Evies Blog

Waking Up Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version Description:

• Amazon Sales Rank: #118 in Digital Music Album
• Published on: 2009-11-17
• Released on: 2009-11-17
• Running time: 3079 seconds

Customer Reviews:

Addicted….
I’m really loving this album. I loved their first one, and love this one just as much, if not more. Each and every song is an extraordinary musical experience. To get the full effect of the album though, it really helps to listen to it all in sequence. Each song helps strengthen the others. It’s almost like a live show more than a CD. Awesome job OneRepublic!!!

Phenomenal . . . best album of 2009
To be honest, I’m not sure what made me buy this album. I guess I’d heard “All the Right Moves” and dug the overall sound [heavy on the drums, touches of cello, etc.]. I don’t own “Dreaming Out Loud”, but of course I’ve heard the singles from it [Apologize, Stop and Stare, All I Need] many times on the radio. I wasn’t *quite* sure what to expect when I bought the follow-up, “Dreaming Out Loud”. After I listened to it the first time, I needed a few days to let it sink in before I could form an opinion.

Well, after owning and listening to this album for several weeks now, I am absolutely in love with it. It’s like one of those great movies that you can watch over and over and discover something new about it every time. One Republic blends everything good from the history and various genres of music and creates work that is both current and catchy, while being complex, touching and [ultimately] classic. I’m struck by how their songs can be simultaneously funky and symphonic, inspirational, and achieve a depth that you would NEVER, EVER find on the vast majority of pop albums out today. They leave “artists” (and I use the term lightly) like Britney Spears and Black-eyed Peas in the dust, and rise to the ranks of true musical icons like U2. In fact, the title rack “Waking Up” could FLAWLESSLY slip into a place on any U2 album and fans of either band would not be disappointed.

What I’m noticing with the [few] people who don’t care for this album and gave it only 1 or 2 stars is they are likely used more mainstream “pop” albums, and “Dreaming out Loud” (based on the singles released) was a little more of the radio-ready/traditional/safe type of music people are accustomed to hearing. However, “Waking Up”(in my opinion) goes deeper and further than that, and really shows off what Ryan Tedder and the group are capable of, which is nothing short of musical genius. What you have here is a band whose success is not anchored by having a hot lead singer or hot single you can blast at your next party - they are the real deal, they understand music as a whole (as evidenced by the vast variety of artists Tedder has produced songs for), and I hope they stay around for a looooong time, because they deserve to.

Favorite tracks:

Good Life - you can’t listen to this song and not feel happy

Secrets - one of those classic power ballads that will get stuck in your head

All This Time - sweet and emotional love song that builds to a BEAUTIFUL instrumental break towards the end

Marchin’ On - inspiring, great beat, gets me to push a little harder on the treadmill

Everybody Loves Me - funky, Southern-rock infused ditty satirizing self-absorbed people

An Intricate & Captivating Masterpiece!
An Intricate & Captivating Masterpiece!

When I heard “Apologize” for the first time on my stereo I was immediately blown away. I haven’t heard such a beautifully, elegantly orchestrated song before in my entire life, or at least for a very very long time. I can’t recall such an experience in the last couple of years.

Needless to say, I purchased “Dreaming Out Loud” on a whim because it was on sale for eight bucks and an album can’t be that awful, contain fifteen songs, and be hideous for that price. I ended up discovering probably one of my favorite new bands of all time and discovering music on a level unexplainable.

Ryan Tedder is music producer talent extraordinaire. He has been on the map for the last few years being behind the scenes, but his duet with Timbaland really put this superstar on the map. Lyrics and production by Ryan for “Bleeding Love” just really put him on the map and it only went uphill from there when “Halo” was released. The boy just excels, but I digress.

Dreaming Out Loud was constantly being rotated on my Zune and its one of the few albums that I listen to on a daily basis. With each listen I found something new to love, or noticed something in the lyrics that wasn’t there before and just fell more in love with OneRepublic. I always thought in my head that if time came for their next album that it would just be a big feat to topple the mass appeal that was DOL. I have to say after listening to “Waking Up” that OneRepublic has done just so. If you loved DOL then you will love their latest effort “Waking Up”. It’s a CD full of new great material from an amazing band. The album is definitely more alternative and a bit different from the first, but it’s still got the OneRepublic magic touch. Ryan has such a wonderful way of using words, so intricate and captivating. The album is a feel good album and just gives you the feeling of hope and the sentiment emotion to want to leave earth a better person.

My favorite track is SECRETS. When the song starts and I heard those violins playing, I knew I was in for a treat and it was nothing bit a sweet treat. The sound of those violins were beyond hypnotic and Ryan plays and blends the lyrics and the chorus so seamlessly that it’s nothing but stellar. Profound music on a cosmological level.

The only down side is that there are only eleven tracks. I was hoping for fifteen again. Get the album and enjoy what a real masterpiece album is about.

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