When you realize that a band like Our Lady Peace has been together for over a decade, it should make sense that they just will not sound the same. No band in existance has maintained the same sound album to album, and if they have, they didn't do very well. People like change, growth, maturity. They like different topics, they like seeing their fallen heroes rise again, they like seeing bad guys getting what's coming to them, and they like seeing those that once stood offstage finally take charge of their destiny and make themselves heard.

Throughout their career, Our Lady Peace has always fallen short of the explosion in the American market that so many Canadians get. They are HUGE in Canada, but not here. Many suppose that this was the reasoning for hiring Bob Rock as their producer and putting out the album Gravity (which is why a crucial member of their line-up left, that was the creative difference). Most OLP fans hate the album, but I can't share that sentiment. Regardless of their subject matter, regardless of how unique they are or aren't playing, I hear the same things coming from that group. Whether it be the musical dissonance that we've come to expect, or an interesting, dark twist on an old favorite...OLP has never failed to deliver to me songs that hit me in just the right way.

However, when I first picked up Healthy in Paranoid Times...I was REALLY disappointed. Had they gone too far? Was it possible that this was, in fact, their worst album? I wasn't ready to believe it, and I did actually find a few songs that I really really enjoyed. But overall, I just couldn't connect, you know? I felt left out, a place I've never felt with them before.

And then I went to see them perform at the 9:30 club in DC. It was very exciting for me, because the last performance of theirs I attended was on the date that Happiness was released. So yeah, it had been a while. They didn't perform my old favorites the way I remembered, and to be honest, I forgot some of the lyrics. But that didn't stop me from tearing up. I was connecting, I was rediscovering something I truly loved, and I was finding new material to love. They did some rather unexpected pieces from the new album. I didn't expect to enjoy "Boy" as much as I did. Nor did I think "Wipe That Smile Off Your Face" would be such a crowd favorite, but it was. The songs from their new album got the crowd really going, and you could see just who was a hardcore OLP fans from the ones who "remembered their glory days". They were the ones singing passionately to old *and* new songs alike.

So I took another listen. Maybe, just maybe, this was better than I thought. And yeah, it was.

First of all, "Angels/Losing/Sleep" may be the dumbest way to give us a song title, but the song itself is stunning. From the bayou twang of the opening guitar to the heavy bass falling in afterwards, to Raine's voice belting out some very odd lyrics, this song had me hooked. I'm glad I took the time to really listen to it, because this is an instant classic in my book.

"Where Are You", the first single off this album, is amazing. The lyrics are actually quite clever. "Tonight, did Punk Rock get it right, is there no future in sight? Is it different, now, is it different?" It's energetic, something which isn't a real OLP staple, but it's definitely something I can happily stomach.

"Wipe That Smile Off Your Face" is one of the angriest songs I've heard from them, and watching Raine shake on stage as he uttered those words into the microphone was chilling. He looked mortifyingly angry. It's such a wonderful song, I love listening to it when I am angry, it lets me vent.

Now Im not up on Raine's personal life, although I know he is married to Chantal Kreviazuk. If they had a child, I'd understand what he said at the concert about "Boy" being about one of those amazing unexpected moments in your life. I can't really be sure. But the song itself is heartfelt, and a pleasant listen.

"The World on a String" is another departure from style for them, but again, it works. It's fun to listen to, not too difficult to learn the lyrics, and nice to sing to. Definitely a good track.

"Don't Stop" is dirty dirty dirty! I never expected lyrics like this from them, but I don't mind! Good job, guys!

Those are the standout tracks, but the nice thing about music is that you form your own bond with your own selection of tracks. What I say here is simply my own personal experience. I do, however, highly recommend this to anyone (yes, even you), if to do nothing else than form your own bonds with the songs of your choice.