Spiritual Machines

04/05/2001 9:02 PM, Yahoo! Music
Mike Lipton

Still smarting (30 years later) from the LPs that resulted from the Moody Blues' pot-fueled infatuation with meditation and "philosophers" Timothy Leary and Alan Watts, Canadian alt-rockers Our Lady Peace have found a similar level of inspiration in Ray Kurzweil's treatise on artificial intelligence, The Age of Spiritual Machines--When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence. Fortunately, in the less-literal case of OLP, it's easier to listen past the paranoia inspired by Kurzweil's tome (save for Kurzweil's series of spoken introductions) and take in the band's catchy alt-rock.

Still, "Right Behind You (Mafia)" cautions you to watch your back ("conversation disappears/you realize they're not all your friends") while "In Repair" cynically touts mechanized body repair ("we're just killing time until they order up new parts"). Meanwhile, "Life" offers a typically lame, '90s outlook: "It's all messed up but we'll survive." In varying degrees, the tunes incorporate drum loops, a dash of grunge, and alt- and acousta-pop. The spacey "Are You Sad" stands out as does the raucous "If You Believe" and the grandiose, U2-like closer "The Wonderful Future." Raine Maida's pained, herky-jerky vocals add immediacy to the mix, but not to worry, it's all done with the Canadian sense of good taste and propriety, which in this case, serves the band well. Stay tuned for the hidden track in which Kurzweil converses with Molly, an "augmented human" about music. Or don't.