Music
Store

The most outstanding thing about this album in my estimation is the drumming. I have never seen nor heard such an excellent drummer as Jeremy Taggart, whose pounding, complicated drum fills and transitions are more than just a backbone for the body of the songs; they completely overtake the music and stand out as an instrument all their own. Case in point, "Big Dumb Rocket" and "The Story of 100 Aisles." Furthermore, Duncan Coutts presents himself as an excellent bass player. Although bass players often don't often get much attention, Duncan's work on the instrument turned my head immediately. Key songs are "Hello Oskar" and "Carnival."

If you are a fan of alternative or rock music, you must buy this album. It never gets old, and every track is a worthy addition to any music lover's collection.

That is all.


The darkest OLP album   June 16, 2002
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

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


Clumsy   April 7, 2003
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

Clumsy is a great try, but falls short of Our Lady Peace's potential and Raine's potential as a writer. Nonetheless, it's a good CD, and Our Lady Peace is one of my favorite bands but there are actually a few tracks that I just don't like on this cd. But the cd is much better than their first, Naveed. I don't understand why that was so praised by anybody, but it was.

1) Supermans Dead: By far the best track on the cd. The lyrics kind of make you feel bad for making fun of those kids that you did in high school.

2) Automatic Flowers: I really don't know why they released this song. First, I don't believe it's radio-friendly, second it's really not even that good after you listen to it a few times. Sure it seems catchy at first, but it gets kind of annoying after a couple times hearing it.

3) Carnival: A very different song with a great theme throughout the song of breaking your mother's back by stepping on the cracks. Good song.

4) Big Dumb Rocket: Unless you actually look into the lyrics you most likely wouldn't understand what it's about, but when you do know it's about when Raine accidendly shot one of his friends, the lyrics seem great. This song has a great beat and the moaning in the beginning is genius.

5) 4am: Might be one of OLPs most known songs, and with good reason. It is an amazing song, good lyrics, good guitar. But once you really get into the band and you see what they are actually capable of you will see that this is only scraping the surface.

6) Shaking: I don't know if he meant for the chorus of this song to sound annoying or not. When he says "Why are you shaking" and drags out the word "why", it goes right through you at times if your in a bad mood. Not a great song, but doesn't bring down the cd.

7) Hello Oscar: This is the song that brings down the cd. After hearing the barely decent "Shaking", they give you this junk. I'm a huge Our Lady Peace fan and I strongly dislike this song.

8) Let You down: A little bit better than Hello Oscar, but again doesn't do much for the cd.

9) The story of 100 Aisles: I like this song. But I don't know many people who do so again, you gotta ask what does it do for the cd?

10) Car Crash: This song is very strange to finish off the cd. Though it's a good song, it kind of drags on, as do many songs at the end of cd's but it's a pretty good song, either way.


Obsession-worthy   January 6, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

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.


Wonderful.   January 6, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

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.