Who is Our Lady Peace (The Band)

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Canada's Our Lady Peace makes a stunning debut with Naveed, almost avoiding the mid-'90s reign of Seattle's grunge. Mixing fierce melodies among '60s hard rock guitars, Our Lady Peace projects confidence, but is not as angry as Pearl Jam; however, they're abrasive and ready to rage against the corporate social machine. Percussion is tight, and frontman Raine Maida's lyrical poetry is also solid and wailing. Songs like "Supersatellite" and debut single "Starseed" gnarl with Maida's scratchy falsetto, which complements Mike Turner's riveting licks. They're anxious, and that's refreshing for a young band. They're not exactly hoping to define anything, but Our Lady Peace does wish to relish the rock & roll hardballers who came before them. "Hope" and "Denied" are both infectious with Zen-like rhythms similar to the likes of Led Zeppelin, making a definitive stance for the band. Our Lady Peace yearns to achieve a musical position, and Naveed is a decent introduction to the group's own musical spirituality.

~MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide

Excerpt from Starpulse.com Reviews

"Do you worry that you're not liked?"

These are the words Our Lady Peace's latest effort, Clumsy, begins with in "Superman's Dead". If you are a looking for a great alternative rock album, get this one. Many people complain about his voice, however I personally like it. If you have heard any of their music you will know Raine Maida's whiny type voice. However, this voice is one of the things that makes this band unique.

Unlike many of the alternative rock bands, one can tell that Maida is no idiot. His lyrics do tell a story and hold meaning. Which is another reason why this album scores so highly. Even the titles of songs such as "Automatic Flowers" is actually quite compelling. The song is basically about flowers flowers in a pop-up book. The chorus includes a line "These automatic flowers won't do." So you can tell somewhat what the song is referring to. Another song, "4 AM" tells quite a sad tale. Including one of my personal favorite all-time lines.

This new album showcases the band's musical talents more than the last release. The song "Carnival" has a guitar playing style that is quite reminiscent of the up and down circus style music of a a carnival. You can almost picture clowns walking about to the music.

All in all this is a great album. I don't really know what else to say. If you liked their first effort you should love their sophomore one. They have improved much over their last album, and I consider that one great as well. The album has plenty of mood and tempo changes, as you can tell just by listening to their two singles - "Superman's Dead" and "Clumsy". They are also a great band to see live, one of the best small shows I have seen. If you see it for sale and you have to cash, get it.
~Bill Aicher

Excerpt from Music Critic Reviews

Our Lady Peace follows its breakthrough second album, Clumsy, with a third that continues its hard-rock approach. The guitar-bass-drums team of Mike Turner, Duncan Coutts, and Jeremy Taggart (here augmented by guest guitarist/keyboard player Jamie Edwards) gets a full sound clearly influenced by late '60s bands like the Who and Led Zeppelin (and you can tell they've listened to late Beatles songs like "Helter Skelter," too), but with the harsh attack and sudden stops and starts common to grunge. The result is an intense, sometimes majestic sound more listenable than, but just as compelling as, some of the rap/metal hybrids the group is competing with on radio and the road, and in the record stores. Curiously, the band's weak link is lead singer and lyricist Raine Maida, whose mannered vocals, reminiscent of early David Bowie with unexpected, pointless swoops into falsetto and odd emphases, and adolescent, nihilistic words don't match the music's quality. Of course, Maida's sentiments may appeal to his potential audience, who may find lines like "Everyone you meet today is feeling useless & ashamed" ("Happiness & The Fish") and "Goodbye, the future's sold out" ("Is Anybody Home?") observations with which they can identify. (Legendary jazz Elvin Jones is credited with additional drums on the album closer, "Stealing Babies," but his participation is not readily audible.)

~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Excerpt from Artist Direct Reviews

Our Lady Peace's Spiritual Machines is very much different from their other albums. It's more focused than Happiness..., more catchy than Naveed and more unique than Gravity.

In fact, it's somewhat of a concept album, with Isakov style thoughts spread throughout. This is Our Lady Peace at their tightest.

