Home > Music > CD Review > OneRepublic, "Dreaming Out Loud"

OneRepublic, "Dreaming Out Loud"

Timbaland discovers a third-rate American Coldplay, grooms them to be next Fray

By Kirk Miller, Metromix

November 19, 2007

Critic's Rating:

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Backstory: Thanks to an association with super-producer Timbaland, this Colorado band appears to be on the verge of making rock history. The hip-hop super-producer not only remixed OneRepublic’s ballad “Apologize” and placed it on his “Shock Value” album, he also released it as a single earlier this year. Since then, the song has apparently become the most played track in the history of Top 40 radio, if various Internet reports are to be believed.
 
Why you should care: There’s nothing wrong with a tightly produced pop-rock record. Hell, we heart Third Eye Blind. That said, “Dreaming Out Loud” wallows in clichés. Women are “angels of mercy.” Relationships are fine “as long as you’re close to me.” Oh, and “we all fall down.” Empty sentiments, bolstered by an array of strings, dissonant guitar and keyboards.
 
Verdict: The bad, American approximation of what a Coldplay album should sound like.
 
X-Factor: Singer Ryan Tedder’s near brush with fame. Apparently, Tedder, now a go-to producer and songwriter (JLo, Natasha Bedingfield, Lupe Fiasco, Chris Cornell, among others) got his start on MTV’s “Total Request Live,” competing to win a record deal contest with former *NSync-er Lance Bass. With cred like that, who needs critical praise?