Album Review: Our Lady Peace ‘Curve’

Curve opens with an electric guitar which immediately brings to mind Hendrix at Woodstock. It may or may not have been intentional, but it made me think of raw, live music, and the passionate community around it. Not at all what one would expect from an Our Lady Peace album released in the last decade or so.

To my surprise, though Curve is still overproduced and glossy for an alt-rock record, this really is a much better album than any they have released since 2000’s Spiritual Machines. A certain balance is struck between the overly simplified and bland songs Bob Rock retrained them to write, and an artistry which had been sorely lacking for some time.

The thing about this sounding more like the old OLP and being their best in ten years, though, is that the album sounds about ten years old. All well and good for old fans, which is who they appear to be reaching out to with this one, but I’m not sure this is a package that will be compelling for new listeners. Which may be where their somewhat turbulent sea change came from a decade ago with Gravity.

There are shades of great songwriting here, and it’s nice to hear this sort of rock and roll being made well, but on almost every song it is the verses that grab and interest me while the choruses put me off a little. The hooks are extremely formulaic, shoving an out of place paint-by-numbers anthemic moment into each of what are otherwise perfectly fine songs.

The backing falsetto on ‘Allowance’ is an example of how well Raine Maida can utilize an almost objectively bad voice. Don’t get me wrong, I actually like his voice, but it has been on the decline and it was never been particularly strong or pleasing in a traditional sense. It’s just kind of interesting, and rock music is one space where character still counts. From that perspective, he sounds fantastic throughout the album’s 10 tracks.

The guitar is particularly good, with many different styles and aesthetics explored. Each song presents a new opportunity for Steve Mazur to show off in different ways. They’re still a band that emphasizes drums and bass quite a bit, but it’s Steve’s guitar that really stands out here.

When all is said and done, Curve is still a fairly safe record, but it’s clear that the band’s perspective on making music has shifted back to be more in line with their alterna-grunge roots, minus the grunge. After Bob Rock essentially disassembled the band and removed everything that made them interesting, they still haven’t quite been able to escape the pull of Gravity, but they’re flying pretty high right now.

Release Date: April 17, 2012
Image Courtesy of Entertainment One Music