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Alternative PressYoung has a good chance at becoming a worthy replacement for the Postal Service; he just needs to monitor the ratio of sugar to substance on subsequent efforts. [Oct 2009, p.111]
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The wooziness is reflected in Adam’s voice, which is whisper-soft, quiet and nasal, like a man whose parents sleep lightly and have to get up early for work. All of which makes Ocean Eyes a frustrating listen, or an enchanting one, depending on your stomach for meadow-skipping whimsy.
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This is music aimed squarely for the naïve-at-heart, and the industrial knife-sharpeners are best waved elsewhere than at the entirely likeable Young. If these genteel Casio-noodlings are what the kids are going to be listening to in 2010, I predict a peaceful year for the rest of us.
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A handful of ballads do add variety to the album's pace, but Owl City is largely a vehicle for the one song Adam Young knows how to make.
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While Young's compositions occasionally flirt with the nuanced melodicism of Jimmy Tamborello or Jona Bechtolt, he rarely lets even the slightest risky idea emerge.
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Minnesota native Adam Young, the one-man band behind Owl City, has crafted an incredibly upbeat album filled with starry-eyed lyrics and electro-pop fluff.
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Had the production been toned down a bit, to just Young and some lo-fi synths, these songs would have worked much better. But then that would have invited even more comparisons to The Postal Service. A noble, but ultimately uninspiring, effort.
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The click-clackety beats and twinkling synth bleeps owe a clear debut to Jimmy Tamborello’s homemade production, though Young adds a bright sheen that owes something to J-pop as well.
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Love songs like "On the Wing"--a ballad with a plush, twinkling electro beat where the singer lies awake dreaming of his beloved-- are serious mush, like an amorous e-mail you'll regret in the morning.
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What sounds charming on the first few listens loses its attraction, and soon one feels one is drinking Um Bongo instead of fruit juice: the sugar rush turns sickly and it becomes a little hard to stomach.
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UncutThe result is earworms aplenty, but any angst feels airbrushed, the effect is rather like rlaxing to a mobile phone commercial. [Apr 2010, p.95]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 82 out of 112
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Mixed: 6 out of 112
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Negative: 24 out of 112
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JimBobNov 5, 2009
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DannyWAug 26, 2009
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sarahsOct 12, 2009