Soundtrack Review: NHL 2002

Oh, Canada

Introduction

This is where we begin. NHL 99, NHL 2000, and NHL 2001 all featured a licensed intro track with instrumental menu music that was commissioned for the game itself (usually somewhere on the spectrum between hard rock and techno). NHL 2002 permanently shifted the series in a new direction, with an almost fully-licensed fully-Canadian soundtrack featuring artists hailing from such exotic locations as British Columbia, Manitoba, Southern Ontario, and even Northern Ontario. The NHL series would often return to the Can-Con well but never anywhere close to as intensely, branching out to American and European artists by NHL 2003.

Overall, the NHL 2002 list gravitates towards the hybrid of pop-punk and power pop that was extremely popular in the early 2000s, especially as a set of Canadian groups working in the genre found national (and sometimes international) success. The effect is a lighter lineup of songs compared to the heavy rock that characterizes most NHL games, and I don’t mind that in theory. But how good are the songs themselves?

---

Barenaked Ladies "It's Only Me"

Right off the bat, we get one of the weirder picks to show up in an NHL game, but I guess in 2001 it seemed like a natural fit to put triple-platinum, two-Billboard-Awards-winning Scarborough heroes BNL on a hockey soundtrack. This was their only appearance in an NHL soundtrack, but not their first video game appearance; as most of you surely remember, they also featured in the iconic soundtrack to Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour.

There’s some mildly interesting time signature stuff going on in the bridge but overall this is just a mid power pop song with an awkward riff and blustery vocals. It was the obligatory new track on one of their greatest hits CDs, and it sounds like it. At least it’s not “If I Had $1,000,000” or “Be My Yoko Ono.” 5/10

Gob "I Hear You Calling"

Gob is a British Columbia band that started as a skate punk act, shifted towards melodic hardcore, and then pivoted to more of a pop-punk sound just in time for them to become basically the house band of the early 2000s NHL games. They were presumably a favourite in the offices of EA Vancouver and it’s not hard to see why, as their contributions are some of the most beloved in the series’ history. They feature in NHL 2002, NHL 2003, and NHL 2004, but nothing from their two albums since (Muertos Vivos in 2007 and Apt 14 in 2014) has made the cut.

“I Hear You Calling” is most peoples’ favourite, and I definitely get it. Like many of their tracks it’s insanely catchy, but for some reason it just doesn’t hit the spot for me like it does for so many other fans. I’ve never loved songs where the vocals just mirror the guitar riff like they do in the verse (another example would be “Rusted from the Rain” by Billy Talent). Can’t dislike that chorus though. 6/10

Gob - “For the Moment”

This one just appears in the arena. I dig the effects-heavy intro and the instrumental outro, but unfortunately the meat of the song doesn’t really live up to them. When you can’t remember the chorus of a Gob song off the top of your head, that’s not a great sign. 6/10

Gob - “No Regrets”

Another arena-only track, but a great one. This is kind of the inverse of “For the Moment” in that it starts off sounding a bit generic in the intro before really hitting the road once the vocals come in. Driven by a bouncy bass part and an awesome performance by drummer Gabe Mantle, this has almost a ska feel to it despite not actually featuring any brass or hits on the offbeats. I’d chuck this on a road trip playlist. 7/10

Jet Set Satellite - “Lies By the Thousands”

Winnipeg’s Jet Set Satellite are “arguably one of Canada’s most underrated bands” if you trust their Spotify bio. I have to take their word for it, since I gotta admit I had never heard of them, but it looks like they had some Canadian chart success and MuchMusic airtime in the early 2000s. Jet Set Satellite also seem to be hockey fans, since they re-recorded their most successful song “Baby, Cool Your Jets” (off the same album as “Lies By the Thousands”) in 2013 to commemorate the return of the Jets to Winnipeg. These guys are really really into jets. Unfortunately that song kind of sucks, but this one is actually pretty good!

It does some interesting things, especially for an NHL track, starting with an acoustic intro that builds intensity with backing vocals (in what I think is meant to be an Arabic-influenced Phrygian scale) and bongos. Then the track breaks into an electronic hard rock riff that sounds a lot like the cyber-metal that’s all over more recent NHL soundtracks. The lead vocals don’t really bring the creativity of the rest of the elements - there’s just the one hook repeated over and over, and it sounds pretty run of the mill for early 2000s radio rock - but overall I like it. Maybe they are one of Canada’s most underrated bands… 7/10

The Tea Party - “Temptation”

The Tea Party are a very well-respected alternative progressive rock band from Windsor, Ontario with piles of Juno award nominations (for American readers, basically the Canadian Grammys) and over 3 million records sold. They describe their style as “Moroccan-roll,” which makes a lot of sense if you hear the album version of “Temptation” and basically none at all if you hear the shorter cut from NHL 2002. It revolves around a heavy industrial riff over a drum loop, kind of sounding like if Nine Inch Nails was fronted by Jim Morrison. More intriguingly, it’s quite possibly the horniest song ever to appear in an NHL game. Just to pick a random example, how about the opening lyric:

Driven by restrained desire

I want what I need

Shaking as her sex takes hold

I've lost all control.

