Spiritual Machines [ECD] - Our Lady Peace

...book called 'The Age of Spiritual Machines' by futurist author, Ray Kurzweil. I have yet to read the book although it's not for the want of trying; it's very hard going and requires a lot of brain power. Yet, the four piece from Toronto obviously took notice of the books message that one day, robots will rule over all. An interesting concept and one that should have steered the band further into the public eye; every once in a while, everybody loves ...
...passages from 'The Age of Spiritual Machines', you already get the impressing that this album is an ode to the novel rather than being about the inspiration as such upon the groups music.

1. R.K. Intro (6 seconds)
2. Right Behind You [Mafia] (3.14 minutes)
3. R.K. 2029 (15 seconds)
4. In Repair (3.58 minutes)
5. Life (4.23 minutes)
6. Middle of Yesterday (3.54 minutes)
7. Are You Sad? (5.08 ... more

Our Lady Peace, known by many as Canada's answer to the Stereophonics, are a band that have had limited success this side of the pond. It perhaps doesn't help that, up until their fourth studio album 'Spiritual Machines' was released, they revelled in the alternative music genre, with Raine Maida's vocals screeching up the air waves to create a far less melodic sound than some bands pride themselves on. Yet, their gimmick struck a chord with many followers of that field, with their three previous albums 'Naveed', 'Clumsy' and 'Happiness Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch' garnering respect amongst its listeners.

By the backend of 2000, the band were set to release 'Spiritual Machines', an album that was set to be a little more adventurous than the previous offerings; they had a very dark, rock edge to them which was palatable but got a little predictable by 'Happiness...'. However, this album followed a much different path, primarily because its idea was a little bit risqué and quirky.

Whilst on tour the previous year, one of the band members picked up a book called 'The Age of Spiritual Machines' by futurist author, Ray Kurzweil. I have yet to read the book although it's not for the want of trying; it's very hard going and requires a lot of brain power. Yet, the four piece from Toronto obviously took notice of the books message that one day, robots will rule over all. An interesting concept and one that should have steered the band further into the public eye; every once in a while, everybody loves a weird and kooky message thrown into the equation.

Or perhaps not.

'Spiritual Machines' is the bands worse selling album to date, which is a bit of a mystery in itself. It could - and possibly should - have been their 'Sgt. Pepper'; they took risks and on the surface, it added a totally new dimension to their sound. But, exerts from the book the entire album was based upon may put many listeners off, leaving you with only 10 tracks on this offering. Not exactly a good number for a band who were meant to be at their creative peak.

THE ALBUM
Consisting of 10 proper musical tracks and five spoken passages from 'The Age of Spiritual Machines', you already get the impressing that this album is an ode to the novel rather than being about the inspiration as such upon the groups music.

1. R.K. Intro (6 seconds)
2. Right Behind You [Mafia] (3.14 minutes)
3. R.K. 2029 (15 seconds)
4. In Repair (3.58 minutes)
5. Life (4.23 minutes)
6. Middle of Yesterday (3.54 minutes)
7. Are You Sad? (5.08 minutes)
8. R.K. 2029 [Part 2] (12 seconds)
9. Made To Heal (3.47 minutes)
10. R.K. 1949 - 97 (44 seconds)
11. Everyone's A Junkie (3.38 minutes)
12. R.K. On Death (39 seconds)
13. All My Friends (3.37 minutes)
14. If You Believe (3.35 minutes)
15. The Wonderful Future (4.30 minutes before a hidden track)

To be honest, commenting on all of the individual spoken tracks would be pointless; they all roughly sound the same because of Ray's monotonous voice! Thankfully, the only last for a couple of seconds but all in all, they were just added in to sell the book although, for the first couple of listens, they did intrigue me enough to do just that, ranging from the idea of robots being the new embodiment of human qualities to taking over the world.

Right Behind You
The album begins on a pretty high note; although the verses sound a little regrettable, musing about those who are trying to corrupt, it seems as if the main celebration is the same product of this; life. It seems as if it is somebody addressing a loved one, telling them that they need nobody else in life other than themselves. It's got a really strong, OLP vibe to it; lots of thrashing cymbals and roaring guitars that accumulate into a pretty solid track. Raine's vocals on this one aren't at their usual, paranoid state just yet which the song, in principal, might have benefited from but I don't think it necessarily needed it to be one of the albums best contenders.

Marks out of 10: 8.5 - an up beat opener which boasts a much more 'mainstream' sound than many of the other starter tracks on Our Lady Peace's albums. Although a bit odd and repetitive in places, I personally liked that quality about it.

In Repair
Slowing the pace down quite considerable, although not at the depths of ballads just yet, 'In Repair' is an emotionally charged number about the perspective of two people, one on the receiving end of serious medical treatment, the other helplessly watching. Being a fan of Maida's wife, Chantal Kreviazuk's work, I think it could actually be a tribute to her days following trauma from a motorcycle accident which she was still receiving medical treatment for when she met her future husband. The song delves further into the idea of robots eventually controlling the way humans live; in fact, they'll be able to fix people medically in the future far more competently than ordinary doctors!

