All Sides - Dark Publications

Location: Home » music » General » All Sides

Similar Items:

•	Viva La Vida
•	We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things
•	Stories of a Stranger
•	David Cook
•	Dark Horse

Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
O.A.R. has come to stand for authentic Rock music that reflects the collective triumphs and tragedies we all experience is this world: Real people making real music that resounds deeply with their fans. The songs on this album showcase every facet of the band and it's musical tastes which led to calling the album 'All Sides'. The radio friendly first single, 'Shattered', produced by Matt Wallace (Maroon 5), with additional production by Rob Cavallo (Green Day) lands at radio Mid June as the band kicks off their three month long 'All Sides' Summer Tour.

Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Truly showcasing "All Sides" and maturity level July 15, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I can't honestly sit here and say "Yeah man, 10 years ago I was starting high school, smoking pot, and rocking out to some high school kids from Rockville, Maryland in this band called O.A.R." It took a while before I truly got turned onto O.A.R. When that happened they sort of turned into crack for me. I couldn't get enough. I spanned the entire catalog, all the way back to The Wanderer till Stories of a Stranger. I read that lead singer Marc Roberge went on a cross-country drive with his wife and dogs before this album was completed. The album title, " All Sides," is a fair and pretty accurate description of what to expect on this album. From the beginning till the end of the album I feel that all aspects of O.A.R.'s creativity and brilliance is delivered.
I truly hope people don't expect the O.A.R. from The Wanderer or Risen or any of the great older albums. That was ten years ago and the guys in O.A.R. are pushing close to 30 years old. Yet, what I find when listening to this album is a matured, progressive, and still fun and catchy band playing music they love and writing introspective and meaningful lyrics.
The first radio single off of "All Sides" is "Shattered (Turn the Car Around). It's a piano-laden, truly radio-friendly pop song, but I really find it hard not to sing along. I was slightly concerned with the first three songs being released early because I did not hear any of the traditional saxophone that makes O.A.R. great. Yet, I was not to be let down, as "Whatever Happened" starts in with a conga type intro soon to be followed by the catchy soulful saxophone of Jerry DePizzo.
With this release O.A.R. spans a lot of genres of music. "All Sides" contains bits of radio-friendly pop singles ( and why not, the band deserves some recognition besides the crazy cult following), funky saxophone reggae inspired jams, and slow, melodic, and emotional tunes belted out only as Marc Roberge could. When the man sings, as a listener, you can truly feel the emotion trying to be conveyed.
In short, "All Sides," is a great release for a great band. The boys have grown up to men and they have put out a great all encompassing album that any O.A.R. fan will enjoy, new or old. I truly hope not to hear crys of "sell-out," because it would be an injustice to great songwriters. I'm excited to see the guys this summer on their "All Sides" tour, and I strongly recommend this album to any O.A.R. fan, or music fan in general.

5 out of 5 stars

O.A.R. does it again July 15, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

As a die-hard fan I'm thrilled with this new release. The great news is, I'm confident not only die-hards like myself, but casual fans and those new to O.A.R., will get a lot out of this CD as well. It's great to see them have some mainstream success. So much talent in this band. Marc's vocals are amazing and Jerry's sax - well, there's nothing better.

2 out of 5 stars

No longer a unique band July 16, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful

Based on a couple listens so far to this album, there is absolutely nothing unique about it. Stories of a Stranger was a great album that showcased a lot of variety in the songwriting abilities of the band. This album just sounds like a lot of pop rock from the mid-90s, only its 2008. They've lost their great reggae/ska influence completely, there's no jamming whatsoever, and every song sounds like it was written/produced to be on the radio (but then again, didn't the Maroon 5 guy produce some of the album?)

EDIT: I said before that I would have to listen more to pass a final judgment. Don't get me wrong, the album is still very far from old-school OAR and they're fairly generic now, but I would like to say that this album isn't as bad as I originally said. Listening to it more, I find it a lot more "listenable" than I said before, and I enjoy it a lot more than I thought I would. I can't seem to change the number of stars, but I'd move this up to 3 stars if I could.

1 out of 5 stars

O.A.R. has "Fallout" with latest release July 21, 2008
4 out of 8 found this review helpful

Who doesn't get excited for their favorite bands new release. I sure was, but the latest installment for O.A.R. has me scratching my head wondering what happened. This is the farthest thing from what O.A.R. is all about. This album should be called "Pop" because that is exactly what it is. It's pop music focused for radio play and that isn't what this band is about. I hear nothing on this album that made these guys such a cult hit. True O.A.R. fans know what happened the last time they released a catchy pop tune called Love and Memories. I hope this is just a kink in the chain for these guys because I really do love their music.

4 out of 5 stars

Solid. July 23, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

I agree with some of the other reviews here in that this is a dramatically different sound for OAR. I find it entertaining and enjoyable, though. Maybe they want to break through on more of a commercial level as this album has a much more pop-sounding feel to it. Or maybe they just want to expand their horizons with something a little different. Either way, I have no problem with it. I see some parallels between this move and when REM came out with Document after being a "college radio" band for several years.

Some fans were upset with this, but REM kept their own sound and integrity through it all (and still has, check out their recent release, Accelerate, for the awesome proof) ... and I expect OAR will, too. You cannot fault a band for exploring their creativity. As a fan and admirer of OAR's immense talent and gifts, I wish them all the best with this release.

Powered by Associate-O-Matic

T-shirts, Posters

Pentagram T-shirts, bags, etc...

Gothic Posters