Maybe the now-thriving literary genre of hockey erotica makes this choice ahead of its time. These guys really were a progressive rock band. 6/10

Treble Charger "American Psycho"

Sault Ste. Marie natives Treble Charger only appeared in two NHL games, but they undoubtedly made their mark. “American Psycho” is an example of that brand of satirical pop-punk tracks that lends a critical eye to our celebrity-obsessed, vapid culture and takes absolutely no prisoners. We have biting references to eating disorders, plastic surgery, magazine covers, Charlie Rose(?), you name it.

Usually this type of song drives me nuts, and there are examples on later games that I despise. But this one’s actually pretty good. This is an example where the Canadian-ness gives it some extra charm; an LA band singing a song targeted at a local vain, celebrity-chasing teen idol is one thing, but who could these dudes from the Soo possibly be singing about? Paul Maurice?

More to the point, it’s actually a very well-written track. The pre-chorus is especially great, it reminds me a bit of Something Corporate and makes the track a lot more interesting. The atmospheric string-augmented part of the bridge is melodramatic in the best way. Most importantly, the hook is maddeningly, brutally catchy. It’s impossible to hear the song and have anything else trapped in your head for the next few days.

I take off points for the pretty unbearable “We Didn’t Start the Fire” diatribe leading into the final chorus, but overall I’m into it. 8/10

Treble Charger - “Brand New Low”

A big tone shift compared to “American Psycho,” “Brand New Low” is a relatively laid back Fountains of Wayne-sounding power-pop cut. I’m a big fan of everything here - the summery verses, the pre-chorus, the guitar solo, and especially the bridge - except the chorus, which despite some nice harmonies is more awkward than catchy. These guys clearly had a lot of songwriting talent, I just think maybe the hook here could have stayed in the oven a bit longer. 7/10

Sum 41 - “Fat Lip”

A pretty big get! “Fat Lip” was the lead single on Ajax legends Sum 41’s All Killer No Filler, topped MTV’s Total Request Live, made it halfway up the Billboard Hot 100, was a top ten hit in the UK, and I’m pretty sure is the third-most popular song we’ll be covering in terms of Spotify streams. Everyone knows this one. It’s an iconic mash-up of Beastie Boys rap-rock, both the skate-punk and pop flavours of Blink-182, and a hint of the melodic hardcore that Sum 41 would explore on their less radio-friendly albums. That range is what elevates it above the scores of down-the-middle pop-punk you often see in these games.

A nice extra bit of backstory here is that the guys from the band were apparently totally psyched to be picked for the soundtrack. From Julian McKenzie’s interview with Sum 41 guitarist Dave Basch:

This is crazy. It was one of those ‘I made it’ moments… The feeling of hearing your song in a game, it’s almost like when you hear a song that you’re a part of on the radio or see a video that you’ve been part of on MuchMusic … for the first time. I still get butterflies in my stomach, because of the work and the care that we put into what we put on record.

9/10

Sum 41 - “Makes No Difference”

Sum 41 were a big enough deal in 2001 that they got a second song onto the game, their debut single “Makes No Difference.” It’s a purer cut of pop-punk than “Fat Lip” and I’m always a sucker for the chord progression they use in the chorus, but man does it really just sound like Blink-182’s Canadian equivalent. I never mind hearing it, and I’m sure it’d sound killer on a Warped Tour compilation CD, but it’s not gonna blow anyone away and they made more interesting stuff later on. 7/10

---

All in all, this is definitely a weird collection of songs, which makes sense considering it’s the team’s first foray into putting together a soundtrack. There isn’t a total stinker here, but there also aren’t too many classics here either and they definitely don’t have the cohesive vibe of the next few games. Steve Schnur, who would become the architect of these lists moving forward, says he didn’t get too much input on this one since it was his first year working with the NHL series, but he also picked the Sum 41 and Treble Charger songs so as far as I’m concerned that’s a job well done.

Onto our superlatives…

Most Valuable Player: “Fat Lip”

Chalk pick, and “American Psycho” was right there, but EA’s first heavyweight pick is the highlight.

Aleksander Barkov Award: “No Regrets”

This one slips through the cracks when people bring up great Gob tracks from these games, but it’s pretty close to being my favourite.

Healthy Scratch: “It’s Only Me”

Maybe I’m just in a bad space today, but I’m going to have to put a knife in the back of the celebrated Canadian alt-rock band of the mid-90s. Call me a selfish, jaded ass if you must.

As a bonus, I’m also going to set up a Google Form for community voting, where you can also rate as many or as few of these tracks as you’d like. So if I pissed you right off with my own takes, you can make your voice heard by clicking this link:

Rate the NHL 2002 Songs

Next week… NHL 2003, if you’re listening