Music

For me and many others, music is an ever important part of the design process. Not a day goes by which I don’t have any music playing - it is an essential part of my life and lifestyle. That is why each month here on DUI I will spotlight and album and/or artist. Of course the artists featured will reflect my personal music tastes, but I invite you to give these artists a try if you have never heard them. With a little luck, you may stumble upon your new favorite artist.

Album of the Month:

O.A.R. - All Sides (7/15/08)
O.A.R. (Of A Revolution) is one of my favorite bands of all time. After initially getting into Dispatch thanks to the help of some seniors during my freshman year of high school, my musical tastes began to shift dramatically and I began to like a much wider variety of music. That’s when O.A.R. hit my radar. Blending an infusion of rock and reggae, O.A.R. provided classic jams and some of the best live music recordings night after night that you will ever hear. There newest album, All Sides, drops on July 15th, and is sure to make impress long time fans and gain plenty of new ones.

The albums kicks off with “This Town“, which became known as this years College World Series anthem on ESPN. This Town is a proclamation of sorts, capturing the energy of a live performance and what it means to the band. The second track is “Shattered“, the radio-friendly first single which is a big improvement over the first single (Love and Memories) from the bands previous studio album, Stories of a Stranger. Track 3 really gets the album going with “Whatever Happened“, a song that starts with an intense African tribe-like introduction. From that point on, the album is sure to have you rocking. Songs such as “Living in the End” and “Something Coming Over” make their reappearances as they were previously available on last summers Live from Madison Square Garden DVD, but this time in studio form. “The Fallout” begins acoustically and “War Song” is a powerful war anthem written about the average life of troops overseas following the bands USO tour last year.

Overall the album is very powerful, and quite possibly the very best studio album to date. For a band most known for “Poker” and live performances, All Sides shows the band is plenty capable of still rocking hard in the studio.

For fans of: Dispatch, Dave Matthews Band, etc.