Toronto band Our Lady Peace are simplifying their intense rock sound on their coming new record.

So says drummer Jeremy Taggart, who talked with The Sun this week after OLP racked up a leading five Juno nominations.

"It's a rock record," said Taggart down the line from Vancouver, where OLP are mixing their new album at The Warehouse studio. "It's a little bit simpler. In that sense, it's a departure, because we're known for ripping up songs and tearing them up and down until we're happy. That generally makes them a little bit more complicated.

"This time, we basically recorded a lot of the stuff in a room together, so there's a lot more energy and a lot more passion left in the songs."

Taggart says OLP currently has 12 songs they're happy with, "but that could change at any time," said Taggart. "There's nothing written in stone at this point."

Thus no title or release date so far.

"We're just trying to get it finished and then we'll deal with all that stuff," said Taggart. "We're just really excited about music."

He added that losing guitarist Mike Turner in the middle of making the followup to 2000's Spiritual Machines wasn't as disruptive as it sounds.

"It's been okay," he said. "Just because we still have (auxiliary keyboardist Jamie Edwards) who plays guitar and we're very happy. Obviously we had a transition period, but things have been running smoothly." So far, however, there's no replacement for Turner.

"We're just concentrating on finishing this record," said Taggart. "Working with (veteran rock producer Bob Rock) has been so great and we're just so positively overwhelmed by this situation that we're in right now, once we're done this record, then we'll move onto the next step, which is getting our live thing together."

News of Turner's exit was made public late last year just as OLP -- rounded out by singer Raine Maida and bassist Duncan Coutts -- were expected back from Maui where they had been recording with Rock (The Cult, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith).

"We were both in a situation where we were leading different creative paths," explained Taggart. "His music vision was changing, compared to where ours was, so it was just the best for both to part ways."

OLP didn't make it to the Juno nominations press conference this week, but Taggart hopes at least a few band members will make it to St. John's, Nfld., for the April 14 ceremony.

"The reason we're not performing is we're really busy making this album and we're not really available to play live right now -- just because of the recent situation with Mike."

NEIL'S PASSION: Neil Young fans will be delighted to hear that the Toronto-born singer-songwriter is planning a solo tour this summer following his current CSNY road trip, which played two dates at the ACC earlier this week.

In the meantime, Young's label yesterday released the final track listing for his new album, Are You Passionate, due in stores March 26: You're My Girl, Mr. Disappointment, Differently, (Quit) Don't Say You Love Me, Let's Roll, Are You Passionate (title track), Goin' Home, When I Hold You In My Arms, Be With You, Two Old Friends and She's A Healer.