Jump to content

OneRepublic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Cherrieslovable (talk | contribs) at 21:13, 16 May 2008 (Clean up, re-categorize, deleted bias wording, and shortened the article to make it look neater and on so choppy. Also added ref. tag.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

OneRepublic

OneRepublic is an American alternative rock band formed in Colorado. After a few years of mediocre success, they have since drawn mainstream attention since the release of their single, "Apologize" which has sold in excess of 5 million singles worldwide.[citation needed] The remix was featured on Timbaland's Shock Value and Dreaming Out Loud. Their debut album, "Dreaming Out Loud", was released in the US November 20, 2007, with international release dates staggered throughout early 2008. As of April 1, 2008 "Dreaming Out Loud" was certified platinum (in excess of 1 million units sold).[1] The band's 2nd single "Stop & Stare" has also crossed the 2 million mark in terms of world-wide single sales.[citation needed] They are currently gearing up for the release of their 3rd single "Say (All I Need)."

Members

Current

History

Early works and success

Since the summer of 2006, OneRepublic has consistently been ranked as one of the top musical acts on MySpace,[citation needed] due to heavy promotion within the online community. The band was formed by songwriter and grammy-nominated record producer Ryan Tedder and his high school friend Zach Filkins in Colorado Springs.

Even at a young age, the founder of the band wanted to make music for a living. He first caught public attention, including that of super producer, Timbaland, after winning a talent search. [2] A few phone calls were made and soon Tedder was learning from Timbaland himself. He eventually sold his car to buy recording equipment, becoming Timbaland's protege and developed as a producer.

After two years, Tedder and Timbaland parted ways since Tedder wanted a career as an artist. For a while he worked under the nom de plume 'Alias', earning a name for himself by producing and writing songs for various artists, even getting a Grammy-nomination for his work. [3]

In 2002 Tedder and his high school friend, guitarist Zach Filkins from Colorado Springs moved to Los Angeles to put together a band. After a few line-up changes they finally solidified with Tedder on vocals, Filkins on guitar and backing vocals, Eddie Fisher on drums, Brent Kutzle on bass and cello and Drew Brown on guitar. Known initially as 'Republic', they later changed it to what they are currently known as, 'OneRepublic'.

Shortly after turning in their first number of recordings, they were dropped by Columbia Records, though, just as quickly, the band were beginning to get exposure on MySpace, becoming the number one unsigned act in the site.[citation needed] The band caught a number of label's attention including Timbaland's. Timbaland along with a number of labels offered Tedder a record deal. After careful consideration the band decided to join the Mosley Music group becoming the first rock band signed to the label.[4][5]

Mainstream breakthrough: 2007—present

OneRepublic's song "Apologize" was prominently featured on Timbaland's 2007 release Shock Value. The song was released as the single in its original form on the band's album debut. In addition the single has gone triple platinum (marking three million copies sold in the U.S) and 5 million copies worldwide.[citation needed] It peaked at number three on the U.K. Official Top 40 Week on November 112007.[6] The song is the biggest radio airplay hit in the history of Top 40 radio in North America, racking up an astounding 10,693 spins in one week, breaking the previous record by 370 spins.[citation needed]

The band performed "Apologize" live on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance on August 22007 and with Timbaland on an episode of One Life to Live in October 2007. It was also played at the end of the three television shows Cold Case episode "Sabotage", Smallville's "Hero", Hollyoaks and Gossip Girl episode "Hi, Society". They performed "Stop and Stare" and "Mercy" live on the Smallville episode, "Hero" which aired March 132008. They performed "Stop and Stare" live on So You Think You Can Dance Australia on the 7th of April 2008. In addition, the group also went on tour with various opening acts.

The band is also notorious for their collaboration with producer Timbaland, specifically for his remix of their song 'Apologize'. Tedder also reciprocated by remixing Timbaland's second-best-selling single from his album Shock Value (second to his 4th single 'Apologize'), drastically changeing the song's vibe by adding a rock vibe into the synth-driven melody though the song still retained the original tempo and melody, Keri Hilson's vocals, a few parts of D.O.E. and Timbaland's vocals. The less polished version was leaked out on the internet before the final version ended up on Tedder's myspace page. The remix has gained positive reviews from its listeners mostly from MySpace. For a time the song was removed from Tedder's MySpace music playlist, but due to popular demand the song was added to the playlist again. The song is currently absent from Tedder’s MySpace. It was replaced with another of Tedder’s work, Blake Lewis’ "Break Anotha". [7]

The follow up single to "Apologize" is "Stop and Stare" as announced on their MySpace page. This song was performed on the Australian version of So You Think You Can Dance on the April 7, 2008. In 2008, they toured with The Daylights, Maroon 5 and Brandi Carlile.

Covers

Along their tour the band has been noted to cover popular songs. Some covers include:

  • Umbrella by Rihanna- Like a number of acts in 2007, OneRepublic covered Rihanna's hit single, 'Umbrella', which was song of the year. The band included it in their set list shortly after going on tour. The majority of covers of the song have opted for a more hushed or acoustic version, whereas OneRepublic tries to retain the song's upbeat tempo, involving the crowd.
  • Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve - OneRepublic's version features the string hook at the beginning by Brent Kutzle on cello. During the second chorus Tedder adds his own signature use of falsetto, singing it at a noticeably higher pitch than the original.[8]
  • Last Goodbye by Jeff Buckley - OneRepublic's version of the late Jeff Buckley's 'Last Goodbye' has had mixed reception. Fans of Jeff Buckley have not responded favorably to the cover. Although Tedder's vocals have been received well, the choice of covering the song in general has been subject to harsh criticism. The song is available as a single and a video from iTunes and is featured on strippedmusic.com. [9]
  • Don't Go Away by Oasis - OneRepublic chose to perform this song when strippedmusic.com asked them to do a cover of a particular band or artist they considered great. The video for this song is available exclusively on iTunes.
  • Mercy by Duffy - During their visit to the United Kingdom they started including the song due to its current popularity and chart performance in the UK charts. The band started to learn the song only a few hours prior to its performance, thus Tedder's use of his Blackberry during the first few performances of that day to remind him of the lyrics. The song was also recorded on BBC Radio 1 after the band was interviewed, garnering it more airplay.[10]

