Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
 (One of) Canada's Best Kept Secrets (musically) December 4, 2000
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Interestingly enough, I found Naveed to be OLP's strongest album, and Clumsy to be their worst. Don't get me wrong, Clumsy was a 5 star album, but simply because it was Our Lady Peace. If I had to rate it on its merits alone I'd give it a 3.5 because there were one too many tracks that I skipped over. Naveed, on the other hand, is a stellar album, though far different in sound when compared to Clumsy and Happiness... The musicianship is brilliant (as always). Moreover, I found Raine Maida's vocals to be better than I've heard lately in Happiness... Maybe it's the tone and tempo of Naveed, but he sounds a lot more passionate, whereas in Happiness... and Clumsy he's more subdued. That isn't to say though that Happiness...was bad, because it's a beautifully complex, layered, album. Naveed just happens to be a solid, rock album that reaches levels other bands can't get to. My favorite song is Denied, the range in Maida's vocals is amazing (I find it incredibly hard to believe that some people can't stomach his singing), the album is worthy for that song alone. For those who are only recently discovering OLP, Naveed is a good place to start. Either way, I think you have to be a true, unbiased OLP fan to shift from album to album (like myself. I've already preordered their 4th album!), or else give them all plenty of time to sink in. I've found that those who start with Happiness... or Clumsy are disappointed with Naveed because they think it's too "different" or else a clumsy (no pun intended) debut. And, those who loved OLP from the beginning, with Naveed, have trouble moving into Clumsy and Happiness...as they move into different grounds musically. Whatever the case, Our Lady Peace is a band to check out.
 Great instrumentation and songwriting with so-so vocals. April 24, 2000
6 out of 11 found this review helpful
Our Lady Peace is the natural inheritor to The Tragically Hip on the Canadian music scene -- an awesome band partnered with a grating singer whose voice may not be that bad, but whose singing technique is absolutely not for all tastes.To me Raine Maida is the only weak link of Our Lady Peace, even if he's the most recognizable element of the band. His insane vibrato, complete lack of restraint, and demented (often juvenile-sounding) yelps and whoops can sound like the most annoying vocal on earth. Other than that, though, this album contains some genuinely rousing rockers, unusual arrangements and instrumental sounds, and some of the most memorable rock hooks of the mid-'90s. "Starseed" is the album's best song, an unstoppable chorus topped with that unforgettable guitar lick; "Julia" and "Hope" are big, involving anthems, and "The Birdman", the album's lead track, is unusual and aggressive. The band cranks up the volume and layers on the textures, acoustic guitars, throbbing bass and a diverse army of electric guitars making sure that the sound is never thin or dull. Overall, Naveed evokes a heroic Zeppelinesque quality, with its Eastern-flavoured melodies and dense instrumentation, a rich mix marred only by Maida's vocal freakishness. Still a great album for rock fans.
My favorite CD to come out of 1995. April 17, 2001
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Wow. I had never heard of Our Lady Peace, until I saw them open for Van Halen. I was immediately taken by the innovative guitar work and unique singing. Yeah, they wear their infuences on their sleeve (Pearl Jam), but it's not copy cat. It's unique and innovative. They delve into minor keys and dissonecence with style. This is not new expiremental territory to them, they are masters of the underappreciate tones. Clumsy, was mainstream alternative, but Naveed is raw. Vocaly they have equaled this with Spiritual Machines, but the guitar work here steals the show, and they have never equaled it since.
A legendary debut album December 16, 1999
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Naveed" is truly a legendary debut from one of the best bands to come out of Canada. While different from "Clumsy" in many ways, this album has a whole different feel to it with songs like "Denied" and "Hope" that are very emotionally driven. This is before Raine (OLP lead singer) started experimenting with high falsetto style vocals so the songs are not as abrasive as some of the tracks on "Clumsy". This album is a must buy for all rock and alternative fans.
 Satisfactory. July 2, 2001
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
this sure is not the album that i reach for if i want to listen to OLP. there's about 40 seconds of melody in the entire album. all of this was influenced by the whole grunge revolution in the early 90's. definetly not all that good. this one is not carried in my CD case that i take with me driving and stuff, so if you're listening to anything on naveed minus the birdman, hope, and the track naveed, count me out. it's ok, but not something i really want to listen to unless i'm in a bad mood. not to say that the guitar work isnt good or something because it really is good. i'm just not that big of a fan of the bass, drums, vocals setup that really drives the album and if i dont like it, i'm not gonna listen to it. so dont come out looking for another great, melodic album, because this is the absolute opposite.
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