DudeLove721

Yeah,what NoC said. It was students from Ryerson in Toronto that made it, if I am not mistaken. -Marc

He did mention the knee on the public site, but that's the reason he gave in his restricted blog. I am guessing the knee thing was either a cover-up (if you saw the Making of AoB you know how well Matt can lie) or else the injury was only going to delay the video and the behind the scenes crap is what caused it to be scrapped. -Marc

Time to give my brain a good workout here: At the time Avalanche came out, there was a contest on MuchMusic to meet Matt. Someone who posted either at The Metro or on the official board won it, I remember this because she posted about it, I think her name was Jennifer Lynn. Anyway, part of meeting Matt entailed a helicopter ride, so he e-mailed her and asked her if she was okay with waiving the helicopter ride and instead donating the money to Amnesty or one of the groups he supports. She thought it was a great idea and then informed MuchMusic of her decision. I guess word got back to Much that Matt contacted her and they got in touch with Universal. They were upset because they believed that Matt had approached the winner and it was him who conned her into exchanging the helicopter ride for the donation. The reality was, of course, that he was cool with either decision and had just suggested it. He left it up to her and she even went on record as saying it was her choice. In turn, one of the higher-ups at Universal got pissed off at this and pulled support behind Avalanche, in effect axing the Near Fantastica video. There was also supposed to be a "21st Century Living" video directed by William Morrison, but that was scrapped for some reason too. If I remember correctly, Matt said in a journal entry that the guy who pulled support from Avalanche was the person in charge of promotion for WLR&RR. This was all mentioned when he had an LJ with restricted access... I think that was around... January 2004. About the different versions of NF: It is correct that the short "radio edit" of the song is the original. Dave Porter made a post either on the old official board or Metro, saying this. Matt was remixing the song for the House Of Smoke And Mirrors website and ended up liking the remix better. He put that version on the album and put the short one on the site, also using it as the radio edit. Hope that answers all of your Near Fantastica questions. -Marc

Thanks muchly for the mastering on this. Sounds better than the original leaked copy. Cheers and kudos! -Marc

Anyone care to master the raw mix of "All Together" at least? I really want to hear a better version of that one. -Marc

As was previously said, the version that leaked last year is obviously unmixed and unmastered. I really want to hear the iTunes release of "All Together" now. Can you buy it by itself or was it only available for pre-order? If so, would anyone have a hint of where I might find a copy? ;) -Marc

Connection refused, chief. Edit: It seems to work now, so I'll seed this bad boy. -Marc

Yeah, I might get flamed for this but I always liked that line. Better than "Gina's losing faith in what she knows, hates her something... blah blah... all of her clothes, thinks of surgery and a new nose. Every calorie's a war!" That is the worst line in an OLP song... ever. -Marc

I downloaded new OLP and while I really like the sound of it, except for maybe "Wipe That Smile Off Your Face," the lyrics are just attrocious. I want to bitchslap Bob Rock because he is the one who told Raine Maida to change his lyrical style on the last record. Goodjob for ruining a decent thing, you fuckwit. Honestly, I don't understand why bands hold him in such high regard. He gives them good success at first but ends up ruining their appeal in the long term. Metallica, anyone? Oh yeah and he did some work on the new Tea Party record... ugh. -Marc

I swear MG fans aren't happy unless they're complaining about something. How many artists would put out such a good package for their greatest hits? Most artists record a song or two, yet this has two new songs, a 37 minute acoustic performance of several tracks, the re-release of two EPs and a DVD with all the music videos and commentary, among other features. I'd say that AoB tracks, It's Been Awhile Since I Was Your Man, and All Together (which is being released for free anyway) not being on the main disc are very minor oversights. Hey the more MG the better, but you people do own his previous albums and know how to make your own compilation CDs, right? If you want it's been awhile, Carmelina or whatever on it, burn another copy or make an alternate playlist for your iPod. It's really not a big deal. Saying that MG omitting Aob tracks is a distainful gesture towards the fans who like the album is an assinine statement too, I'm sorry. -Marc

Well if OLP are has beens, then Matt Good must be a never was, because they sure are a lot more popular than he is these days. If you're going to tell me too that record sales don't make a has been, then exactly what criteria does it require? Oh yeah and how many times does Matt say "yeah yeah" in Double-Life? Oh yeah, that takes a hell of a lot more talent than saying "Come on" several times. I like both songs in question and realize it's all a matter of subjectivity, but if you're just going to complain about stupid shit like that don't expect me to take your opinion seriously. -Marc

I have the new OLP album and I think it's pretty good. It's definitely not "Gravity" part 2. I've liked the band all along though, so I might be biased. One thing I noticed though is that it feels like they're trying to be U2 sometimes. There are two songs in the middle of the record, "Love & Trust" and "Boy," which sound just like u2 instrumentally. "Boy" is especially obvious, which is ironic considering U2's first album was called boy. I don't think "Where Are you?" is a good representation of the record. There are a couple of acoustic tracks too and the last one in particular took me by surprise. Some songs remind me of "Happiness..." but I mean, it's not like old OLP. You can definitely tell Steve Mazer (new guitarist) wrote the guitar parts on this record, as opposed to playing what Mike Turner had already written for "Gravity." It's a solid pop-rock record. It's not groundbreaking, but it should keep OLP fans and mainstream rock radio happy. -Marc

I've always thought it was: Our breeding's just a mistake. The song basically talks about having sex and stuff, so it would fit. -Marc

I listen to the songs on my computer and have no intention to burn the song onto a cd. -Marc

What difference is there between listening to a macromedia stream and the mp3 file of that macromedia stream? I'd play the stream from the site just as many times if I didn't have the mp3 and it's the exact same quality. I plan on buying the record when it comes out too, but I just don't see what the difference is between listening to an mp3 of the song or a stream of the same quality. -Marc