Search - Our Lady Peace :: Healthy In Paranoid Times

Probably not a popular opinion...

Terry Mesnard | Bellevue, NE | 09/01/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered OLP on what, according to fans on this site at least, was one of their "worst" albums. I'm speaking, of course, of Gravity. Call it what you will, I loved every single song on that album. Yes, it was more commercially made and appealed to a wider base of people, but I really did enjoy it. I loved the hardness of the rock, the passionate and very mercurial voice of Raine, and the lyrics that invoked people like Jack Kerouac. It made me pick up their earlier albums and, with a couple of exceptions, I mostly loved them as well. I just wanted to let people know where my review comes from.



What I enjoyed about Gravity was the mix of the crunching guitars and the sing-along lyrics. In the same way, I loved songs like Superman's Dead from earlier albums. I was hoping Healthy in Paranoid Times would continue what I felt was their evolution. I do like this cd, but there are times where it doesn't excite me in the way earlier OLP did. For instance, Apology, with its sections of Raine just singing "Ah" up and down scales goes on too long. What I was hoping this cd would carry over at least from their prior one was the vehemence of tone.



This album could be angry. The lyrics definitely suggest it with songs like "Wipe that Smile From Your Face" or "Will The Future Blame Us." And there are times that the music hits that, but overall there is a poppy feeling that belies the tone of the lyrics. I still like the album. I don't think its their best and, like some reviewers have mentioned, I'm curious to see what the other 31 songs that were recorded sound like. It does seem like they are at a crossroads. But I think they have been ever since Gravity.



Bands tend to mellow out as they go along, but after Gravity I thought OLP was doing just the opposite. Healthy in Paranoid Times is, in my opinion, a step back. I know that I will probably get a ton of "unhelpful votes" by saying that. The music is well played, Raine's voice is still uniquely his and aurally interesting. There are some songs that have a strong passion in them, like "Don't Stop."



I think the most intriguing portion of this CD as a whole is the booklet insert. It helps put into focus what people spend their time, money and energy on in our society while pointing to causes that truly need our time, money and energy on. What is interesting, to me, was that they even point the fingers at themselves as a musical band. We do spend more time than we should on "celebrities" and I think the booklet itself has a ton of passion, while at the same time the wit that the band has shown throughout the years. However, what its lacking *overall* (i.e. an album as a whole) is the passion that earlier songs had. And for a subject as inflamed today, as debated and as needed to be discussed (and as hinted at in the booklet which is devoid of everything BUT the reminder), Healthy in Paranoid Times is surprisingly tame."

My piece on our lady peace

A. Castro | wisconsin | 10/29/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Our Lady Peace: get Mike Turner back and return to the sound of Happiness... and Spiritual Machines.



I was the biggest Our Lady Peace fan ever for 7 years (technically 5 years if you count me disliking gravity). I grew up listening to them with Clumsy and I grew with them with every album. They were the soundtrack to my high school years. I had close to 10 t-shirts, all of their CDs, a couple of fan club CDs, an autographed picture, a press photo from naveed, a couple posters, numerous bootleg CDs and I even spent a lot of money on ebay getting recorded material on tape from canada.



Our Lady Peace has lost it. They were the only band that mattered when I was younger, and now they are drowning in their own crappiness. We waited for 3 years to see if this Steve Mazur cat could hold his own, and he cant. He's a derivative clone with stupid hair.



Raine, perhaps you're the one to blame for the downfall. Your quest for simpler songs is a success, they're just not very good. Gone are the exquisite turns of phrase and lyrics that made you think and question and look deeper. Now you just shove it down our throats and hope we like it. Gone is your incredible singing voice that defied reason.



Arnold Lanni was the rock that Our Lady Peace was built on. Some say his influence was too much, but he was with the band from 1993 up until 2000, how can you not have a huge influence when you're together for that long? He helped them move from their greatest selling CD to their greatest artistic statement (and one of the greatest musical statements I've ever heard), of course '99's happiness is not a fish that you can catch. He brought out the best, Bob Rock just brings out the rest. Of a tired 30-something band that is hanging onto a thread and has lost all their credibility except with fans who have gone along with the gag.



Our Lady Peace changed my life. For their first 4 CDs I'm forever grateful. I gave Gravity a shot, I gave this a shot, and I'm giving up. Rest in Peace."

Healthy In Paranoid Times On A String.

Matt Christie UK | Marske-By-Sea, United Kingdom | 02/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As An English Our Lady Peace fan I do not get to see the band often, I rely on the power of their music to cross the pond and reach out to me, make me tap my feet, make me sing along to the catchy cryptic lyrics like previous Our Lady Peace albums have done. Although many weren't, I was completely satisfied.



Healthy In Paranoid Times has at least 5 songs that would make excellent singles: Where Are You, The World On A String, Don't Stop, Angels/Losing/Sleep and Will The Future Blame Us? and although a very good album would have 12 singles, the other 7 songs all serve a very different purpose; the power of thought provocation. It would be too much to explain all the possible theories about each track however:



Picture, has some powerful, thoughtful lines dealing with the loss of someone either through death or relationship breakdown.



Wipe That Smile Off Your Face has a catchy drumbeat with a slow guitar over the top. "I'm Not Afraid, I'm Gunna Make You Pay" reaveals the angry nature of the song which carries a theme of revenge. It makes you wonder what Raine is singing about.



Al Genina (Leave The Light On) mentions Raine's visits with his wife Chantal to war torn countries, it communicates the gulf of lifestyles and the type of lives people in 3rd world countries. "Life is different here, its not camoflauged with Gold" highlights Raines accusations that the 3rd World doesn't get enough attention, and joins hand in hand with the CD's booklet which indicates what has happend in the world since they started recording. Although sung in a mellow tone, Raines voice has the ability to communicate with a wider audience; something that OLP have been trying to do since Gravity in 2002.



Overall the album is more of a facinating peice of music than something that you can rock out too. Our Lady Peace are not stuck at crossroads as some may assume, they are still making powerful music, probing at different ways to climb the ladder of success ultimately having their music universally recognised. This album certainly takes them a up a few further rungs on that ladder.

"