Our Lady Peace - Spiritual Machines

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While studying at the University of Toronto in 1992, vocalist Raine Maida met guitarist Mike Turner and the two formed the post-grunge band Our Lady Peace. They later recruited bassist Chris Eacrett and jazz drummer Jeremy Taggart, and began playing around the area. The band took their unusual name from a 1943 poem by American poet Mark Van Doren. The unusual, eclectic nature of the band's music is as much a result of their varied experiences as their musical influences. Maida was a former criminology student at the University of Toronto, while English graduate Turner grew up in Bradford, England during the punk explosion. Eacrett was studying marketing at Ryerson University in Toronto when he made initial contact with founding members Maida and Turner, who then recruited 17 year old drummer Taggart.

After meeting local producer Arnold Lanni they set about recording their first demos, which immediately attracted the attention of Sony Music Canada. Signed to Relativity, in 1995 OLP released Naveed, which took its title from the ancient Middle Eastern word for "bearer of good news." The album featured the modern rock hit "Starseed." They toured with fellow Canadian Alanis Morissette later that summer, and earned a cult following. The band hit it even bigger in 1997 with the double platinum album Clumsy. The album spawned the hit singles "Superman's Dead" and "Clumsy" as the band toured with Everclear. In 1999 the band boldly changed shape to go with the musical times. They evolved from the power-guitar proto-grunge band into an appealingly melodic emocore/alt-rock group with its third album, Happiness ... Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch. However the record was a commercial flop compared to Clumsy.

The quartet is back with Spiritual Machines, a 15-track work inspired, in part, by the technologically bent writings of Ray Kurzweil's The Age of Spiritual Machines. There are five tracks interspersed throughout the disc of the author reading excerpts from his book, which is an ominous future vision that finds machines taking on human qualities and thinking for themselves.

Following the spoken "R.K. Intro" the band slips into "Right Behind You (Mafia)." One of the two tracks that features current Pearl Jam, former Soundgarden, drummer Matt Cameron behind the kit. The track starts out slowly before escalating to the catchy chorus of "no mater what you say/no mater what you do/I'm always there right their behind you." The track is followed by another Ray Kurzweil reading before moving into the infectious groove of the paranoia filled "In Repair." Which focuses on how people tend to treat each other as machines in day-to-day life.

"Life" which is the first single from the album bears more than a passing resemblance to the bands 1997 hit "Clumsy." The song opens with Maida's pained, cracked voice noting life's many injustices and pains before optimistically declaring, "Life is waiting for you/it's all messed up but we'll survive." The track is probably the catchiest and best song on the album and should be play to death by modern rock radio any minute now. "Middle of Yesterday" details a boyfriend trying to convince, his significant other that he has done her wrong before, but won't let it happen again "Standing in the middle of yesterday/Where it all went wrong/Where we made mistakes/I'm sorry for the things I forgot to say." The music manages to match the machinelike musicality with an human warmth.

"Are You Sad" is a standout track. The song features Cameron behind the drum set. The slow and thoughtful tune finds Maida adopting a falsetto and utilizes an "oh-oh-ohhh" chorus to great effect. "Made to Heal" is a pretty catchy tune that lets Maida flex his vocal cords further, he stretches the chorus to an interesting "Made to he-ya-ya-ya-ya-allll." The slinky "Everyone's a Junkie" follows another reading by Ray Kurzweil. The track finds Maida musing on alienation and loneliness and the struggles of trying to break out of it. Another reading from Ray Kurzweil this one about the inevitability of death. The mid-tempo "All My Friends" follows yet. The track details the frustration of trying to explain something, but not being able to get it across to the subject. "If You Believe" starts out fast and loud with swirling guitars and crashing drums, before slowing down a bit and giving way to a slow piano riff and Maida's singing in a lower distorted voice, before kicking it back up a few notches.

"The Wonderful Future" wraps up the album with a oddly fitting sentiment of optimism. The beat is bouncy and guitar riffs are light and cheery as Maida sings about how beautiful "she" is, with a soaring chorus that almost sounds like a Radiohead outtake. There is a hidden track at the end of the album which features Ray Kurzweil having an odd conversation with an augmented human being named Molly.

Even though the RK spoken word pieces at times disrupt the musical flow of the album, the songs themselves have a

distinctive charge sadly missing in today's popular music scene. Raine Maida's identifiable, stuffy-nosed vocals are also an acquired taste that can take some time to get used to, but the album definitely has enough hooks and depth to keep the listener coming back for numerous listens.


