Our Lady Peace Album: “Decade [CD/DVD]”

I own all of Our Lady Peace's records, and wanted to give my opinion of this collection of tunes. Who are Our Lady Peace? They are a canadian alt-rock trio that arguably should have been huge in the states. The singer sounds a bit like Smashing Pumpkins' vocalist, and I believe that is what pigeon-holed them. Their music is so different than Smashing Pumpkins, and has evolved on every record. For the most-part, they are great pop-rock songwriters. If you love melodic rock, then OLP is for you. This collection has tunes from all 6 of their full records. I would omit several of the tracks, and use several replacements as listed below.

Their first record "Naveed" was riff-rock that relied on choppy guitar or bass lines. This record doesn't really sound like what OLP became. It had a couple minor radio hits, but I would not have included either in a retrospective collection. To me the track "Julia" is the only one that had OLP's future sound.

Their second record "Clumsy" was true alternative rock. It had strange chord progressions that are not usually as pretty to listen to. There are 2 exceptions that stand out on this record. "4AM" and "Clumsy". This is where OLP started to find themselves.

Their next record "Happiness Is A Fish That You Can't Catch" is simply a masterpiece. You must own this record if no other OLP record. They hit it out of the park on this one, and it is simply by far, their best record. Every song on this record is great. I would pick the following tunes from this record for a collection: "One Man Army", "Potato Girl", "Blister", "Is Anybody Home", "Waited", "Thief", and "Stealing Babies".

Their next "Spiritual Machines" was an attempt at an art-rock record. Think of it as their "Dark Side Of The Moon". In all honesty, it didn't work that well. It was way too experimental. I would choose "Right Behind You", "In Repair", and "Made To Heal" for a collection.

On "Gravity" they returned to form with Bob Rock producing. This is an excellent record, and one that you should definitely own if you like "Happiness the Fish". I would select "All For You", "Do You Like It", "Somewhere Out There", "Made Of Steel", "Not Enough", and "Sorry".

Their last record "Healthy In Paranoid Times" is a hard one to describe. It seems to me more like a singer/songwriter record than a band record. It sounds almost too pop in many ways, yet the lyrics are more depressing than anything previously done by OLP. It's about how bad the world is screwed up, and comes across as preachy to me. The other thing is the production. It sounds way too digital. If you've never made music, then you might not understand that statement. Digital recordings made fully on computers many times lack the power, and fullness that analog tape had. This record sounds pristine, but has no balls. Rock bands many times steer clear of full digital recordings, and for good reason. I would select only 3 tunes from this record: "Angels/Losing/Sleep", "Love And Trust", and "Walking In Circles".

I hope that OLP is not done yet, as I really like this band, but I have a suspicion that they are.

If you are a diehard fan, this record is worth getting, but if you want a good overview, buy the tunes I've listed from Itunes, or just get "Happiness The Fish" and "Gravity".

I have followed these guys for most of the 10 years since they hit the US. I have also seen them live, and this album I have been waiting for for a while. Now I have nicely compiled, great sounding single disc with their best tracks on it. Plus the two new tracks are good as well (kiss on the mouth and better than here demo. This does omit one of their best tracks, and possibly their heaviest, "Whatever", and that is the only reason that keeps me from giving this a five star. However, this is very well worth picking up for a first time listener to get an idea why this band should be included in your collection.

Greatest hits are usually disappointing because you never get exactly what you think should be on the compilation. That being said, my interest in this disc was only for the two rare tracks. Which I do feel are very good. It also helps the album is remastered. Over all, very nice.

This is not a bad greatest hits for those who want to get a taste of what OLP has to offer. I think they did a good job in picking out the hits. The only thing that I didn't like was that they missed some other great songs from Gravity that would have made it even better. Overall, I would have to say it is a great greatest hit set.