Raine Maida- Lead Singer, Guitar
Steve Mazur- Lead Guitar
Duncan Coutts- Bass
Jeremy Taggart - Drums
Mike Eisenstein – Additional Musician
Our Lady Peace, a band that not only demonstrated that they have talent from the very beginning, but they after almost 10 years they have never been better and show no sign of breaking up or ‘calling it quits’. This Canadian Band started originally when Raine Maida was studying at the University of Toronto met Mike Turner. At that point Our Lady Peace was formed.
Released on July 1st, 2003, the, “Live from Calgary and Edmonton,” album was based off of two concerts, obviously in Calgary and Edmonton. At that point Our Lady Peace was finishing there huge tour across Canada, US and some countries of Europe. This album is entirely meant for the Our Lady Peace listener. Someone who may not find all of their work entirely great will most likely not enjoy this album. Since I’m a very big fan of OLP, I truly love this album. In coherence with the CD, a DVD was released based of a concert. Most of the songs of this CD are the same from the DVD, with the exception of a few.
Now on to the review…
1.All for You. With about a minute intro, this song truly is an excellent kick off to the album. Although Raine’s voice may not have been at his ‘prime’ you knew it was his voice and this long will not leave fans disappointed. Later on in the concert, his voice seemed to have ‘warmed up’ and generally go better. 4.5/5
2.Superman’s Dead. Starting off with a somewhat familiar sounding riff, Raine held his Gibson and the crowd could tell this song was going be something big, as soon as Raine began strumming hard, the loud cheers arose and this song was definitely one of the best. With a longer break and a bit of the crowd singing, this song is one of my personal favorites. 5/5
3.Not Enough. Played exactly like the studio album except for a rather largely extended bridge, this song had not only demonstrated talent, but showed that Our Lady Peace is in fact amazing live. 4/5
4.Naveed/Life. Probably my favorite song on the whole CD. The incredibly popular song, Naveed was played live and there was no disappointment shown. With a long intro demonstrating Steve Mazur’s talent, this song is almost 11 minutes of Naveed and Life action! The song goes into the slow part and Raine began singing the lyrics to Life, which just somehow seemed fitting. Perfect song for this album. 5/5
5.Innocent. When the single for this song was released, it was an incredibly popular song and had to be played. Almost every Our Lady Peace fan loves this song, given the fact that it hasn’t gotten overplayed, definitely fits the album. 4/5
6.Bring Back the Sun. Coming to the first slow song of the concert, Bring Back the Sun, shows entrapping riffs and Raine’s vocalizing takes you somewhere else. Probably not liked by many but I really enjoyed this song. Bassist Duncan Coutts plays great fills and doesn’t let up at the end. 5/5
7.One Man Army. Extremely popular after its release originally in 1999 on the Happiness is Not a Fish album, Steve Mazur may have replaced Mike Turner; however his solo and back-up singing did nicely in this song. Only downside to this song is Raine’s voice at the chorus, there was no evidence of the true talent shown in the studio version of this song, however, still amazing. 4/5
8.Is Anybody Home? With an intro probably too long for this song, Raine began by singing, lyrics that generally had nothing to do with the song itself, the song was still performed very well. I enjoyed this song, after it picked up about 2 and a half minutes of the song. 3.5/5
9.Our Time is Fading. A new song performed only live, gives us a taste of what their new album may sound like. With opening lyrics like, “Cut my wings, I’m growing them back today,” this song is one of my favorites. With a rather awkward sounding delay effect right at the first verse, this song is powerful at the chorus. One of the best in the album. 5/5
10.Are you Sad. Although many liked this song after it’s originally release, I, however did not. This song shows excellent vocal skills by Raine but maybe it was too slow for me, or what have you. Good song, just not one of my favorites. 3.5/5
11.Whatever. Immediately after are you sad, I felt that Whatever was the recovery of the album for me. The original song was Chris Benoit’s theme song for the WWE. I enjoyed this song on the album mostly because of the distorted harmonic in the song played throughout the song. This song shows aggression and strength, so the lyrics say, “No holding me back, I’m not driven by fear I’m just driven by anger.” This song is an excellent addition to the CD. 5/5.
12.Clumsy. One of their more popular songs, Clumsy had to be played and was played well. The vocals of the song, once again, were amazing. OLP has done it again. 4.5/5
13.Starseed. Off their first album, Naveed released in 1995, this song has a long intro with Raine vocalizing words that are a little difficult to make out, but is truly amazing. Before the song begins, lots of feedback and drummer Jeremy Taggart are all introduced immediately and Raine breaks into the song. The entire song was played very well. 5/5
14.Somewhere out There. Although its not actually the last song in the concert, it was however the last song in the CD, and seemed very fitting. After their single and was probably the most well known song by Our Lady Peace, it was performed well. I love this song and I was glad that if they were to pick any song to be the last one, this one was perfect. 5/5
In conclusion, the entire album was amazing. Although some songs should’ve been included like The Birdman, which was performed live and those of you who’ve seen the DVD may agree that the song should’ve been included. However I’m not disappointed with this CD and I recommend any Our Lady Peace who hasn’t yet heard the CD or watched the DVD to definitely to pick up one or the other.
