get into Matthew Good Band after listening to OLP? I throw them on every know and then. Beautiful Midnight still holds up….and some quick review of recent activity reveals he is a scum bag and has been accused by multiple women of abuse. So won’t be listening to him again.