Our Lady Peace follows its breakthrough second album, Clumsy, with a third that continues its hard-rock approach. The guitar-bass-drums team of Mike Turner,
Duncan Coutts, and
Jeremy Taggart (here augmented by guest guitarist/keyboard player
Jamie Edwards) gets a full sound clearly influenced by late '60s bands like
the Who and
Led Zeppelin (and you can tell they've listened to late Beatles songs like "Helter Skelter," too), but with the harsh attack and sudden stops and starts common to grunge. The result is an intense, sometimes majestic sound more listenable than, but just as compelling as, some of the rap/metal hybrids the group is competing with on radio and the road, and in the record stores. Curiously, the band's weak link is lead singer and lyricist
Raine Maida, whose mannered vocals, reminiscent of early
David Bowie with unexpected, pointless swoops into falsetto and odd emphases, and adolescent, nihilistic words don't match the music's quality. Of course, Maida's sentiments may appeal to his potential audience, who may find lines like "Everyone you meet today is feeling useless & ashamed" ("Happiness & The Fish") and "Goodbye, the future's sold out" ("Is Anybody Home?") observations with which they can identify. (Legendary jazz
Elvin Jones is credited with additional drums on the album closer, "Stealing Babies," but his participation is not readily audible.) ~ William Ruhlmann