One of the most noticeable things about Our Lady Peace's new album is the writing in a booklet that comes with the CD. Rather than providing lists of names in the traditional "thanks" section, or credits or band-member information, a number of statistics are given. And after reading them the CD's title, "Healthy in Paranoid Times," makes perfect sense.
More than 19 million people had cosmetic surgery during the 1,165 days it took to record the album, while nearly 10 million people died from AIDS, according to the band. About 138 million people ate at McDonald's, while 54 million died from extreme poverty.
The statistics show the strong disparity between various cultures in our world. In other words, a lot of people are living healthy in paranoid times.
Lead singer Raine Maida, on the phone during a tour stop in Pittsburgh ("I'd rather be in Salt Lake," he said), was careful with the album's artwork. "It's like an anti-Norman Rockwell portrait. It's just something I wanted to do over the years. My life over the last five years, there's been a lot of statistics. It just felt like the thing to do about this record."
Maida has been heavily involved with the group War Child, a network of independent charity organizations that help children worldwide who have been affected by war. He recently went to Iraq to help film a documentary on the children there. He has also made visits to such places as Sudan. "It's hard to explain unless you've been there. (The trips) make you look at the world differently and your own life differently.
"You can't get it out of your head after you go to places like that. Part of it gets into your pores. Those trips are really hard for me to take. It's hard for me to want to get into a band or make a tour. I feel like a hypocrite."
Maida said even the situation in hurricane-ravaged Louisiana should raise questions about how people who live in the wealthiest nation in the world can suffer like that. "In the 21st century, how can this type of thing happen?"
Based on what Maida has been doing the past few years, it isn't hard to guess that when he did get back to the studio, Our Lady Peace developed a politically-charged album that has been compared to early U2. "I think we're all really pretty happy with it. It really feels like a defining record for us. Not in terms of what we sell. It's what we've come to as a band. The previous records always had a moment, had a song. This feels like a record of that kind of stuff."
"Healthy in Paranoid Times" finds OLP working again with producer Bob Rock, known mostly for his work with Metallica. "The last record was closer to what Bob does. This is closer to what we do. We tried to find middle ground."
There were a lot of "good songs" that didn't make the record that probably would have if they were played for the record company, Maida said. But more important to the band for this album was being consistent with its social theme, he said.
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