All Sides

Performer: O.A.R.
Engineer: Matt Bowen; Mike Landolt; Will Kennedy
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: O.A.R.: Marc Roberge (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Richard On (vocals, electric guitar); Jerry DePizzo (guitar, saxophone, percussion); Benj Gershman (bass guitar); Chris Culos (drums, percussion). With 2008's ALL SIDES, the Maryland-based jam band O.A.R. (Of A Revolution) offers a highly accessible set of emotive tunes. While some of the group's peers still opt for playful, absurdist lyrics and extended musical meanderings, O.A.R. seems most concerned with crafting tight pop/rock songs on this outing, even reining in its previously prominent reggae influence. ("This Town" and "What Is Mine" feature the subtlest of island vibes.) Though some fans may be dismayed by the ensemble's radio-ready tracks, frontman Marc Roberge and the lads do have a real knack for pop melody, as best heard on the catchy, thoughtful lead single, "Shattered." With its slick mix of pop/rock anthems and radio-ready melodies, All Sides presents an important question: what happens to the quintessential college band after 12 years of touring and recording? Essentially, the college band grows up. It's been more than a decade since O.A.R. honed their undergraduate-friendly sound at Ohio State University, and the five bandmates are now pushing 30. Faced with the prospect of playing mellow frat rock for another ten years, O.A.R. took a different approach to their latest effort, hiring producer Matt Wallace (the man behind Maroon 5's Songs About Jane) in an effort to crack the Billboard singles charts. Wallace slaps a thick coat of commercial paint onto All Sides by cloaking Marc Roberge's vocals in reverb and adding thick layers of piano, strings, and guitars stolen from the U2 fake book. In the process, he all but erases the identity that took O.A.R. years to establish. Perhaps the album's most egregious misstep is "Shattered," a faceless pop/rock track that pitches its tent somewhere between OneRepublic and Augustana's lucrative camping grounds. Co-written by Gregg Wattenberg, a veteran hitmaker for artists like Five for Fighting and Chris Daughtry, the song has little to do with the laid-back band that once sang about crazy games of poker. Of course, nobody can fault O.A.R. for trying something new; one just wishes the guys had chosen a genre within their grasp, as they simply don't have the chops to handle this polished, adult contemporary fare. Traces of the old O.A.R. show up during the album's second half, but they're far too out of place to be enjoyable, like a happy-go-lucky fraternity brother accidentally stumbling into a black-tie corporate event. O.A.R. wasn't designed for Top 40 radio, which makes All Sides all the more puzzling and, ultimately, disappointing. ~ Andrew Leahey With its slick mix of pop/rock anthems and radio-ready melodies, All Sides presents an important question: what happens to the quintessential college band after 12 years of touring and recording? Essentially, the college band grows up. It's been more than a decade since O.A.R. honed their undergraduate-friendly sound at Ohio State University, and the five bandmates are now pushing 30. Faced with the prospect of playing mellow frat rock for another ten years, O.A.R. took a different approach on All Sides, hiring producer Matt Wallace (the man behind Maroon 5's Songs About Jane) in an effort to crack the Billboard singles charts. Wallace cloaks Marc Roberge's vocals in reverb and adds thick layers of piano, strings, and guitars. Of course, nobody can fault O.A.R. for trying something new, but polished adult contemporary fare is probably not their forte. Thankfully, traces of the old O.A.R. show up during the album's second half. ~ Andrew Leahey

A triumph of word-of-mouth enthusiasm over an official marketing plan, O.A.R. (Of a Revolution) has become one of the most popular U.S. live acts of the 2000s. They started out as just another roots-and-reggae-loving campus band in the mid-'90s, but used every opportunity they could to play live. They encouraged fans to bootleg their shows and soon became a part of a larger network of preppy/hippie jam bands that traveled the country, playing for huge audiences. Their exposure grew when they penned and performed the theme song to the hit TV show EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION. They signed to a major label in 2003, and by 2006, it was reported that they had sold over a million records in their relatively brief grassroots career.

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