Nickelback - Here and Now

Grabbing from the past and showing growth is eminent as each track spins, working the listener further down the road. The arrangement of songs is designed for less hand holding than Dark Horse, allowing freedom to absorb at an individual pace. This album is mature with edge and sexual provocative lyrics that are less suggested, as with Dave Matthews, and more direct.

Very seldom does Nickelback bring their influences to the table when writing and recording. This lets the music stand on its own merit so comparisons are limited, and it will keep their longevity strong for more releases to come. A hard hitting first track and a tease at the end keeps the audience licking their lips for more.

The new release is unlike The Long Road and All the right Reasons, which are over moments after they get started because each song has such an impact that time flies so fast. Here and Now 's tracks are consistently 3ish minutes long where previous releases had most tracks at 4ish minutes. So why does it seem that this CD takes a bit longer to listen to? Possibly all the experienced writing learned from "Mutt" Lange still lingers and the band is just trying too hard.

"When we stand Together" is a very socially conscience piece of work for this more "Party Rock" style band. They have not really stepped into this lyrical content since "Never Again", and it's great to see the band understanding the impact that they have on the conscience of the youth. Throughout the 80's, every rock/hard rock/metal band would have at least one slow song that either was their "love" song or a social statement. Nickelback uses some of this concept by including several slower tracks, but should stay with the power rock with just a couple slower tunes. The best tracks are the fast, busy songs with stacked guitars and growling vocals.

"This means War", "Bottoms Up", "Midnight Queen" and "When we Stand Together" are the best this release has to offer, but do not quit on the remaining seven tracks, as a few will have their place with different listeners. You will either feel the music and accept the lyrics or love the lyrics and let the music stand. Not the band's highlight but it will have its place in most listener's collections.

The Gastown Steam Clock appearing on the cover is a great way for the band to tip their hat to their hometown in Vancouver, British Columbia. Since it has become such a tourist attraction, the picture with the smackle of lights should only encourage fans to visit this beautiful city. Vancouver is a hot bed of television production for American and Canadian pilots. The growth of the city is a great encouragement to the hometown boys of Nickelback that their future is secure.
By Rachael M Kohrn

OneRepublic - Dreaming Out Loud

The good outweighs the bad on 'Dreaming', March 28, 2008
It's not very often that a band from my home state of Colorado hits it big, but that's precisely what OneRepublic has done. With the help of Timbaland, the band scored one of the biggest hits of this decade to date with the remix of "Apologize", which spent 25 weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100, is one of only three songs to date to surpass three million in U.S. digital downloads, and spent 14 weeks at #1 on the United World Chart to name a few of its accomplishments. Needless to say I had to check out the band's debut album, especially considering how addicted I was to "Apologize." The album is one of those "singles" albums in my opinion, where about 5 of the songs are great and sound like big hits, but a lot of the album is filler.

Unsurprisingly to me, I did not find another song I liked as much as the Apologize remix, which is a bonus track on the album. Although I dislike that the remix is credited to Timbaland featuring OneRepublic (it should be vice versa), I have to admit there's something about the remix that sends the song into that upper echelon of mega hit that only happens rarely, and the original version of the song just can't compete. The song is much more than just a hit though, as everything about the remix is the total package of lyrics, beat, hooks, and vocal performance that seamlessly meshes to make it one of those universally likable songs. Enough about that song though, the rest of the album has some other tracks that are worth talking about, starting with second single "Stop and Stare." The song seems to be about evaluating your life and questioning why it is the way it is. The song has a big chorus and is one of the most re-playable tracks on the album. "Mercy" is a more rock tinged affair that first gained the band notice when they put it on their MySpace. It is somewhat reminiscent of a song U2 would do, and is well written and produced. My favorite track besides "Apologize" would have to be "Say (All I Need)" a song that crescendos from a gorgeous soft rock ballad into a soaring melodically layered piece of music. Most definitely a hit, but more importantly a superb song, and I have to also note that lead singer Ryan Tedder gives an exceptional vocal as well on it. The album isn't all good news though, as about exactly half of the tracks are filler that go in one ear and right out the other. Songs such as "Prodigal", "Tyrant", and "Won't Stop" to name a few just leave no real impression on me.

What saves "Dreaming Out Loud" from being disappointing is that the good half of the album overshadows the unmemorable portion. It's been a while since I've heard tracks as overall well put together such as "Apologize", "Stop and Stare", and "Say (All I Need)." Other highlights are "All We Are" and Coldplay esque ballad "Come Home." The band also seems to be talented lyrically as well, and Ryan Tedder might be quite the up and coming producer/songwriter already having huge production/writing hits for other artist such as Natasha Beddingfield's "Love Like This" and the mega worldwide smash "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. "Dreaming Out Loud" is a promising debut that is satisfying but leaves plenty of room for future growth. 4/5 Stars

My Top 5:
1. Apologize (Remix)
2. Say (All I Need)
3. Mercy
4. Stop and Stare
5. All We Are