My Amazon Reviews: The Fray "Helios"

God Of The Sun
3 Out Of 5 Stars

If you were wondering what "Helios" is, the Ancient Greeks worshiped the dude. The Fray seek to harness that power on their fourth album, and it's a dramatic change of pace for the band. Their stock in trade before this was piano-driven adult pop, but they've pushed the pianos to the back of the stage for this album. Only the opener, "Hold My Hand," will sound familiar with The Fray via their biggest hit, "How To Save a Life." The rest vary from another Ryan Tedder insta-hit (actually, the excellent "Love Don't Die") to danceable pop ("Give It Away").

Lead singer Isaac Slade is pretty decent at making accessible soft rock tunes, and even with attempts at breaking the mold, like the drumbeat stomp of "Wherever This Goes" strain at the bit for the band to just cut loose a bit more, which is why the outside sourced "Love Don't Die" stands out so much. If Coldplay is watered down U2, then The Fray is Coldplay filtered to a pop essence. They even channel The Cure at one point, on "Closer To Me." You can tell that The Fray are more ambitious than they can actually accomplish, which makes "Helios" at least enjoyable. If middle of the road but capably produced pop (think Coldplay, Maroon 5 and OneRepublic) turns your motor, "Helios" will set your sun dial.

     

My Amazon Reviews: OneRepublic "Native"

Going Native
4 Out Of 5 Stars

OneRepublic's third album, "Native," reels in the bombast of the last album, "Waking Up." In its place are smooth synths, grand choruses and bandleader Ryan Tedder's soulful voice. He's also a songwriter who has his ears glued to what makes a current hit (he counts Rhianna, Beyonce and Maroon 5 among his successes), so "Native" sounds like, well, most of the melodic pop singles of the day.

This is not a bad thing. A really good pop band (say, Maroon 5) can get in your ear canal and fill your day with a fair amount of joy. OneRepublic wants you to have a great day. They trade in on the previously mentioned bands, while obviously paying attention to the success of Mumford and Sons with a string plucked optimistic anthem titled "I Lived." Any similarities to M&S's "I Will Wait" are completely noncoincidental. Yet there are those huge hooked poptunes like the single "If I Lose Myself," or "Something I Need," which build off melodies before bursting into powerful choruses.

Tedder and OneRepublic are an eager to please bunch. "Native" is the kind of pop that you'll get from the likes of Maroon 5, The Fray and, when they're feeling really ambitious, Coldplay. By reigning in the tendency to over-produce (my main argument with "Waking Up"), he may have the best album he and his band-mates have turned in to date.

     

My Amazon Reviews: OneRepublic "Waking Up"

Waking Up and Going Big
 3 Out Of 5 Stars


For their second album, OneRepublic mastermind Ryan Tedder must have woken up and decided if a lot of production was terrific, than over-production would be fabulous. As a songwriter to the stars (he counts Adele and Beyonce for resume points), he certainly knows his way around songwriting and hooks. But for a writer with so many soul and R'n'B artists on his Rolodex, when it comes to his own material, Tedder aims squarely at the rafters of the world's areanas, with a jealous eye towards the likes of Muse.

Take "All The Right Moves." The first song on the disc may be "Made For You," but that song ends with a children's choir that sings the "All The Right Moves" anthemic chorus just before the bombastic percussion for the song itself bursts in. Strings swell as Tedder arcs his voice for a final soaring falsetto on the chorus' catchy hook. same with "Secrets," where Tedder takes a page from his mentor Timbaland and mixes rap verses with a high flying chorus and more strings. Or the closer, "Lullaby." Every bit as sedate as the title suggests, it's also twice as earnest as it probably needs to be. "Waking Up" contains bombast, but it's a good kind of bombast.

Problem is, after awhile, you wish he'd just pull in the reins a little. The title track is such an obvious U2 clone that you wonder if Tedder stole it from an early draft of "Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark." The militaristic drumming of "Marching On" is overkill, even if the left, left, left right left hook is unshakable. The hooks throughout "Waking Up" are the calling card; they show exactly why Tedder has become such a go-to guy for the stars. Even my favorite song here, "Everybody Loves Me," strikes the perfect balance of snappy beats and earworm. Maroon 5 or Justin Timberlake would probably kill to get their teeth into it.

Unfortunately, and why this album ultimately gets an average rating from me, I don't hear an identity on "Waking Up." If Ryan Tedder wants to jump ahead of the likes of The Fray and become the equal to Maroon 5's Adam Levine (or genre champ Chris Martin of Coldplay), he's going to have to prove he's got more in him than ace writing chops. OneRepublic has the ambition, Tedder obviously knows both the writing and production craft, now it's to be determined if he can become in individual above the skill sets.