Marks out of 10: 8.5 - the music's firm back up of the lyrics make this one a fairly epic display. I do wonder why there are Christmas type bells ringing in the background towards the end of this one but it doesn't ruin the song overall at all.

Life
This one to start with made me laugh a bit; I might be a bit cracked in the head but the lyrics instantly struck me as being corny and a little prophesy like. In spite of this, the song does carry a good message of standing up for your self in life, much like 'Right Behind You' in the respect that things will all work out in the end. Ok, but it still passes through several cheese factories along the way! Musically, it reinforces the lyrics quite well and like with the previous two, ventures into a fade out at the end which is a bit tedious. I can't say that the promotional video aided this one much; unlike 'In Repair' which was purely experimental in nature, this was a simple performance with various people and Chinese symbols in the background that just added to the naffness.

Marks out of 10: 7 - if you can get over the clichéd lyrics, it's an averagely good song. If you can't, this one will bore you to the bitter end. This one does set up for most of the follow up album of 'Gravity', particularly 'Innocent'.

Middle of Yesterday
Starting off in a much harder, rockier way, it almost sounds like the bands attempt at nu-metal. Then the lyrics come in and you realise it isn't as it's more of an apology track for being a bad lover. 'Middle of Yesterday' is perhaps the least adventurous musically on the album as it refers back to their earlier, much less pop orientated sound. However, it is perhaps the most interesting in this way; for some reason, the clash of the remorseful lyrics and grunge tune work and create a really memorable track on the album. My only one complaint is that the chorus is a bit boring, sounding like it could have been written by a million and one different artists.

Marks out of 10: 8 - Maida's vocals are at their best here, ranging from deep and concerned to his prize worthy Falsetto textures, with this one being perhaps the last of the fine examples of this technique.

Are You Sad?
This is the albums first real venture into obscurity, placed perfectly after such a high vibe track. 'Are You Sad?' starts of acoustically with Raine's voice sentimentally deep as a recognition of the songs background story; mentioned on their Live DVD and CD collection, he said this song was written about that person everyone will have in their life at some point who are desperately seeking alternative answers through depression. I liked the fact that it was from the outsider's perspective; many songs look at it the other way round, but I think that's one of the reasons why this one was so sad within itself.

Marks out of 10: 8.5 - like most of OLP's songs, it verges on melancholy before taking a much more optimistic road. Raine's vocals are at their most subtly impressive here, not really over the top in their paranoid presentation to make 'Are You Sad?' a real high point on 'Spiritual Machines'.

Made To Heal
After one of the albums emotional highest low points, 'Made To Heal' quite frankly sounds like a bit of a joke in contrast. It has that gorgonzola crust surrounding it like 'Life' when it comes to the chorus which is a shame as it ventures back to 'Middle Of Yesterday's' edgier sound. The verses are very good; the words fit well within the sphere of robots controlling the planets and the bass works well on this track, perhaps more so than on others. But I cannot abide the way in which the chorus is sung; its sounds ridiculously like a barn dance, which coming from a rock and roll band isn't really that hardcore or clever!

Marks out of 10: 7 - it's such a shame that the track was let down but the repetitive chorus. It is stupidly annoying but the break down at the middle eight is fantastic. A track that could have held its own better on the album if somebody had stepped in and reminded Our Lady Peace that they are NOT a Country and Western band!

Everyone's A Junkie
With the previous passage from Ray, it paints the sordid picture that Orwell did in 1984. The sound effects merge very well into this one; the creepy child's voice is quite chilling. Lyrically a simple number, it's a song that, very much like its predecessor, holms in on the questioning of science. It has a very arena like sound to it and the multiple backing vocals on the chorus only enhances this feeling and makes me believe it would be an excellent live track. After just one listen, I really couldn't get out of my head so you need to listen to more than once to appreciate all the wacky sound effects and textures that the music has to offer.

Marks out of 10: 8 - it doesn't get a higher rating because it does border on daftness once again, divulging into a much more middle-of-the-road type sound. This one would have been good for a singles release as it could be seen as a very ordinary, rock/pop radio song that you may have heard from any other artist as Raine's voice isn't wildly different here.

All My Friends
Now that all of the Kurzweil passages were over, the album was nearing its end. Up until this point, it had got a fairly average reception from me so I was interested in seeing whether anything new and exciting would be pulled out of the proverbial hat. Unfortunately, 'All My Friends' just didn't have that effect; to begin with, it sounds very atmospheric but could have done with a softer, more unclear vocal performance by Raine to reinforce this. It's one of the slower songs on the album but it lacks a magic to make it a very good attempt. It actually reminds me a bit of a My Chemical Romance track - not entirely sure why but it seems to have that kind of bleak feel to it!

