Burn Burn - Our Lady Peace

The major thing to happen to Our Lady Peace since the 2005 release of Healthy in Paranoid Times is the public embrace of David Cook, winner of the 2008 American Idol. Cook often called OLP his favorite band, enlisting the group's Raine Maida to co-write three songs on his debut, a development that could theoretically lead to a bigger audience for the Canadian post-grunge band, something that OLP appear to have kept in mind for their 2009 album, Burn Burn, if its streamlined sound is any indication. For all intents and purposes, this is another OLP album, still sounding like a hybrid of Joshua Tree-era U2 and latter-day Goo Goo Dolls, but the quirks, including the political inclination of Healthy, are toned down in favor of a gleaming adult alternative sound. Because Our Lady Peace are a rock band first and foremost, the slower moments are anthemic rather than sappy and the fist-pumping rockers are infused with righteousness, with the two extremes tied together with a spaciness that splits the difference between U2 and Coldplay. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide