Healthy In Paranoid Times [DUAL DISC]

Our Lady Peace

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 30, 2005)
• Original Release Date: August 30, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Dual Disc
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000A2APW6
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #90,114 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
While Our Lady Peace's lead singer, Raine Maida, can be accused of writing rather cryptic lyrics, the liner notes of the new OLP CD are anything but subtle. The artwork kicks off with the statement "1165 days were needed to record Healthy In Paranoid Times"; the remaining pages show no lyrics or band shots, just statistics varying from how many people died of AIDS in that span of time (9.8 million) to how much money was spent on the arms trade ($3 trillion). Time spent by Raine and wife Chantal Kreviazuk overseas with the War Child charity have deeply affected the singer and it shows. On Healthy, the band's music is orchestral right from the get-go. "Angels/Losing/Sleep" jumps from quiet, fragile moments to emo-implosions, not only showcasing Raine's unique vocals, but also how undercurrents of combative guitar solos can turn a simple melody into something wonderfully unsettling, a true OLP trait. The group's frenetic first single, "Where Are You" is singer Maida's plea to a society enshrouded in indulgence, while "Boy" has the raw passion of early U2, with the song rising to a joyful, moving climax. One of the disc's strongest tracks is "Don't Stop." While not mimicking Radiohead or Coldplay, the group seems to embrace the like-minded love of turning a four-minute melody into something more orchestral and emotional, a thread consistent throughout this well-crafted disc. --Denise Sheppard

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Probably not a popular opinion..., September 1, 2005

By	Terry Mesnard (Bellevue, NE) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars my piece on our lady peace, October 29, 2005

By	A. Castro (wisconsin) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This IS & ISN'T Our Lady Peace, January 11, 2006

By	Panz (CT, USA) - See all my reviews

I've been a fan of these guys since my highschool days, started listening in 1996, saw them in concert with a little band called "Black Lab". I understand what this album is about, but I agree with some of the other reviews that Raine and the guys are catering to the high-schoolers angst of today. They shouldn't. They should get Arnold Lanni back and start creating albums like "clumsy, spiritual machines and happiness", those were truly creative albums that carried me through the years when everything else on the radio (then and now) sucks. Raine used to write about worlds and characters, and the fantastic photography and artwork on their album covers presented the visual picture of those worlds. They need to go back to that. Raine needs to start using his voice again and the band needs to start making it "artfully complex" again--I guess that's how I could say it. I still love listening to their old stuff and hearing the little things, noises, sound fx, ect that were interwoven into the songs. I always got a weird "twisted circus" sound from them. That's not a bad name for their next album. And bring OSCAR back!