Spiritual Machines is the fourth studio album by the Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released by Columbia Records in December 2000. Although not initially intended, the project evolved into a conceptual interpretation of futurist and inventor Raymond Kurzweil's 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines. Short tracks of spoken dialog from Kurzweil himself are interspersed among the actual songs on the album. The Kurzweil K250 keyboard, one of his inventions, was utilized throughout the recording of the album.
The album was written and recorded in two months while the band was still on tour in support of their previous record, Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch, which had only been released 14 months prior. A combination of lead singer-songwriter Raine Maida's prolific songwriting at the time and lead-guitarist Mike Turner's discovery of The Age of Spiritual Machines in a bookstore hurried the completion of the album. The band only took a break from recording to organize and perform at Summersault in 2000. Unlike their previous releases, this one features a more organic, acoustic sound, and less obvious layering and electronic texturing.
Spiritual Machines has been noted as being the end of an era for Our Lady Peace, as it was the last album produced by the band's longtime producer Arnold Lanni, the last to feature original guitarist Mike Turner in full, and the last studio album to feature art model Saul Fox (until 2021) on its cover. It was also the last album to feature Maida's high-falsetto singing voice prominently. The album peaked at number five in Canada, where it is certified double platinum.
In August 2020, the band announced that they would be releasing a direct sequel to the album, titled Spiritual Machines 2, which was released in 2021.
Background While touring rigorously in support of Happiness... in mid-2000, Mike Turner came across The Age of Spiritual Machines, a 1999 book by inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil. "I happened to be lucky enough to discover a really shiny book cover in a book store." Turner stated, "I wish I could say it was like, 'Well, I've been on this intellectual quest.' I picked it up, read it and went mental."Keene, Darrin. " Chartattack.com December 12, 2000. Retrieved 2009-10-23. Becoming fascinated by the futuristic ideology of the book, he proceeded to share it with the other band members, reading them passages on their tour bus over the next several months.Bento, Debbie Chartattack.com November 9, 2000. Retrieved 2009-11-16Chiu, Ellen Chartattack.com October 25, 2000. Retrieved 2009-11-16
Lead singer Raine Maida first brought up the idea of a concept album after excerpts from the book began influencing his songwriting. Passing time on the road, he had amassed a backlog of songs and had begun to record demos. He jokingly suggested an album title of Kurzweil.Worley, Gail. "The Soul in the Machine: An Interview with Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace " – Ink19.com. Retrieved 2009-09-21. "That was not the most graceful sounding name in the world, so we went with Spiritual Machines instead," Turner said.Wirt, John "Popularity doesn't influence Peace's music making" The Advocate (Louisiana) April 6, 2001. While the other band-members were less enthusiastic about the idea due to its weighty subject matter, Maida and Turner decided to pursue it and Turner contacted Ray Kurzweil via email to ask for permission to use the title of his book for their project. Kurzweil's excitement at the prospect prompted them to invite him to record spoken excerpts from his book for the album and a correspondence developed. “I think it’s amazing that Ray Kurzweil sent us a bunch of pieces, and for whatever reason, they really tie in with what we were trying to say on this record,” said Maida.
Recording and production
Unlike the band's three previous albums, most of the songs on Spiritual Machines were written solely by Maida. “I think that because this record happened quickly, we just ended up using a lot more of my songs this time,” stated Maida. “Whatever happens, happens, and if there are good ideas lying around, we use them.”Christie, Rod. "Our Lady Peace" Canadian Musician Jan./Feb. 2001. Retrieved 2009-11-01. Also unlike on their previous albums, this one was recorded sporadically piece by piece with songs being added as others were discarded. Raine had made several vocal demos at his new home recording studio before the Spiritual Machines idea had come into play. Many of these demos were used for the final recordings and Raine was given production credits. “It was more a means to an end." he explained, "I would start off with a 4-track, then move to an 8-track, then go to digital. I have a ProTools system set up in my basement, so I just try to finish songs and get them out of the way so I don’t build up this backlog of ideas. We just sift through that stuff, as well as the stuff we do in rehearsal and just pick the best ideas and go. It wasn't like I said I wanted to be a producer or anything, it’s just that the demos I was making came closer to the finished product on one or two occasions, so now, I’m a producer.”
