Toronto Music Scene

By: Erin Fahy
July 29, 2009

Do what the disc says.

I must confess that when I heard the new Our Lady Peace single “Save my life” I was giddy and joyous and told everyone I knew how I excited I was about their new disc. I had pre-listened to snippets of their new songs and happily discussed their “evolution of  sound.”

Much to my dismay, Burn, Burn was a bigger disappointment than when Full House was cancelled (I believe there was tears and angry letters to the station).

Yes, I do love their latest single. But as for the rest of the tracks, it’s basically a rip-off of Coldplay and AFI.  “Refuge” sounds suspiciously like U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”  There are a few glimmers of the real OLP: Raine Maida’s raspy vocals here and a familiar turn of phrase there.  But its only glimmers and barely enough to make this disc spin-worthy.

If you’re an OLP fan, you probably fit into one of two groups: the original Naveed fans or the more recent Gravity fans. I fall into the latter category, but with this disc, both groups will be pissed. It’s not even remotely close to what they started with; the gritty guitar and vocals. It also barely resembles Gravity, which boasted a more poppier sound, yet still carried an edge.

Much of the guitar sounds too Aerosmith-esque for my liking. Bad form boys, what happened? I think you need to put down your love beads and pick up some leather and chains. I’m all for sound evolution, but not for blatantly emulating other bands.

One star is for “Save My Life” and 1 star is for unsuccessfully attempting to branch out.

TT (Out of 5)

 

For more information on Our Lady Peace visit: www.myspace.com/ourladypeace