Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)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.
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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 MattWallace (Maroon 5), with additional production by Rob Cavallo (Green Day) lands at radio Mid June as the band kicks off theirthree month long 'All Sides' Summer Tour.
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