Disco de Our Lady Peace: “Spiritual Machines”

Quite possibly the most well-balanced album ever made.

OLP started out as a grungy, heavy-rock band with very deep and thought-provoking lyrics. OLP, more or less, remained true to their "classic" style for their first three albums. While OLP's older style remains deeply loved by many fans to this day, it is evident that many "mainstream" listeners tend to not be attracted to this style of music.

It is obvious that the band realized their lack of recognition in the mainstream community and it appears as if, during the Spiritual Machines era, the band started experimenting with a more mainstream sound. This of course would eventually lead to "Gravity" (an album that is, in my opinion, over-produced and lacking in many areas).

I consider Spiritual Machines to be an album that has both elements of OLP in it (their newer mainstream sound, mixed with the cryptic lyrics and deep song meanings of their former selves). Because of this, I feel that Spiritual Machines has a quality that I have very rarely heard in a rock album: a mainstream sound without making the sacrifice of having boring, shallow lyrics. In fact, I would go as far to say that I never heard this quality in a rock album before; the vast majority of today's radio friendly bands fuel their "catchy tunes" with pointless garble that is considered to be lyrics.

It is truly a rarity to hear an album of this calliber. I would strongly suggest picking up this album regardless of whether or not you're an OLP fan.

I know that a lot of people group Our Lady Peace into that generic/corporate friendly rock much like Matchbox 20, but that is very unfair. Matchbox 20 could never make an album as brilliant as "Spiritual Machines". This is clearly OLP's best album, which is saying a lot because "Naveed", "Clumsy", and "Happiness..." are fantastic albums as well. "Spiritual Machines" is more or less a concept album based on Ray Kurzweil's "The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence". Throughout the album, there are audio snippets of that particular work. And while some may say they don't add anything to the album, I think it greatly enhances it, bringing it up to that next level. They are all very short (about 20 seconds on average), and flow nicely with the music. But obviously, nobody is buying this album to listen to the audio clips. It's the music itself that warrants a purchase, because it's some of OLP's most creative, and best all-around.

A 5 second intro from Ray leads right into the opening track, "Right Behind You (Mafia)". This is one of OLP's catchiest tracks, and really does a fantastic job of pulling you into the album. I'm very surprised this song wasn't a big hit (I don't even think it was released as a single). 9/10

After another brief RK clip comes "In Repair", which was the first single from the album. This is a slower paced song, in which lead singer Raine Maida uses the metaphor of comparing man to machine. Excellent stuff. 10/10

Next comes the anthematic "Life", a very upbeat song that suggests "Life is waiting for you..so messed up, but we'll survive". This was the second single from the album, and an obvious choice at one. 9/10

The next song, "Middle of Yesterday", is the first really hard rocking song on the album, and would have fit right in on "Clumsy". It's a pretty basic soft verse-loud chorus song, but still good. 7/10

"Are You Sad?" is probably the most beautiful song OLP has ever done. I can easily see people being brought to tears by this song, and the lyrics are pretty easy to relate to. Perhaps my favorite song on the album, although it's tough to choose. 10/10

Another RK clip leads into "Made To Heal", another extremely catchy song much like "Right Behind You". Excellent vocals from Raine on this one make it another very memorable song. 9/10

"Everyone's A Junkie" sounds like it could be leftover from the "Happiness..." sessions, but that's certainly not a bad thing (and I'm not implying that it's a leftover song, it just has a similar vibe musically to much of the stuff on Happiness). Another really catchy one. 9/10

A creepy RK bit on death leads right into "All My Friends", which doesn't sound like anything OLP has done. The verses are slow, and the chorus is haunting. I consider it a successful experiment, and I wish they would've expanded on ideas like this for the follow-up album "Gravity". 9/10

"If You Believe" is the second of the "experimental-trio" of songs to close out the album. This is another home run for the band. The first couple choruses are really quiet, but the song gradually builds up to a full fledged chorus of the same lyrics/melody. Perfect. 10/10

Finally, there's "The Wonderful Future", which rivals "Are You Sad?" as my favorite song on the album. As I'm writing this review, I'd probably choose this as my favorite. This is yet another really experimental track, and the best of my so-called "trio" (that being this, and the above 2 tracks). Can't really describe this one, but the guitar work is awesome, and the vocals are awesome as well. 10/10, hands down.

There's also a pretty creepy hidden track of RK, but it's kind of frusterating to have to fast forward for 10 minutes to get to it. Oh well, no big deal. The album is a complete masterpiece. For those new to OLP, THIS is definetly the best one (IMO), but the best starting point would be "Clumsy" or "Gravity", which are the two most immediately accessible albums.

Another great band from our neighbors up north, Our Lady Peace's 'Spiritual Machines' has got it all. Raine's vocals shine through in this album, to notes up and down the scale. The mesmerizing 'All My Friends' and 'Are You Sad?' are very well done, and bring the album to a peaceful level. I absolutely LOVE the lyrics to 'Life' and the rhythm is excellent. Even the spoken word parts by Ray Kurzweil bring this album to a higher level. It's interesting to mix songs and clips, more artists should think about that. Songs like 'In Repair' and 'The Wonderful Future' help keep the record in tune with the machine vs. humans concept, but by no means is that all this album is! This is lyrically AND musically an album that can be listened to all the way through, including the spoken words. It also makes you think, something that other albums don't normally do, which is a nice change of pace... I suggest you pick this one up!

Spiritual Machines starts off with a very simple notation about Earth being created 10 to 15 billion years ago..

Introduce "Right Behind You", a catchy song, worthy of radio airplay.

Our Lady Peace has done it again--another fine album. This album is quite innovative with the profound remarks inbetween several of the songs. Some of those comments really make you think.. it's an excellent concept for an album.

My favorite songs off this album include: "Right Behind You", "Life", "Made to Heal", and "Everyones a Junkie".

It continues to amaze me to this day why OLP didn't catch on in the US. Their music is sensational. Double thumbs up to the band for another fine album.

Our Lady Peace reaches its highest level of musical excellence yet with this album. The songs are inspired by a profound book, which raises many questions about humankind, and the essence of being human. In the album, the Raine Maida sings about human emotion and the human experience. The song life goes against the recent style of "life sucks" music to tell the listener that life is "waiting for you" and that it is worth living. The message is combined with unbelievable musical talent and songwriting ability. The guitar stylings of Mike Turner and Jamie Edwards combine to give us some of the most original and rocking songs of the past 5 years. And the base (played by Duncan Coutts) adds pure emotion and feeling to the album. The jazz-drum playing style of Jeremy Taggert cannot be matched, as he does not conform to modern rock drumming styles. The band plays a combination of hard rock, and slow mood songs, which flow into each other perfectly. Every song carries a different and meaningful message, and one can gain spiritual and humanistic inspiration from the latest album of a band with a message to deliver. No one who buys this album will be disappointed.