Neon Reviews: OneRepublic – Waking Up

OneRepublic - Waking Up

Your frontman writes hit records for megastars like Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson and Leona Lewis. You’ve skyrocketed up the Billboard charts with your Timbaland-produced single, Apologize. Your debut album, Dreaming Out Loud, has sold over 1 million copies worldwide. And you’ve sold out concerts around the globe. Now it’s time to follow-up all of that success, OneRepublic. The pressure’s on!

When your band’s chief songwriter is Ryan Tedder, that task becomes a little less daunting. Tedder’s writing approach for OneRepublic’s sophomore album, Waking Up, seems to be telling a story. Upon first listen, that story gets a little lost in translation but like every good book, it may take several reads—or in this case, listens—before you truly get it.

Lead single, All The Right Moves, and album tracks Everybody Loves Me and Good Life are perhaps the only “radio friendly” tunes you’ll come across. Clear in its mission, the sing, clap and stomp along melodies immediately grab you.

But it’s less obvious gems like the beautiful love song All This Time and the haunting album closer Lullaby that really moves this set and even the band its self into the next chapter—one where they’re judged on their musicianship and not the overnight success of a single.

Pressure’s off.

Tweet This Buzz This Delicious Digg This Facebook Reddit Stumble This