lambchops's Full Review: Red Sky Recovery by Oval Opus
The album with a twisted mosaic cowboy on the cover begins on a fascinating note. The rich, melodic opening isn’t necessarily representative of the music that follows but it did manage to peak my interest.
Oval Opus hails from Cincinnati, Ohio and for the past six or so years has been honing their sound and talent. Consisting of musician brothers Josh (guitar) and Dan (drums) Edmondson in addition to singer Aaron Patrick and Patrick Martin (bass), Oval Opus has to date recorded three independent albums�’s Wagon Wheel, 2000’s Oxygen, and most recently 2002’s Red Sky Recovery.
The band has shared the stage with a number of acts including Edwin McCain, Guster, Vertical Horizon, Sister Hazel, and Maroon 5. None of these names should come as a surprise after listening to their third album. Red Sky Recovery is a neatly written, recorded, and produced outing. The songs are easy on the ears, but yet I find myself yearning for them to really break out of the mold of typical earnest pop-rock band. It is clear that these four have a future in music if they can transcend current trends and find their own niche.
Ranking as the album high point is I Need Some Time. Save Me and Wonder also do a little something for me. Each track kind of uses the same sort of equation—hence the easy comparisons to many pop-rock bands of today. The tempo varies from slow to mid, the attitude is upbeat, the melody is catchy, and the lyrics are fine. But In the course of eleven songs, I can’t help but become bored by the monotony and hoping for a spark of something more.
I Need Some Time as mentioned is one of these moments. It’s just slightly amped up and vocalist Aaron Patrick stretches his talents with the occasional falsetto. It all works very well, even though the equation is very much the same as the rest of the songs. The band also tends toward blues here and there--Everything and Wonder are both of this type. Unfortunately, Wonder doesn’t pop up until the very end of Red Sky Recovery. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that a lot of listeners will give up long before then.
Wonder, written by Aaron Patrick’s father is a bluesy not to mention soulful offering. It is a direction that the band would be best advised to further explore. They sound wonderful with a slowly plodding tempo, acoustic guitars, and light percussion. But I’m still left wanting something more to further spark my waning interest.
Oval Opus sounds fine enough, but considering their sound is almost identical to most other earnest pop-rockers from across the United States they would be best advised to further inject something else into their music. Certainly, they could continue utilizing the organ that pops up throughout Red Sky Recovery, but I would also like to hear some variety in tempo and arrangement. Aside from that, this is a fine enough offering. I wouldn’t say it’s for everybody but for fans of pop-rock artists like Verve Pipe, Collective Soul, Dishwalla, Goo Goo Dolls, Tonic and a host of other similar acts it could prove to be a treasure.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars (rounded down)
Track Listing:
01. There For Me
02. Are You OK?
03. Save Me
04. Let Go
05. I Need Some Time
06. Crystal Ball
07. Everything
08. Say Anything
09. Contagious
10. As I Am
11. Wonder
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