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".
Gravity was the first album to feature new guitarist Steve Mazur, who replaced founding member Mike Turner in 2002 after the latter's departure a month into recording. Despite this, Turner still appears on half the tracks on the album, having recorded parts for several songs prior to parting ways with the group. This was also their last album with supporting musician Jamie Edwards, who had performed on two prior albums and was briefly an official member, but left the band soon after the album's completion.
It was the band's first album made without the involvement of producer Arnold Lanni, who not only produced the band's previous four studio albums but helped co-write many of their songs. The band originally wanted Lanni to produce their fifth album but he was busy working with Simple Plan and the band instead chose notable hard rock producer Bob Rock, who would have a major influence on their change in musical direction. Originally conceived as a live album based on the Spiritual Machines tour that would include three new studio tracks, the band would accept Rock's offer to record a full studio album when his schedule opened up as a result of the ongoing struggles of his prior engagement, Metallica.
The album title, Gravity, was inspired by the chorus lyrics "Falling back to me, defying gravity" from the track "Somewhere Out There" and was also seen by the band as representing their return to simplicity after the heady concept of Spiritual Machines. At the time of the album's release, OLP drummer Jeremy Taggart said that Gravity was "by far [their] best album".Cantin, Paul "New OLP album a radical departure" - Canoe.ca. Retrieved November 16, 2009
Background and writing After wrapping up the Spiritual Machines Tour in late 2001, Our Lady Peace were becoming restless and came dangerously close to breaking up as tensions that had simmered under the surface for years began to come to a head. Lead singer Raine Maida in particular was feeling limited by guitarist Mike Turner's abilities in the studio; frustrations that had been present since before the recording of their sophomore album Clumsy. Stunt musician and Blue Man Group alumnus Jamie Edwards would be brought into the fold following that album to augment their sound in the studio and on tour, particularly on guitar. They would (by most accounts) mutually decide to part ways with Turner following preliminary sessions for Gravity. Raine would later state in an interview, "I don't know if Mike was born to be a guitar player. The studio was a tough place for him and we were working too hard to make up for it – we felt like we were cheating ourselves. Four albums is way too fucking long to put up with that. I'm sure he'll do great things, just not with six-stringed instruments."Durham, Victoria. Rock Sound Nov 2002. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
Most of the band figured that they had gone as far as they could go musically with Spiritual Machines. Looking to reinvigorate themselves and change directions, they sought a more stripped down sound as opposed to the multi-layered textures and heavy subject matter of their previous albums. It was this idea of simplifying that inspired the title of Gravity. Raine discussed the transition in a 2002 interview. "’Spiritual Machines’ was so out there in talking about the future and trying to perceive man turning into machine, it was very heavy. With this record...it kind of felt like we were being pulled back down to earth, hence the title. It's such a simple life out there [Hawaii, where most of Gravity was recorded] and because of that the album was just based around living day to day rather than looking too far ahead. In that sense ‘Gravity’ is pretty much the opposite of ‘Spiritual Machines’. None of our other albums had been concept records, so it was the right time for us to get away from that whole philosophy. Because of that ‘Gravity’ is probably the most basic album we’ve made since our first."
Although Raine Maida had begun living in Los Angeles, The band came together in Toronto to start writing new material towards the end of touring for Spiritual Machines. They did it this time without the usual help of producer Arnold Lanni, who at the time was working with fellow Canadian band and management-mates Simple Plan on their debut album, No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls.Bliss, Karen "OLP to Record with Bob Rock" - Canoe.ca October 25, 2001. Retrieved December 10, 2009 Jamie Edwards was credited for the only time as a songwriter on this album and briefly became an official member of the band, but would quit just as suddenly before its release. Three songs written by the band with Turner made the record but most were written by solely by Maida during the 2001 holiday season following Turner's departure.Taylor, Lewis "Stripped Down and Ready to Rock" - Eugene Register-Guard November 29, 2002. Retrieved December 14, 2009 Steve Mazur's late official entry into the band meant he took no part in songwriting.
Recording and production For this album, Our Lady Peace would for the first time seek 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.McCoy, Heath "Rockers Set the Record Straight: Our Lady Peace Regroups with Help from Bob Rock" - The Calgary Herald January 23, 2003 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.Williams, Rob "Ghosts in the machine: Spirits moved Our Lady Peace during recording of Gravity CD" - Canoe.ca. Retrieved June 17, 2009 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 first visited Rock's Maui studio in September 2001 to meet him and even wrote and recorded a song while there.
They returned to Hawaii in November 2001 after their last live show of the season at Music without Borders. They had initially booked ten days of studio time that month to record three tracks that would be included on a live album based on the Spiritual Machines tour.Zivitz, Jordan. "Our Lady Peace, the rough mix: Mostly live takes. New producer pushed Maida on lyrics, too :[Final Edition]." The Montreal Gazette Jan. 30, 2003, ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Web. Retrieved September 28, 2010. 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.Hamlett, Laura - Playback St. Louis 2002. Retrieved November 29, 2009 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". Metallica was originally scheduled to begin work on a new album with Rock in the following months but this was postponed when front man James Hetfield checked himself into rehab for alcohol abuse.Pacienza, Angela. The Winnipeg Free Press June 29, 2002: C6 Rock then asked the band if they would like to work on an entire album, which they accepted.Moss, Corey "Our Lady Peace Are Putty In Producer Bob Rock's Hands" - MTV June 17, 2002. Retrieved November 28, 2009
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.Ferguson, Jon - Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, PA) June 1, 2002. Retrieved November 28, 2009 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."Zivitz, Jordan - Montreal Gazette January 30, 2003. Retrieved November 30, 2009 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. They chose Detroit native, Steve Mazur, who Coutts and Taggart knew through mutual friends in Los Angeles. After his inception into the band was announced in April, Raine Maida noted: "[It] felt like a cohesive unit...It just felt incredible. It felt like a new band, totally fresh."
During the band's holiday break from recording, Raine received a phone call from Rock on Christmas Eve, asking him if he had anymore song ideas to consider before they returned to the Maui studio in January. The call prompted him to write seven songs over the next ten days. Upon returning to the studio, sections from two of Maida's demos were combined to form the hit song, "Somewhere Out There" at Rock's suggestion."Our Lady Peace - Gravity" - musicremedy 2002. Retrieved November 15, 2009 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.'"Davis, Darren "Our Lady Peace Hits With 'Somewhere Out There'" - Launch June 19, 2002. Retrieved December 21, 2009
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. "Leaving Toronto and holing up in a beach house in Maui was a very important step for us," explained Duncan Coutts. "We lived, ate, and breathed music together away from all distractions. Ourladypeace.com at the Internet Archive. Retrieved September 19, 2009" 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."