steve kwan user experience designer

Review: Our Lady Peace - Healthy in Paranoid Times

(September 2nd, 2005 - 7:51PM)

(3.5 / 5 stars)

According to the Our Lady Peace website, it took 1165 days to make Healthy in Paranoid Times. The album put a tremendous strain on Raine Maida and the guys, but the end result is probably their best work to date.

When Our Lady Peace (OLP) debuted in 1994 with Naveed, they were a unique Canadian band with what I'd call a bluegrass rock sound. Their sound has changed over the years, and with the release of their 2002 album Gravity, they went pop rock. This transformation seems to correlate to the hiring of Bob Rock as producer. They keep the new, more polished sound in Healthy in Paranoid Times, and it works really well. The songs are mostly radio friendly, but still distinctly OLP...as if anyone could forget Raine Maida's voice!

The first single, Where Are You, didn't appeal to me much at first because it's kind of bland. But after listening to it a few times, I started to like it. I found other songs on the album such as Wipe That Smile Off Your Face, Love and Trust, and World on a String to be far more interesting.

Our Lady Peace has taken an interest in improving conditions in Africa, which is reflected in the album. The album ends with a song called Al Genina (Leave the Light On), which is a sappy ode that's just too cheesy to take seriously. Other than that, most of the songs on the album are good, or at the worst, tolerable.

Old school fans of OLP might not like this album because of the new sound. That being said, it's definitely worth purchasing. If you're new to OLP, I feel that this album is their best to date and should be the first you buy.

Buy Healthy in Paranoid Times