	Steamer Trunk \| home stuff about me \| album reviews \| PS2 game reviews \| pictures \| web watch \| getting in touch Rilo Kiley - Take Offs and Landings \| Slipknot - Iowa \| Ozma - Rock and Roll Part Three \| Ben Folds - Rockin' the Suburbs \| Lit - Atomic \| Garbage - Beautifulgarbage \| The Strokes - Is This It \| Live - V \| Tori Amos - Strange Little Girls \| Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American \| Blink 182 - Take Off Your Pants and Jacket \| Weezer - The Green Album \| Alkaline Trio From Here to Infirmary \| Alkaline Trio - Hell Yes \| American Hi-Fi \| Our Lady Peace - Spiritual Machines \| Aerosmith - Just Push Play \| Dave Matthews Band - Everyday \| Blue Meanies - Post Wave \| Weston - The Massed Albert Sounds \| U2 - All That You Cant Leave Behind \| Green Day - Warning \| Offspring - Conspiracy of One \| Everclear - Songs from an American Movie Vol. 2 \| Radiohead - Kid A \| Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water \| Smashing Pumkins - Machina II \| Superdrag - In The Valley Of Dying Stars \| Voodoo Music Festival Our Lady Peace - Spiritual Machines While studying at the University of Toronto in 1992, vocalist Raine Maida met guitarist Mike Turner and the two formed the post-grunge band Our Lady Peace. They later recruited bassist Chris Eacrett and jazz drummer Jeremy Taggart, and began playing around the area. The band took their unusual name from a 1943 poem by American poet Mark Van Doren. The unusual, eclectic nature of the band's music is as much a result of their varied experiences as their musical influences. Maida was a former criminology student at the University of Toronto, while English graduate Turner grew up in Bradford, England during the punk explosion. Eacrett was studying marketing at Ryerson University in Toronto when he made initial contact with founding members Maida and Turner, who then recruited 17 year old drummer Taggart. After meeting local producer Arnold Lanni they set about recording their first demos, which immediately attracted the attention of Sony Music Canada. Signed to Relativity, in 1995 OLP released Naveed, which took its title from the ancient Middle Eastern word for "bearer of good news." The album featured the modern rock hit "Starseed." They toured with fellow Canadian Alanis Morissette later that summer, and earned a cult following. The band hit it even bigger in 1997 with the double platinum album Clumsy. The album spawned the hit singles "Superman's Dead" and "Clumsy" as the band toured with Everclear. In 1999 the band boldly changed shape to go with the musical times. They evolved from the power-guitar proto-grunge band into an appealingly melodic emocore/alt-rock group with its third album, Happiness ... Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch. However the record was a commercial flop compared to Clumsy. The quartet is back with Spiritual Machines, a 15-track work inspired, in part, by the technologically bent writings of Ray Kurzweil's The Age of Spiritual Machines. There are five tracks interspersed throughout the disc of the author reading excerpts from his book, which is an ominous future vision that finds machines taking on human qualities and thinking for themselves. Following the spoken "R.K. Intro" the band slips into "Right Behind You (Mafia)." One of the two tracks that features current Pearl Jam, former Soundgarden, drummer Matt Cameron behind the kit. The track starts out slowly before escalating to the catchy chorus of "no mater what you say/no mater what you do/I'm always there right their behind you." The track is followed by another Ray Kurzweil reading before moving into the infectious groove of the paranoia filled "In Repair." Which focuses on how people tend to treat each other as machines in day-to-day life. "Life" which is the first single from the album bears more than a passing resemblance to the bands 1997 hit "Clumsy." The song opens with Maida's pained, cracked voice noting life's many injustices and pains before optimistically declaring, "Life is waiting for you/it's all messed up but we'll survive." The track is probably the catchiest and best song on the album and should be play to death by modern rock radio any minute now. "Middle of Yesterday" details a boyfriend trying to convince, his significant other that he has done her wrong before, but won't let it happen again "Standing in the middle of yesterday/Where it all went wrong/Where we made mistakes/I'm sorry for the things I forgot to say." The music manages to match the machinelike musicality with an human warmth. "Are You Sad" is a standout track. The song features Cameron behind the drum set. The slow and thoughtful tune finds Maida adopting a falsetto and utilizes an "oh-oh-ohhh" chorus to great effect. "Made to Heal" is a pretty catchy tune that lets Maida flex his vocal cords further, he stretches the chorus to an interesting "Made to he-ya-ya-ya-ya-allll." The slinky "Everyone's a Junkie" follows another reading by Ray Kurzweil. The track finds Maida musing on alienation and loneliness and the struggles of trying to break out of it. Another reading from Ray Kurzweil this one about the inevitability of death. The mid-tempo "All My Friends" follows yet. The track details the frustration of trying to explain something, but not being able to get it across to the subject. "If You Believe" starts out fast and loud with swirling guitars and crashing drums, before slowing down a bit and giving way to a slow piano riff and Maida's singing in a lower distorted voice, before kicking it back up a few notches. "The Wonderful Future" wraps up the album with a oddly fitting sentiment of optimism. The beat is bouncy and guitar riffs are light and cheery as Maida sings about how beautiful "she" is, with a soaring chorus that almost sounds like a Radiohead outtake. There is a hidden track at the end of the album which features Ray Kurzweil having an odd conversation with an augmented human being named Molly. Even though the RK spoken word pieces at times disrupt the musical flow of the album, the songs themselves have a distinctive charge sadly missing in today's popular music scene. Raine Maida's identifiable, stuffy-nosed vocals are also an acquired taste that can take some time to get used to, but the album definitely has enough hooks and depth to keep the listener coming back for numerous listens.