OneRepublic's sophomore album "Waking Up": IMO, pretty good

[Gaith]

First, let me say that I hardly ever *get* popular music. I've tried listening to albums such as Coldplay's Viva La Vida, which many called one of the best of 2008, and apart from one or two songs, was befuddled by the general mishmash of sound. I tried the Black Keys' album Brothers, and the songs, while quite listenable, were virtually indistinguishable. The AV Club gave British Sea Power's latest a B+, so I gave that a spin, but heard very little beyond ultra-loud screeching.


Because I don't much watch TV or listen to the radio, I was vaguely aware of OneRepublic's "Apologize", but didn't think much on it. Then, a while back, I heard their "All the Right Moves" in a Safeway (I know, I know, I'm super-uncool, music-wise), and thought it was pretty good, so I gave the album a try. And while it's full of the same sort of musical wanderings as Viva La Vida, and thus took me a couple spins to really get into... well, I did.


I then gave their first album Dreaming Out Loud a try, and wasn't impressed - it was much flatter, back to the random noise stuff, and when contrasted with Waking Up, I really appreciated for one of the first times the role of production in album-making. Consulting some critics, I was heartened to find myself vindicated in this:


LAT:

Much of that [first] record and Tedder's outside writing were a weak broth of dorm-room-canoodling ballads and R&B with very little rhythm or blues. Fortunately, on OneRepublic's second album "Waking Up," they've internalized a lot of the things that made Timbaland such a compelling producer -- that good sounds are paramount, songs should move in odd directions and many different ideas can constitute a hook.

EW:

OneRepublic's sophomore disc, Waking Up, reflects that studio experience with loads of sleek synth licks and juicy percussion tricks; it's much more flavorful than the band's Fray-like debut.

Unlike recent Springsteen albums, Waking Up isn't all winners - I skip all four tracks from the deluxe edition as well as the closer "Lullaby" - but while Slant may hold that "if anyone's ever complained about Coldplay being too edgy, Waking Up could be their dream come true", I at least can "get with" most of its songs, as kids like to say. Liked to say. Back in the 70s.


Anyone else have an opinion on the album/baffled by much contemporary pop in general?

 

[bigdaddy]

Well..... welcome to 2009, better late than never!

I agree with you on Coldplay, all their songs sound like a mixed up mash of sounds as some soft guy's voice is made softer through computer noise. The funny thing is, as popular as they supposedly are, I have never met anyone who was a fan of theirs. A few people have gone "Yeah I like a song", but can't name which one.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Which pop songs I like are almost entirely based on the lead singer's voice. I can deal with any type of beat or rythym as long as the lead singer has a great voice. I don't much care for One Republic's singer. I do enjoy the lead singer of Coldplay though, so I tend to find their music much easier to listen to. I also like the vocals in Maroon 5 and Train, two bands that I've enjoyed for several years now and own many of their albums. I can't stand Katy Perry or Christina Aguilera or Fergie because their voices are not pleasing to me. So I tend to ignore how popular the songs or musicians are and judge each genre equally on this vocal basis. Which is, I guess, why I don't enjoy rap, because there's no pretty singing voices.

 

[bigdaddy]

Which pop songs I like are almost entirely based on the lead singer's voice. I can deal with any type of beat or rythym as long as the lead singer has a great voice. I don't much care for One Republic's singer. I do enjoy the lead singer of Coldplay though, so I tend to find their music much easier to listen to. I also like the vocals in Maroon 5 and Train, two bands that I've enjoyed for several years now and own many of their albums.

That's funny you should mention that because I hate Maroon 5 and Train and think they have no vocal talent.

I think most with ears agree Katy Perry is just a mess.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

Pop music in general makes my hair hurt. Especially in recent years. Such massive amounts of godawful garbage...it's almost too astounding to contemplate.

I have seen this band's name around...but had not heard any of their music until tonight as I don't listen to stations where it would be played (I tend to bounce between E Street Radio, Pearl Jam Radio, Lithium, 60's on 6, & 80's on 8 on XM). I went and looked up a few of their videos on YouTube...and they get a big fat 'meh' from me.

But in fairness, this is not my kind of music anyway....and maybe some real pop fans (if they exist in any kind of numbers on here) might be better critics of this music.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Which pop songs I like are almost entirely based on the lead singer's voice. I can deal with any type of beat or rythym as long as the lead singer has a great voice. I don't much care for One Republic's singer. I do enjoy the lead singer of Coldplay though, so I tend to find their music much easier to listen to. I also like the vocals in Maroon 5 and Train, two bands that I've enjoyed for several years now and own many of their albums.

That's funny you should mention that because I hate Maroon 5 and Train and think they have no vocal talent.

I think most with ears agree Katy Perry is just a mess.

I guess I should state that I judge based on the tracks on their CD and not their live performances. Almost every artist I've heard live sounded like shit compared to their CDs, especially Maroon 5. The only band I enjoyed live was Garbage.

 

[Starbreaker]

"Good Life" is my ringtone.

 

[Gaith]

Well..... welcome to 2009, better late than never!

The last album I delved into was The Tumbleweed Connection, so this is as au courant as it gets for moi!

Which pop songs I like are almost entirely based on the lead singer's voice. I can deal with any type of beat or rythym as long as the lead singer has a great voice. I don't much care for One Republic's singer. I do enjoy the lead singer of Coldplay though, so I tend to find their music much easier to listen to. I also like the vocals in Maroon 5 and Train

The Maroon 5 guy is okay, but both he and the Coldplay guy have an element of high-pitched crooning to their stuff, which I'm not a big fan of. The OneRepublic guy, on the other hand, does similar crooning, but with a deeper voice. Ergo, points to him.

 

[Top41]

As a shameless lover of all things pop, I really like these guys. I heard "Stop and Stare" from their first album and liked it, but it was "Say (All I Want)" which I still love that really got me to take a listen. I really like both albums. "All This Time" might be my current fav--love both "Secrets" and "All the Right Moves" but both are being overplayed a bit right now (at my gym of all places, lol!).