O.A.R. - All Sides

All Sides (2008, Atlantic) O.A.R.'s fifth studio album (eighth overall album). ***1/2

You have to admire O.A.R. Not many jam bands are capable of making quality studio albums, and even fewer have been able to do it once. Like all jam bands, the studio stuff isn't always a great as their live albums, and neither compares to the actual experience (even if you don't like the style) of actually being at a concert. Still, for those who don't have the means to make it to a concert or don't want to listen to the mindless whirlings of live albums, All Sides is a suitable companion.

O.A.R. isn't an original band in any sense of the word. All jam bands have to have the same certain elements, and O.A.R. borrows from Dave Matthews generously, but unlike their contemporaries - or influences, for that matter - they're able to make songs that are begging to be fleshed out into concise four minute bursts. All Sides is overflowing with anthemic rock, from the blast of the opener "This Town," or the stuttering "Living in the End." And, of course, there are the random but expected reggae-inspired bits such as "What is Mine." But there are more heartfelt moments, such as DMB-heavy (and even U2, who would have thought?) "Whatever Happened," and while it serves fantastically as a radio-friendly single, it could easily be torn wide open into a stomping fifteen-minute opus. That's what's great about All Sides, the songs sound fine the way they are, but for fans, when they hit the stage with them, it'll be a grand affair. In the end, All Sides is a tad too much, with several songs blending together in the middle of the album. Certainly all of it is fun, but few cuts are very memorable. The ones that are, though, should be cherished. (Whatever Happened, On My Way)