I only have one gripe with this band that can best be expressed with a rambling question; why on earth did you choose to spell your band’s name OneRepublic without a space between the two words? Is it supposed to be trendy or cool or fresh or new or hip or hipster or cool? Did I say cool already? Honestly, lead singer Ryan Tedder, why oh why did you choose to do this? And my conviction on this issue is so strong that I will refuse to spell it without a space. I simply cannot do it. I will boycott the use of a nonspaced name, but I will continue to listen to their music {as I’m sure a name change is pending}.
I guess there’s a problem when I listen to their music though. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to think of it. They sound like everything and everyone. They change styles {lyrically, vocally, musically, productionally = not a word yet} with ease from track to track and it usually leaves me guess as to what genre they will tackle next. The short list of who I think they sound like so much, at times it’s uncanny, is as follows: John Lennon, The Beatles, Jon McLaughlin, Radiohead, Switchfoot {the more secular version}, DC Talk {the less early white boy rap version}, Jars of Clay, The Fray, Keane, and definitely Muse. Honestly there are times when I listen to a few of the tracks that were not included on their debut release, Dreaming Out Loud (iTunes), that it scares me how much they fool my ears.
Take a listen here for yourself and see if you can follow what I mean.
mp3 : One Republic - Dreamin’ Out Loud
This is the track where I feel like there’s a bit of Beatles {in the opening of the song} that then gets mixed heavily with the anthemic bombast of songs in the vein of more recent releases by Switchfoot or DC Talk. But, when they stop short of going stratopheric just after the first chorus I’m reminded of the slow build and melancholic tone of Keane or The Fray.
mp3 : One Republic - Sleep
Reminds me a lot of Radiohead, especially on the beginning of each line as Ryan Tedder’s voice slowly slides into the note before soaring up to a delicate falsetto. Especially the line “so don’t go to sleep” right at the beginning of the chorus. Granted it might have the mastery or the brilliant layers of Radiohead’s work, but I feel there are distinct similarities here. At just under four minutes into the song Radiohead gets pushed into overdrive and a true and honest similarity to Muse emerges with the line “I wait for you, I stay for you.”
mp3 : One Republic - Too Easy
The opening of this track could easily be transposed to piano and sung by Jon McLaughlin on his debut major release, Indiana. From there it continues at a steady pace, heavy with acoustic flourishes and delicate falsetto. On a side note I feel as if this would be a great song for Wakey!Wakey! to cover.
Why these songs weren’t included on their album is beyond me as I feel they contain some of One Republic’s best work to date and would have rounded out their sound and image a little more than the twelve {plus the Timbaland remix} tracks they put on their album Dreaming Out Loud (iTunes). I’m assuming that these tracks were recorded for the 2005 release of the aforementioned album which they sent to college radio stations and used as a sort of promo album. I would also assume these tracks were cut from the mass market pressing of the disc in order to achieve what their execs thought would be the highest profitability.
+ twf hype elbows site myspace amazon mp3 itunes
add to del.icio.us / digg it / facebook share
