Healthy In Paranoid Times - Our Lady Peace

...out?

Well Healthy in paranoid times was the 6th studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace (OLP) and after the release saw the band leaving the label and spending several years out of the studio, it saw the lead singer record a solo album and 2 compilation albums before their most recent album (Burn Burn, released in 2009). The band had had reached a rather cult level from their early albums, with a heavy but yet ...
...Raymond Kurzweil).

Healthy in Paranoid times followed on in the same vein as Gravity in being a rather more over produced album, although angrier it wasn't great and some of the tension in the production of it could be felt. Rumours circulated through out the 3 year long recording of it that every member of the band was fired or quit at least once, and the band almost totally split, as chaos seemed to ensue, the producer Bob Rock also ... more

Did OLP get forced into this one? Did it ruin the feeling for the fans? Did it almost destroy the band? Dare I ask, did they sell out?

Well Healthy in paranoid times was the 6th studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace (OLP) and after the release saw the band leaving the label and spending several years out of the studio, it saw the lead singer record a solo album and 2 compilation albums before their most recent album (Burn Burn, released in 2009). The band had had reached a rather cult level from their early albums, with a heavy but yet surreal rock feel added to the uniquely charged vocals of lead singer Raine Maida, and after 4 albums had started to be seen a rather unique band. Lyrically poetic, vocally awesome and musically solid band that had found fame on a world scene with the song “Whatever” (better know as Chris Benoit's theme music when he was in the WWE).

The album previous to this was “Gravity” in which the band seemed to take a much more mainstream rock, the vocals that had set the bands tone early on were tamed down, the lead guitarist (Mike Turner) had left in 2001 and his influences could be seen as absent in Gravity. The bands rather off kilter feel (experienced mainly in Spiritual Machines) had been squished instead for overly produced radio friendly rock that although often sounded great didn't feel like the OLP that had made the first 3 albums (Spiritual Machines was the bands 4th album and feels quite different in tone, as it was a concept album based on a book by Raymond Kurzweil).

Healthy in Paranoid times followed on in the same vein as Gravity in being a rather more over produced album, although angrier it wasn't great and some of the tension in the production of it could be felt. Rumours circulated through out the 3 year long recording of it that every member of the band was fired or quit at least once, and the band almost totally split, as chaos seemed to ensue, the producer Bob Rock also seemed to have had the chop at least once. With over 45 songs recorded during the 2 year process the arguable excess of the album would only have heaved more confusion even now the fans are left wondering what many of the songs are, with only about 20 known tracks (2 of which were include on the “Decade” compilation but yet not on the album) it's often been wondered will they ever be released?

The album opens with the most successful single from the disk “Angels Losing Sleep” which features quite a strong link to OLPs past with religious lyrics, strong music and Raine slipping in and out of falsetto (the early OLP trademark) almost at will. Though the song does seem a little calmer than some of the earlier OLP stuff, although the chaos of the album and the production was going on around them the song it's self is rather classic OLP through and through.

Will The future blame us follows a similar feel, though a bit more relaxed Raines leading vocals shine through as they always have done, though at times the sound is a bit fake (lots of “ooh-hoo” type things). The song may actually be an inwardly reflective one on the infighting of the band at the time, or it could be me reading too much into things. The song is ideally the sort of song that people should be remembering OLP for, fast paced rock music with a whirlwind vocal charge.

Picture is a more soft and reflective song, that slows the album down and feels a bit like an OLP style rock ballad, again religion comes into the lyrics. The whirlwind vocals that we often see from Raine are, excuse the the pun, reigned in and sound more controlled than in the previous songs, showing a bit more of the sound from Gravity than the earlier albums with the music also feeling more finely tuned than the previous two tracks.

Where Are You One of the songs that sums up the way band seemed to grow up in the latter albums compared with many of the earlier ones, this one in particular seems to sum it up well. The vocals that had driven the band had been slowed and taken away allowing the band more radio style songs, much at the expense of the bands real sound, though this manages to just about maintain a semblance of the bands real sound, it's most certainly doesn't have the vocal drive of the bands earlier music. It's much easier to get into than much of their pre-gravity stuff, but sounds more like Gravity than any of the earlier tracks.

Wipe That Smile Off Your Face is much angrier yet keeps the religious theme still and despite the angrier lyrics the song still seems toned down, when you'd expect the driving falsetto of Raine from years gone by to kick in it seems to be contained. The musical approach to the track seems a little bit too relaxed as well, which is quite disappointing when you realise the lyrical potential of the song is so high. Although towards the end the anger of the vocals do come out it's too late to make the song what it could have been.

Love and Trust much like the previous track we get to hear Raine's vocals back to what we know they can do, the falsetto is dipped into but the anger the speed and the tempo on the track are what makes it stand out as much better than the following two tracks. The lyrics are trying to impress you in anyway at all they are blunt and in you're face whilst the music and vocals are there to impress you through out the track and that's exactly what they do.

Boy stands out on the album as being a rather bizarre track when compared to most of OLP's stuff, in fact it sounds much more like Raine's solo work Hunters Lullaby than anything else OLP had done before. It's very soft both vocally and musically and the lyrics feel a little weaker than the rest of the album, though quite a radio friendly sound through it, it doesn't feel right and considering the number of tracks recorded for the album it's peculiar this was left on.

Apology is another softer song though Raine hasn't quite slipped into a falsetto he does sound more paranoid than he has done for a while (in an album or two for that matter) the soft approach to the music doesn't do the band many favours though. OLP at their best is whirlwind, sonic chaos but this is overly tame and relaxed even more so than Boy.

The World On A String is one of the better tracks on the album and much more like the opening tracks, it's toe tapping and much more up beat with a bit of pace behind it and great lyrics. The band in the chorus actually sound like the band I fell in love with a decade ago rather than the pale imitation they seem to have become post Spiritual Machines. This is everything OLP seemed to stand for musically, fast hard hitting pop, meaningful lyrics and a damn hard hitting sound.

Don't Stop carrying on much in the same way as the previous song, the band again find fourth gear and really show what they are capable of as the music charges up and releases it's self in a ball of sonic prowess. Raines vocals getting back to doing what they can and the band roaring away much more like Happiness IS Not A Fish That You Can Catch than much of the album as the band again show they can rock with the best of them. A fast paced and hard hitting song laced with Maida's unique and wonderful vocal delivery.

Walking In Circles carries on the same form as the previous couple and the OLP fan in me is willingly forgetting the mid album intervals where the band really dropped below what they should. The fast paced hard hitting Canadian rock band find their footing and run with it in this excellent track that despite being a bit weak on the lyrical front is compellingly excellent, angry, charged and delivered with a dose of vicious vocal frustration.

Al Genina (Leave The Light On) the most “normal” ballad sounding track on the album is a good fit to end the album on a slower note, though it again doesn't totally feel like OLP. The track is a lot my synthesised and almost ghostly though Raine's vocals have been allowed to be the driver in the seat and it somewhat displaces the face the tracks short and rather repetitive overall. A nice ending but not a good one.

Overall like the previous album it seems a mixed bag, though sadly this is probably the worst of the older OLP albums (yes worse than Gravity) it's still beats most rock albums out there. The bands rather trademark sound just seems like it's been meddled with rather than allowed to roam and as a result, and the fact their was so much going on with the band at the time, the album feels like it's directionless in places with too many poor quality tracks in the middle. Though there are some great tracks on there, it's not an essential buy unless your an OLP fan. 

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