Jamie Edwards, who had helped record and tour for Happiness... was heavily utilized during the recording process and was becoming a big part of the band, considered by some to be the unofficial fifth member of the band at that time. Taggart recounted in 2010, "He’s an amazing guitar player, and he played on the record. People don’t know that he had a lot to do with that stuff. He was very influential. We had him in all our writing sessions. It was a very creative time that was cool because we were all in a room, kind of working together.”McGuire, Colin "Our Lady Peace Look Back at 'Spiritual Machines' a Decade Later" - Popmatters. Retrieved 2010-12-14
By the time the band was set to perform at Summersault in August 2000, about eight songs, including "Life" and "Everyone's a Junkie", had been recorded as demos while the band was on the road touring. Guitarist Turner noted: "After we were done we brought them in for the record company to hear, with an eye to making plans for next year. They heard what we were doing and said, 'Well, let's finish the album you're working on.' And we thought, 'Album? We're just demoing.' But they told us what we had was great, so we went back into the studio with Arn[old Lanni] and did just that."Kendle, John "No peace for Peace: Surprise new CD spoils OLP's hopes for a well-earned rest" – Canoe.ca. Retrieved 2009-06-17 Over the next two months, the band worked to complete the album with Arnold Lanni at Arnyard Studios in Toronto as well as Avatar Studios in New York City.Nathanson, Ian "Moving Spirit: Book inspires OLP to make beautiful music." Canoe.ca. Retrieved 2009-06-17 Rumors had surfaced that, while in New York, Our Lady peace had dropped Lanni as producer to work with The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. These rumors were later debunked by Maida. The first songs to be played live were "Life" and "Everyone's a Junkie", which debuted during Summersault in August 2000 shortly after they were first recorded.Mernagh, Matt Chartattack.com August 29, 2000. Retrieved 2009-09-26 In an August 2000 interview with Chartattack Raine revealed that a song titled "Yesterday" (later to become "Middle of Yesterday") was almost guaranteed to be the first single for Spiritual Machines.
Towards the end of recording Spiritual Machines, percussionist Jeremy Taggart suffered a serious ankle injury during a mugging while walking his dog.Anon. "" The Waterloo Region Record (Kitchener, ON) December 14, 2000: D03. Retrieved 2009-06-14. While he recovered, Taggart's friend Matt Cameron, former drummer for Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, filled in for Taggart on the tracks "Right Behind You (Mafia)" and "Are You Sad?", which Taggart had already written the drum parts for. When the final tracks were ready for mixing, the band shopped around before finding a producer they wanted. The album was mixed in Atlanta, Georgia by Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam's long time producer.Stevenson, James "OLP raising our spirits" Canoe.ca. Retrieved 2009-06-17 "It was an amazing experience working with Brendan, someone who immediately understood what we were trying to do and was able to capture exactly how we heard this album," noted Maida.
Music and lyrics The songs for Spiritual Machines were written and partially recorded during a year in which the band was doing extensive touring of Canada, the United States, and Europe. According to lead singer Maida, the live stage-context inspired the band to "keep it really basic and not try to add too many textures... to not overdo it."Rayner, Ben. "Songs of computer brains; Our Lady Peace takes on ideas of Ray Kurzweil" The Toronto Star December 11, 2000: D03. Retrieved 2009-06-14. and giving the technically inclined record an acoustic feel at times. According to Maida, half of the record was completed before the book and its ideas even entered the equation. During an interview in late 2001, he stated, "... even though it seems quite intrinsic to the record, really, it only represents about four or five songs." While the lyrics of several songs were inspired by the futuristic theories of Kurzweil, they were also written as a response to them, saying that the human spirit would always prevail. "Lyrically, this album is about finding the spirituality within ourselves."Anon. "Snowjob Bio" – MuchMusic February 2001. Retrieved 2009-11-16 This is the case with the opening song, "Right Behind You (Mafia)", which Raine said, "..[is] not an 'f-you' to Kurzweil. It's like 'I believe [much of] what you're saying, but we're going to fight it as well because there is a soul and there is a spirit.'"Bliss, Karen "Making Peace With the Future: Man just might have created a monster – the computer." What Magazine February 2001. Retrieved 2009-11-16 Following "Mafia" is the song "In Repair", which muses on how the human body can be "repaired," whether through heart surgery or after an accident. This song is countered by the following track, "Life" which, explained Maida, "recognizes the pain our minds can experience."Saxberg, Lynn "The spiritual machine of Our Lady Peace: Album inspired by keyboard genius Kurzweil; [Final Edition]." Ottawa Citizen December 11, 2001. Retrieved 2010-09-27
During a 2001 interview with Gary Graff from Wall of Sound Magazine, Maida recounted the inspiration for the lyrics of "Are You Sad". He was in New York recording "In Repair" at the old Hit Factory studio, which was later known as Avatar Studios. Following those sessions, Maida attempted to call his younger brother from his hotel room but couldn't get through. "When you're making a record, you kind of go into hiding, especially when I'm writing lyrics or writing music; I tend not to keep in touch with any friends or family or stuff. But my brother and I have a good relationship, and I want to keep it good. I couldn't get a hold of him for, like, a week, and I knew he was going through a shitty time — typical young-20s, no job, having a tough life. I wanted to talk to him desperately, and this song just came out of me, "Are You Sad?" It came out really quickly on a shitty travel guitar".Graff, Gary (2001). Wallofsound, go.com at the Internet Archive. Retrieved 2009-09-19 The meaning of "If You Believe" was revealed in a 2001 interview with Cleveland.com, "That song's about having an out-of-body experience and seeing that the afterlife is real," Maida confirms, "and telling people that there's something machines can't have, and we've got it.Cherry, Robert. "Our Lady Peace's Maida knows what 'Life' is about" Cleveland.com April 13, 2001. Retrieved 2009-10-23."