Right Behind You (Mafia) is a somewhat bouncy track with a very catchy chorus that echoes the best of Clumsy. But the strongest track of the album is the next song, In Repair, with an an epic sounding chorus, mellow lyrics and a Jeremy Taggert pattented groove. It's a timeless track that grows better with each listen.

Surprisingly, Life was the first single. It's another bouncy song with Raine Maida seemingly channeling Tony Robbins. Like all other strong OLP tracks, it's really led by Taggert's drumming.

Middle of Yesterday is perhaps the hardest track on the album, like a thicker track from Naveed. It's moody, atmospheric and very catchy.

Are You Sad shifts gears to a slow acoustic ballad. Next to In Repair, it's the strongest album of the album. If Billy Corgan took mood relaxing sedatives, this is probably what he would have made.

Made to Heal has a harder chorus to complement a somewhat lighter, more bouncy verse section. Somewhat like Mafia, it's another very strong track.

Everyone's a Junkie is the most progressive track on the album and features Taggert's most explosive drumming. He has a tremendous gift for precisely following Maida's vocal melodies. This is also probably the most harmoneous track on the album.

All My Friends is another moodier track, with a two somber verses and a chorus that is first soft and then full blast. It's another Naveed'ish track but far more epic and melodic.

If You Believe perfectly frames the whole message of the album and indeed most all of OLP's music. It also has a nice little, Pink Floyd'ish solo to it.

The Wonderful Future has Clumsy style verses with chorus' that are unique to Spiritual Machines. It's a terrific way to end the album.

All in all, this is one of the best albums of that year, and by far OLP's best album. It's moody, armospheric and in many parts epic. Don't miss a chance to get it.

Excerpt from Sputnik Music Reviews

With four previous releases under their belt, the Toronto quartet Our Lady Peace have produced an exceptional modern rock album in "Gravity". The group, consisting of singer/guitarist Raine Maida, new guitarist Steve Mazur, bassist Duncan Coutts, and drummer Jeremy Taggart, have paved their way into the industry's mainstream amidst a slush of new metal hybrid bands, proving that rock and roll will still survive. The album is comprised of ten well produced songs full of hooks; catchy, poetic lyrics, and solid musicianship. It was produced by legendary Bob Rock (Metallica) and mixed by Randy Staub (Nickelback/POD) and recorded at Rock's Plantation Studios in Hawaii.

They tear into the first song "All For You" with its steady melody and towering choruses, rock right into the catchy "Do You Like It", which leads into their phenomenal single, "Somewhere Out There" which is currently climbing radio charts. It's a memorable song, the kind that that captures a poignant moment in time, a snapshot to be taken out and examined later. I love the poetry in the lyrics, Maida sings with an aching voice; "Hope you remember me when your homesick and need a change/I miss your purple hair/I miss the way you taste/I know you'll come back Someday/On a bed of nails I wait/ I'm praying that you don't burn out or fade away." It's an epic song, driven by excellent instrumentation, interweaving keyboard strings, melodic acoustic guitar, and the breathy, soothing melodies their frontman is so well known for. The song ends and drops into the slow burner "Innocent" that builds into a catchy rock anthem featuring children in the background of the chorus claiming "We Are All Innocent". This seems to be a widely used practice in rock these days, but it blends well into the song which rises and falls with a steady rhythm of even dynamics.

The fifth track on the album "Made of Steel" is another radio friendly song, and grabs your attention right from the start as a guitar lead plays over the intro, a natural chord progression provides for an infectious groove that is nothing short of captivating. It enforces their rock roots, tinges on alternative, and blends itself well into this effort mid album. Track 6 is tribal, hypnotic, addicting, simple, unique, and delicious. It's called "Sell My Soul," and I think its the highlight of the whole album, or one of them for the next one quickly follows in "Not Enough". It's easily the heaviest track, instrumentally and leans heavily on the intense rhythm section, it features crunchy guitar riffs, and a low end groove just oozing rage and frustration, with Maida telling you a story with his intense vocals as he sings and builds into a crushing crescendo, screaming "What you want / What you lost / What you had / What is gone is over / What you've got / What you love / What you need is real / If it's not enough / ...It's not enough I'm sorry." I think the song is haunting, beautiful, and shows off some lovely guitar work, features an edgy drop mid song, and they are definitely showing their darker heavier side here.

