Our Lady Peace Spiritual Machines Lyrics

While Spiritual Machines is not strictly a concept record, much of the CD's lyrics were inspired by the Ray Kurzweil's book The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence. That explains the spoken-word bits--performed by Mr. Kurzweil himself--between some songs, as well as the general themes of spirituality, and technology versus humanity, that permeate the music and lyrics. "Are You Sad?" is soaring, layered, and almost churchlike, while "Middle of Yesterday" is a cool cut with dynamic, machinelike musicality matched with an acoustic warmth. "Life," with its nearly a cappella intro moving into gently chiming musicality and spare drums, is another dramatic (but not overblown) entry in an album that's sure to garner fan adulation for its diverse intensity. Nonetheless, Spirtual Machines is an accomplished, creative, and fully realized effort from this gratifying, nearly decade-old Canadian lineup. --Katherine Turman