Marks out of 10: 7.5 - the guitar portion in the middle is very well executed but the rest of the song can be viewed as a bit bland. You also get the sense that the band predicted it would be viewed as this and tried their hardest to put in a few more shrieking vocals. Alas, it just didn't make it any more powerful.

If You Believe
When I first pressed play on this one, it sounded a little Placebo-ish; the overall musical presentation was designed to create a certain amount of desperation before the story unravelled. I think it was meant to be another one of Our Lady Peace's encouragement tracks where they take a sad song and make it better by their positive outlook. I did like how the vocals were suspended for a while and very much reverted back to some on offer in the groups earlier days, specifically 'Superman's Dead' but it never amounted to anything as great as that.

Marks out of 10: 8 - not a bad track but I don't think it's ever going to win a Most Memorable Song of All Time Award! It is characteristically very much an OLP song; mainly through Raine's voice and song writing effort but the guitars and drums are a bit of an ode to other bands, it has to be said.

The Wonderful Future
The final track on here, 'The Wonderful Future' I think was a bit tongue in cheek, especially when you take into account the hidden book passage that follows it of a the books protagonist, Molly, changing into everything that Ray predicted at the beginning. However, the song itself is very much a calm number; not overly strenuous or overtly interesting to be honest. I don't think it ends the album on a very wonderful note - it steps over the threshold of being inventive to self indulging, with the vocals being the epitome of this. It doesn't really leave you with any lasting memories of the album, in which many songs previously would have done in a much more successful way.

Marks out of 10: 7 - quite a dull way to end the album. Not necessarily comforting that you have to wait for about 10 minutes to hear the most interesting chapter from 'The Era of Spiritual Machines' either.

PRESENTATION
The artwork was essential in many ways to spreading the meanings of both the book that 'Spiritual Machines' was based upon as well as the album itself. It's perhaps the most adventurous artwork that the band have ever used to capture their music but, considering that this one had a theme as opposed to just being their fourth offering, its understandable.

Featuring the bands resident cover personality, Sol Fox, both the inside and outside of the sleeve include connotations of hospitals and mechanics. Many of the drawings looked similar to those featured on the American TV show 'House's' introduction, with X-Rays and body parts fixed with pins and metal. The stick man on the disk is a bit funny in his bowler hat but the mixed images of photography, realistic and cartoon drawings work well in contrast to one another.

The song lyrics, scribbled across the pages, looked very incomplete but suited the mood of the rest of the presentation. They were definitely needed to clarify some of the 'wondrous, deep and meaningful' lyrics throughout this album.

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
In spite of being the bands least appreciated album at this point, it is one of the records that it more widely accessible here in the UK. Many of their albums that I have are exports but you can purchase 'Spiritual Machines' from many internet shops over here with the following price tags:

Amazon.co.uk: £11.98 (eligible for free supersaver delivery)
Play.com: £11.99 (free delivery)
CDwow.com: £11.75 (free delivery)
DVD.co.uk: £13.43 (free delivery)

OVERALL AND COMPARISON TO OTHER OUR LADY PEACE ALBUMS
When I first listened to 'Spiritual Machines', I can't deny that I was excited; after the first taste of every Our Lady Peace album, I proclaimed it to be their best and most daring to date. I guess it was mainly the unique focus of robots and the roots back to the book that made me pay really close attention to this one in particular, but many of the tracks were - to me - unbelievable.

However, after the first couple of listens, my passion for the album did decrease somewhat; I had the annoying habit of playing it weekly, which possibly didn't help its cause. Only a few albums - and perhaps none being in my collection - could stand that kind of attention and, undeniably, it got a bit too over familiar and a little tedious after a while, something I don't think the album will ever recover from.

Yet, even back then, there were distinct differences in my feelings towards many of the tracks; although I adored 'In Repair' and 'Right Behind You', I'd always considered 'Life' to be a bit over done, boarder line pretentious, when I first saw the video, the same with 'The Wonderful Future'. To me, both of those tracks need to be listened to, and therefore appreciated, during euphoric moods and, if you aren't in that specific frame, they will undoubtedly pale in comparison to some of the others.

It was the last Our Lady Peace album before what many describe as catastrophic changes occurred not only within the band but with their music too. Their lead guitarist, beside Maida, left the band as a result of 'creative differences' (it's a lot easier than admitting to fans that you hate the other members guts!). Mike Turner, now a member of the equally as unknown Fair Ground band, left and it seems that Raine's wonderfully inimitable falsetto vocals took the exit with him. That's perhaps the biggest shame as usually, when it may seem as if many tracks on this album are about to head in a bit of a boring direction, his voice takes you to a different place which is wholly fascinating in itself.

'Spiritual Machine' although cited as being the album released at the groups peak was what I consider the transition record between their older, more controversial work and the commercial follow up, 'Gravity'. It's certainly a good buy but one that you shouldn't overplay too much or you'll get fed up with it rather quickly. 

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