Another standout song is "Sorry" which has a catchy hook laden chorus that then fades into some incredible guitar and percussion work . They slow it down next for "Bring Back The Sun", a low end, bass heavy song that meanders along, but holds your attention through more then five minutes of melodic wandering. The album ends with a tall tale, "A Story About A Girl", the catchiest song yet, mainstream yet unique, a rockin' anthem that keeps you glad you listened to this whole ten track masterpiece without ever touching your skip button!

The album has a surprising number of memorable, hook-laden songs which I look forward to hearing all summer long. It features excellent production, beautiful, melodic guitar, steady precision percussion, and that voice%u2026They have an amazing sound that hinges on the incredible vocal range and emotionally charged lyrics of Maida, and the excellent musicianship of the rest of the band. I predict this album will put OLP in the starlight, which they have worked long and hard for and deserve! It captures you at track one with its incredible lyrical style, and holds you captive all the way through the last song.

Excerpt from Music Reviews.com

Music and politics, politics and music. 2005, like so many years before it, has seen the boundaries between the two temporarily blurred. The big occasion this year was the Live8 concert series, at which a multitude of fat, aging rockers told us what to do while younger, more popular acts concentrated on doing their jobs, i.e. music. The target was global poverty. During the week following the concerts, the leaders of the world's 8 richest countries were to meet to discuss various world issues, including global poverty. An elite think-tank of political minds met to discuss a course of action with which they could convince the world's two most powerful men that their way was the right way. They came up with a simple powerful message, Wristbands For Sale. The plan worked, Bono and Bob Geldof were delighted. A press conference was called immediately. The concerts which followed featured performances by U2, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, The Who, Green Day, Motley Crue, Brian Wilson, Bon Jovi and among dozens of other bands, Our Lady Peace.

Since 2001 Raine Maida, frontman of Canadian alt-rockers Our Lady Peace, has been heavily involved with the War Child Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation which operates with the objective of helping children affected by war, wherever in the world they may be. Four years ago, he traveled to Baghdad and Karbala and witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by war. Last year he spent time in Khartoum and Darfur, Sudan, highlighting the horror of the civil conflict there. Despite his best efforts, little has been done by the global community to combat the combat. The bands sixth studio album, Healthy In Paranoid Times, is Maida's diary-of-sorts. Here he releases the anger, frustration and heartbreak he's built up on his travels.

Excerpt from Sputnik Music Reviews

Technically, Toronto's Our Lady Peace have been around for more than a decade, but nonetheless, their 2006 greatest-hits album, A Decade, arrives right on time in the course of their career. After all, the title does makes sense -- the songs here start with their 1995 debut, Naveed, and go all the way through 2005's Healthy in Paranoid Times, drawing multiple tracks from both albums and the four in between, to paint a rather representative picture of the Canadian post-grunge rockers. OLP have been around long enough that this isn't just a superfluous release, instead actually doing fans -- especially casual ones -- a favor by rounding up basically every big hit the band has ever had into one tidy package. This is all the OLP that anyone could ever really need, since they've thoughtfully trimmed away all of the excess fat to leave only the meaty, most memorable offerings on the table for maximum satisfaction. The record aptly covers the two relatively different sides of the band -- both of which share the distinct vocal stylings of Raine Maida -- and the guys can rock out (i.e. "Starseed," "Superman's Dead," "One Man Army," "Where Are You") just as easily as they can bring it down a notch for smooth and soaring reflection (i.e. "4AM," "Thief," "Life," "Angels/Losing/Sleep"). Everyone has a personal favorite and this includes them all -- plus a pair of previously unreleased tracks to entice old fans who no doubt have all the songs already.

Excerpt from Allmusic Reviews