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.

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.

'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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.