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Happiness Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch

Our Lady Peace - Happiness Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch Audio CD

A fair review of the Our Lady Peace "Happiness Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Our Lady Peace reviews here, or go back to the Our Lady Peace tabs.

Band: Our Lady Peace
Title: Happiness Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-03-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: One Man Army 2: Happiness & the Fish 3: Potato Girl 4: Blister 5: Is Anybody Home? 6: Waited 7: Thief 8: Lying Awake 9: Annie 10: Consequence of Laughing 11: Stealing Babies - Elvin Jones, Our Lady Peace

Awesome Alternative Rock
For me, it is the quintessential alternative rock album. OLP was one of my favorite bands (really disappointed with Paranoid Times) and this CD helped to cement that title. The song structures are a bit left of center, the lyrics are interesting, Raine M can stretch his voice from raspy mumble to falsetto in the same sentence. Naveed and Clumsy have a few songs that I might skip, but I actually like every song on this CD.

This is OLPs Best CD
They try to over-analyze a
unique album that's fun to listen to. Pay no attention to the sourpuss reviewers who gave less than 3 stars & fancy themselves music critics extraordinaire. This is much different than OLPs other albnums and I like it best from end-to-end. Thief is a great song whether in its album form or as an acoustic version which I have heard them perform in concert. One Man Army is a great rocker, Lying Awake is aa excellent song & one of their best in concert, and Waited/Blister/Is AnyBody Home/Potato Girl are all quality tunes. The only song i might do w/o is Annie but, in a quirky way it is fun to listen to. The whole album pretty much flows together & I highly recommend checking it out. .

THE MOST UNDERRATED ALBUM OF THE '90s
How can you not be impressed with the musical structure and sublime hooks created in these crafted rock pieces. For fans that started with OUR LADY PEACE from the beginning of their rise as you witnessed their first music videos for "Superman's Dead" and "Clumsy" this was an innovative attempt to improve their sound and not become stale pop/rock stars. The band took their sound to a whole new level and unfortunately, not all their previous fans followed them. Whether its the amazingly whimsical sound of the nightmare of "Annie" or the painful lament of "Waited" we're taken through this rock adventure with no blind fold, no apologies, eyes wide open. This is the finest that OUR LADY PEACE had to offer, and quite frankly, I'm upset that it didn't make them superstars.

one of my favorites
After coming home from high school one day One Man Army came on the radio right when I pulled in the driveway. This is the album that esentially brought me to Our Lady Peace. I sat there and waited for it to end before I got out and made sure who I found out who sung it.

I had somehow at the time $20 so I went out and bought Happiness. . . After a few listens I instantly fell in love w/ Raine's somewhat whiny but inspirational voice and lyrics. Out of my 300 some albums to date, I'd say I've played this album the most because it just meant so much to me.

The opening song, "One Man Army" as before is what made me buy the cd. It has this almost demanding message of perserverance to move on and don't look back. Music video is pretty cool too.

My favorite song, the title track, is unforgettable an instant classic with some great lyrics such especially the line "Everyone you meet today is just so f'ing vain".

"Potato Girl" features a nice build up to the chorus. "Blister" follows with a meloncholy mood that is nearly perfect fit for this album.

"Is Anybody Home?" the second single, is my 2nd favorite song on the album which Raine plays some sort of kazoo which sounds awesome and almost chilling. The guitar solo towards about 2/3 in the song is great by Turner.

Not to be outdone, "Waiting" and "Thief" the middle songs slow down the pace with some beautiful ballad type music. "Waited" is a song I used as an excuse to not get things I wanted so soon, especially girls. "Thief" the third single is written for a girl who had a brain tumor where the thief was sort of death taking away her life. Very emotional for the band.

The last four songs, although not weak by any means sort of begin to wind the album down as "Lying Awake" eclipses you in a trance of revenge maybe. "Annie" possibly the most playful song on the album with a dark insane feel of craziness to which Raine explains about this girl. "Consequence of Laughing" is the closest resemblance to any song from "Clumsy" but fits in nicely and the epic finish with "Stealing Babies" with Elvin Jones.

The reason I single out this album amongst any other OLP albums, or any album in general is because I feel that each song compliments each other to make this a complete album from start to finish with no filler. Not even a second of wasted music. For those lucky to find the bonus Neil Young cover of "The Needle and the Damage Done" that is also a great song, but the band is smart enough to keep it separate knowing it doesn't necessarly belong on the album.

I would give this album 10 out of 5 stars if possible. Simply Great!.

A Great Band Stumbles
You know a record is off to a bad start when you name it something as lame as Happiness . . Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch. As a long-time follower of OLP I must admit that I am amazed to have read that some people feel this is the band's best record, different strokes I guess.

All I can say is that Happiness . . . to me is a wannabe art rock mess with Raine Maida and company complicating good potential rock songs with unnecessary over-dubs, sound effects and a vocal Olympic exercise that distracts from the band's usual solid songwriting.

Whereas other great OLP records such as Naveed and Spiritual Machines in my opinion recognized that a rock song could be stretched only so far, on Happiness the band confuses excess with quality. The first song One Man Army sets off the bad trend as Raine whispers over a neon light pulsating sound to race off into a song highlighted by Maida's usually interesting falsetto work going from impressive to annoying, making the track feel very disjointed.

Another example of the excess is the wasted potential of Thief, a simple song that when showcased in a one guitar acoustic performance on the band's DVD reveals some of Maida's most heartfelt lyrics. On Happiness Thief is drowned by electric guitars and pulsating drums that prevents the song from reaching its potential heart tugger status. In a recent concert I attended in 2005 the band played Thief again without Taggert's drumming and the song reached the intimacy that is lacking here.

I can appreciate a band attempting to add new dimensions to their sound but at a certain point a band needs to be rained in. After all on Happiness And The Fish did anyone need to hear the lyric "talking is just masturbating without the mess?"

I would argue no.
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You can see a complete list of all Our Lady Peace discography, or go back to the Our Lady Peace tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.