A video of the song taken by a fan was also featured on PerezHilton.com, generally receiving positive reviews from both the site and the listeners. The band's version of the song features stripped instrumentation with only bass and guitar accompanying the vocals. It showcases Tedder's vocal ability fairly well as he has his way with the song, occasionally adding a few verses from Amy Winehouse's hit song 'Rehab' along the bridge in some of their performances.

Tedder has said in an interview that they performed the song because, "It is the absolute opposite of anything we would ever do (musically).". [11]

  • Oh Holy Night - OneRepublic also covered this Christmas classic during one of their shows late December, a few days before Christmas day.
  • Always Where I Need To Be by The Kooks - OneRepublic performed this song in the Star Bar at Radio 1 Big Weekend. Tedder and Filkins played the acoustic guitar while Kutzle played the cello and Brown was on the the metallophone. Fisher was absent.

Critical and Public Reception

OneRepublic has consistently been compared to acts such as Maroon 5, The Fray, Keane and Coldplay. All of them are known for their use of keyboardists and falsetto in the pop-rock genre. Tedder says "We’re heavily influenced by a lot of old Brit rock, up to current Brit rock. But there are definitely worse bands to be compared to." [12]

There have also been a few misconceptions regarding the band. They have been mistaken for a boy band, and even their ethnicity was unclear to some. Some have even thought that Timbaland wrote ‘Apologize’.[citation needed]

Although not a Christian band by genre, the band members all profess their faith openly in the album’s credits. The album "possesses definite influences of spirituality and deeper thinking." [13]

In general, the critics have had positive reviews over the album. Although Digital Spy initially rated their Album Dreaming Out Loud 2 stars out of 5 they later gave them 4 stars for 'Stop and Stare'. [14][15] Rolling stone's official review of the band also gave them 2 stars [16] and has an average user rating of 4 stars. Rolling Stone also placed the band in their 'Artists to Watch' list, which featured 10 artists that according to the magazine "...are bringing the future of music, today". Entertainment-Focus comments about the band's song 'Tyrant', “…the slightly-harder sounding Tyrant which has a strong melody reminiscent of U2 at their best”[17]

[18][19]

Musical Style and Influences

Tedder describes OneRepublic's music as being heavily influenced by the Beatles, for the songwriting craft and melodic inventiveness, and also U2 for the uplifting vocal delivery and emotional undercurrents. Throughout songs like “Apologize,” “All We Are,” and “Mercy,” Tedder aspires to move his listeners the way Bono does onstage. “You go to a U2 concert and it's like church,” he says. “I want to make people feel like that. I don't want someone to say, ‘oh, he has a nice voice.' I want that person to walk away and feel like he or she has had a religious experience.” [20][21]

The band says that Dreaming Out Loud introduces a group committed to the idea that people want real songs, with real truths, not marketing strategies. [22]

Tedder has said of Coldplay," their influences are our influences." He also states," The big difference, though, is that I come from a much wider hip-hop and urban background. I’ve been producing, writing and performing urban stuff, and I try to bring that into the group because we’re not trying to be a British band."

Drew Brown adds, " We aren’t all die-hard Coldplay fans, but because of the comparisons, we’ve done our research and I’m sure we’ve got a large handful of common influences." [23]

Discography

Main article: OneRepublic discography

Albums

Singles

References

  1. ^ http://www.riaa.com
  2. ^ http://www.myspace.com/onerepublic
  3. ^ http://www.myspace.com/ryanaliastedder
  4. ^ http://articles.latimes.com/2007/11/20/calendar/et-onerepublic20
  5. ^ http://www.yourmusiczone.com/go/ymz/music_artist_more/onerepublic/
  6. ^ http://www.myspace.com/onerepublic
  7. ^ http://www.myspace.com/ryanaliastedder
  8. ^ http://youtube.com/watch?v=VTV_k_S4xfY
  9. ^ http://youtube.com/watch?v=LnS9LaaAC7Y
  10. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB_Ae2sjQLk&feature=related
  11. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB_Ae2sjQLk&feature=related
  12. ^ http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2007/11/30/exclusive-interview-buzzworthy-talks-to-onerepublic/
  13. ^ http://chimes.biola.edu/ae/2007/dec/02/onerepublic-review/
  14. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a89346/onerepublic-stop-and-stare.html
  15. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a91064/onerepublic-dreaming-out-loud.html
  16. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/onerepublic/albums/album/17341134/review/17436822/dreaming_out_loud
  17. ^ http://music.entertainment-focus.com/reviewalb283.php
  18. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/onerepublic/albums/album/17341134/review/17436822/dreaming_out_loud
  19. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/11/26/onerepublic-artist-to-watch-2008/
  20. ^ http://www.purevolume.com/onerepublic
  21. ^ http://www.reverbnation.com/onerepublicofficial
  22. ^ http://www.myspace.com/onerepublic
  23. ^ http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2007/11/30/exclusive-interview-buzzworthy-talks-to-onerepublic/
Stub icon

This article on a United States rock music band is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Template:Blpwatch

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OneRepublic&oldid=212915639"