Our Lady Peace
Literary references have crept into Rock since the late '60s. "Our Lady Peace" was the title of a 1943 Mark van Doren poem. "Spiritual Machines" Our Lady Peace's semi-concept album was based on the writings of Ray Kurzweil who provided "readings" throughout the CD. Guitarist Mike Turner stumbled across Kurzweil's "The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence," while on tour and got the rest of the group interested.
Back in '92, Turner partnered with University of Toronto student, vocalist Raine Maida. They asked Duncan Coutts to join on bass but Coutts wanted to finish school. Smart guy. So Chris Eacrett signed on but by '95 he was out and Coutts, having finished school, was in. Also, Jim Newell was on drums but he soon left for a "day job" and seventeen-year-old Jimmy Taggart joined.
Our Lady Peace's debut "Naveed" spawned the modern Rock hit "Starseed" but not a lot more, except a tour with Alanis Morissette. Both "Clumsy" and "Happiness Is Not A Fish You Can Catch" hit in '97. These CDs were warm-ups for "Spiritual Machines." The lyrics focused on the spirituality within each person and took a relatively upbeat view of the future.
Hopefully, Our Lady Peace has a good health plan because they need it. During the "Spiritual Machine's" session Taggart was injured and Soundgarden's Matt Cameron filled in on a couple tracks. In early '01, Coutts had pancreatic surgery. Rob Higgins subbed for the tour.
Our Lady Peace has a handful of modern Rock hits ("Starseed," "Superman Is Dead," "Blister," etc.). Their CDs "Naveed," "Clumsy" and "Happiness Is Not A Fish You Can Catch" have their moments but "Spiritual Machines" is their best effort. Not only do they pull off the futuristic concept, it Rocks. "Middle of Yesterday" is the best song.