Critical Reception
Although Spiritual Machines was not as successful as Our Lady Peace's previous three albums, it was highly praised by fans and critics alike as being one of Our Lady Peace's finest releases, and has also been proclaimed as being the height of their artistic creativity. Selena Gomez of the University Star of Texas State University–San Marcos called the album incredible, but also pointed out that it was a commercial disaster due to it being "flighty and difficult to palate." MacKenzie Wilson of Allmusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars saying that "They can still deliver pinch-hitting licks and the brash attitude they did when they first formed in 1993, but they are a little older and a little wiser." A review from the Hamilton Spectator noted that the album's concluding tracks "If You Believe" and "The Wonderful Future" demonstrated a particular facility for mixing sonic textures and that there were "actually moments when vocalist Raine Maida varies from his impersonation of a singing head cold." Ashley Bird of Kerrang! noted that the album was packed with crisp, clean songwriting, odd searing post-grunge riffs and Raine Maida's nasal croon. He went on to say that the song "Life" "is one of the most perfectly weighted slices of pop-rock you'll hear."
Eddie Fournier of The New Hampshire reviewed Spiritual Machines positively but said that "The spoken word sections are intriguing, but in a way, they detract from the overall strength of the album, breaking up the momentum created by the powerful 10 songs." He concluded by saying "Overall, Spiritual Machines is a lovely album from start to finish, and even better, it is an album that will make you wonder." Cheryl Hunter of the Hartford Courant said that "It may sound formulaic, yet Maida's intelligent songwriting and nasally, but forthright vocals make Our Lady Peace more than just another faceless modern rock band." Bartley Kives of Winnipeg Free Press gave the album 31⁄2 stars out of 5, saying that Our Lady Peace had finally gotten control of their sound and calling it "easily the finest thing they've ever created."
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