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Our Lady Peace
Naveed
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It has taken me quite a while to put my finger on what
draws me to listen to "Naveed" by Canada's own Our Lady Peace
over and over and over. The raw and untempered guitars
certainly tempt me to give ear. The unique edge to lead singer
Raine Maida's voice adds to Our Lady Peace's mystique, but
sometimes that unique voice can kill an album after two or three
songs.
But, I still find myself wanting to hear "Naveed" more. In
many ways when I listen to their debut CD I WANT to find
something wrong with it. I want to be able to say (as I want
to do so often), "this band isn't ALTERNATIVE. They just copy
others." I now realize that what makes it impossible for me to
forget Our Lady Peace is their lyrics. They just hit me and
force me to enjoy the CD.
Another nice feature of the CD is the artwork. The
photography is great and the artwork on the CD doesn't just
follow the style of the cover, but blends seamlessly into the
total package. And (to add to the lyrics feature) the liner
notes has all the words to the songs, so check them out.
While Our Lady Peace clearly has punk musical influences (I
would NOT call them a punk band, though), each member of the
band has his own musicians he credits. Maida "puts Otis Redding
at the top of his list of influences." Drummer Jeremy Taggart
has been inspired by Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and
guitarist Mike Turner picks no bones about claiming the British
Punk influences.
And the more I listen, the more I like the hard-edged
music, the less I fear losing interest in Raine's voice, and the
more I feel touched by the words. I think that this triple
combination (music, voice, lyrics) makes "Naveed" one of the top
CDs of 1995.
Jeff Jolley
© 1995, Rational Alternative Digital