Pop-rock music is a genre often derided for its safe and harmless nature susceptible to small let-hit wonders talent looking for their 15 minutes of fame. There is no reason why artists looking for their low trade within its borders can not be shown a little imagination, however. More than that can also be a market for it. Coloradan quintet OneRepublic alluded to such an ambition in their LP debut’Dreaming Out Loud \’. Two years later they look to build on that promise with follow-up release’Waking Up \’.
Of course their debut did have a thing going on: producer Timbaland remix of their single”Apologize”and converted into a global hit. There is nothing so great here, although single’All The Right Moves”is a catchy and polished document that a not too dissimilar task of bridging the gap between pop rock and contemporary R & B. has once again , there are plenty of choices for the following singles:”Secrets”follows the hit-making formula of near-perfection as”Good Life”is an up-tempo feel-good vibe that is difficult to dislike. The best of everything else, the tongue-in-cheek’Everybody Loves Me”, where the singer Ryan Tedder injects some welcome character through lines like” Don’t need my health, I have my name and I my wealth “.
So some of that aforementioned imagination? The intentions of Tedder & Co. on their debut was admirable, if somewhat misplaced. And the same can be said second time. Positive, such as ambition adds some pleasant change. For the most part, this is not a boring album. However, this ambition was never fully capitalized on, resulting in a lot of hit and miss ideas. Look no further than the multi-component’Missing Persons 1 & 2″of strings-heavy \ Fear’as examples.
The last half of”Waking Up’will indeed barometer. Unfortunately doesn’t quite up to the end. Heart-on-sleeve ballads like’All This Time’and’Lullaby’float on without making an impression, while uplifting motivational piece’Marchin On’will have many enemies as fans with his military — approach. There are other things that work against the band … The title track is half decent so distracted that you would swear that U2’s The Edge played guitar, while (their debut) there is often an over-reliance on piano and strings that blunts their impact.
