Our Lady Peace тобының "Gravity" альбомы туралы

Gravity is the fifth studio album by the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released on June 18, 2002 by Columbia Records in North America. The album became a worldwide success, charting highly both in Canada and the United States with the hit singles "Somewhere Out There" and "Innocent". The album title, Gravity, was inspired by the chorus lyrics "Falling back to me, defying gravity" from the track "Somewhere Out There". At the time of the album's release, OLP drummer Jeremy Taggart said that Gravity was "by far [their] best album". Gravity was the first album to feature new guitarist, Steve Mazur, who replaced Mike Turner in 2002 after the latter's departure, due to the band feeling limited by Mike Turner's guitar abilities in the studio. Despite Turner's departure, he appears on half the tracks on the album, having recorded parts for several songs prior to his departure. They would (by most accounts) mutually decide to part ways following preliminary sessions for the album. Jamie Edwards was credited for the only time as a songwriter on this album. Steve Mazur's late official entry into the band meant he took no part in songwriting.

For this album, Our Lady Peace sought a new producer rather than long time collaborator Arnold Lanni to help with their search for a new sound. According to the band, it was Lanni's idea for them to pursue a new venue lest they regret not trying other producers later on. After visiting with several producers in Los Angeles including Josh Abraham, the band seized the opportunity to work with Bob Rock because they liked his work with artists such as Metallica and American Hi Fi as well as his general passion for music. Raine was particularly convinced he wanted to work with Rock after watching A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, the documentary about the making of the Black Album. In the studio, they would even record with the same guitars and amplifiers used by Metallica as well as Pete Townshend and The Cult. They began recording on the day of their arrival, laying down the initial tracks for "A Story About a Girl", which was written on the spot within 20 minutes after Raine heard Duncan and Jeremy tuning up in the next room. According to Taggart, the making of that song set the pace for the whole album. "He saw us as a rock band as soon as we got there, and the way we recorded it was live off the floor as a rock band as opposed to layering things," Maida stated. "He was a great leader who got the best out of us immediately". Rock then asked the band if they would like to work on an entire album, which they accepted. Following the preliminary recording sessions in Maui, Mike Turner left the band in December 2001 after having recorded rhythm guitar parts for several songs that would appear on the album. Band members in interviews said that he and the band weren't seeing eye to eye anymore but according to official press releases the split was amicable. Duncan Coutts said of the split, "We weren't allowing him to do what he really wanted to do, and he wasn't playing what we wanted to hear. This recording process magnified that, but it was a long time coming." The remaining band members then commenced a 2 month public search during which the band received thousands of demo tapes, videos and CDs from all over the world, including Australia and Japan. Maida explained "It was like a last minute song done really quickly. I demoed a bunch of songs over Christmas, when we had a break for 10 days. I wrote, like, seven songs and brought them back. Bob listened to all seven songs and then listened to song number three halfway through and song number six halfway through and said, 'OK,' told the engineer to stop the CD, and got us to go put the verse from song three and the chorus from song six together and was like, 'That's the song.'" For the ten weeks they were in Maui recording (spread over 4 months), the band lived together and would surf and ride mountain bikes in the mornings then work on the album in the evening, usually recording one song in one day and only for a couple of hours before and after dinner." The band recorded most of the album at Rock's Plantation Studio in Haiku, Hawaii and finished recording and mixing with Randy Staub at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, B. C. in March 2002. The track "Made of Steel" was recorded three separate times during the sessions with the last take being used. "Do You Like It" was not recorded until after most of the mixing had been completed in Vancouver. According to Raine, "We had gone back to Maui to finish some small details on the last two songs to be mixed and 'lo and behold!' a new song was born and recorded. The final version as heard on the album is only the second take of the song, live to tape, with strings overdubbed.

Raine stated his intent for the album's sound, "Basically what he [Rock] did with Metallica on the 'black record', we talked and wanted to take that kind of approach. Let him simplify stuff. Let him take away We always usually try add as many layers as we can to our music, and Bob said, 'Let's try to add not so many.'" The goal was also to make the album's sound more akin to what the band sounded live and to make the songs easier to reproduce on stage. "We'd record a song, sit back and ask, 'Why isn't this sounding like everyone is hearing it in their heads?' Bob would say 'let's simplify the drums,' or 'let's make that bass line simpler.' He was able to pull out why we didn't sound on albums like we do live." Raine said in an interview that most of the lyrics on Gravity were rewritten because producer Bob Rock felt that the songs would be stronger with simpler lyrics, so that listeners could understand what Raine was talking about. "I was really open to him musically, but I wasn't ready to be challenged lyrically like he challenged me. He kept telling me to rewrite stuff because he didn't understand what I was trying to convey in my lyrics. He would say, 'Raine, I don't have a fucking clue what you're talking about. Convince me. Explain to me what you're trying to say in your lyrics better.' I would keep rewriting and rewriting, and sometimes I felt I would never please him. I would say, 'Jesus, I don't know what you're asking me to do here. I don't think I can do whatever it is you want.' He would say, 'Yes, you can, get back in there.' And I did it. Looking back now, I'm a better writer for it." The stress caused by this challenge eventually led to Raine having to go to a hospital; contracting shingles. Raine had also cited his and his wife Chantal Kreviazuk's recent trips to Iraq with War Child Canada as inspiration to simplify his lyrics and to 'get to the point'. Gravity debuted at #2 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling close to 25,000 copies in Canada in its first week. The album debuted at #9 in the United States, making it the band's highest position in the United States yet. By November 2003, Gravity had been certified double platinum in Canada (200,000 units). The back cover states that the live tracks were recorded on the Spiritual Machines Tour of 2001. The following text is also included: