From about 13-17 years old, Our Lady Peace were one of my favorite bands. Those of you only familiar with their output over the last five plus years might wonder why I wouldn't keep that to myself. However, prior to guitarist Mike Turner's departure during the recording of Bob Rock-produced pop atrocity Gravity, they were one of the most innovative bands in mainstream rock.
Consider "Clumsy", their first single to receive significant US radio play, (at least as best as I can remember). Stylistically, it's not that far removed from a lot of post-grunge pop-rock. However, it certainly has some weird touches. The spooky piano intro and somewhat violent lyrics, for instance. And it's a great, great song.
Or consider "Happiness is Not a Fish that You Can Catch", their followup, when they really came into their own. The nearly atonal guitar solo on "One Many Army", the pop breakout hit "Is Anybody Home?" (strangely enough), drumming by late jazz legend Elvin Jones on "Stealing Babies." Great songs, all.
In fact, they were good up through Gravity. Even that had some good songs, despite the lame Bob "Black Album" Rock (over)production. But that was certainly the beginning of the end.
Anyway, here is a drastically different alternate live take on "Julia", from their first record, Naveed. I've had this for years, and I don't think it's super well circulated, but it's definitely worth a listen.
Our Lady Peace - Naveed (alternate live version)
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