REVIEWS:
A melodic Canadian alternative grunge band, Our Lady Peace relies on poetic lyrics as much as heavy riffs, apparent from the start on their debut Naveed. Their following albums included Clumsy, Happiness Is Not A Fish You Can Catch and Spiritual Machines.
--Nick Karn
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COMMENTS
[email protected] (Andrew McQuillan)
This was a decent album and so was Clumsy but ever since then, these guys belong more on Top 40 radio as opposed to rock radio (although, even on rock radio, most bands suck nowadays as opposed to in say 1996, when I like everything they played). Their recent output is more annoying. It doesn't help that songs like 'Is Anybody Home?' and 'Life', feature Raine Maida doing annoying acapella sections and plain annoying songwriting altogether. I guess that might be why most of my friends hate these guys yet think their earlier stuff was tolerable.
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
A worthwhile and promising combination of well-crafted riffs, melodies, and lyrics by distinctive 'whiney' frontman Raine Maida, Our Lady Peace's strengths come into play throughout their debut, beginning with the soaring opening track "The Birdman", an aggressive and addictive opener. "Supersatellite" is even more intriguing and catchy, with lyrics like 'I've read the bible, I've read Dylan, I'm reading people now, because it's much more chilling' setting the tone. A powerful acoustic intro and bassline, meanwhile, gives "Starseed" the push it needs to become a great arena anthem, and "Hope" unfolds like a great story - mysterious and dramatic lyrics, a killer hook, and an outstanding instrumental ending.
And that all comes before the album's top highlight, the title track, which has a masterful song structure, affecting anti-war lyrics in the melodic chorus, and a driving bassline - a complete package as far as alternative songs go. The remainder of the album lacks the strong melody and drive present in the first half, as "Dirty Walls", "Under Zenith", "Denied" and "Is It Safe?" feel very much like filler, which keep it from being an exceptional release that fulfills all its' promises, although Naveed comes on strong towards the end with two very good, catchy arena-ish songs "Julia" and the closing "Neon Crossing". It's a fairly convincing debut from a band that's certainly worthy of a bit of attention in the States.
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