Flashback CD Review #80 - Oval Opus - S/T

This review was written for the Rock Is Life.com website in 2006.

Oval Opus
S/T
On-Entertainment - 2006
http://www.ovalopus.com

What's The 4-1-1?

The sixth release from the Cincinnati natives.

Genre

Rock / Hard Rock

The Good

The opening song "Radiotower" is a surprisingly upbeat and catchy song. I really enjoyed singer Aaron Patrick's vocals throughout the album. I like that while he doesn't write all the material himself, he's able to take the end result and make the lyrics his own.

A lot of the tracks on the disc are definitely aimed towards the mid to uptempo style with just a few slower songs. I enjoyed that mixture a lot. The songwriting and musicianship on the album is uniformly excellent. The lyrics are well crafted and the listener can really get into what's being said. "Sunday Papers" is a great song and so is "Anchorman." If you take those two and include the chorus of "Beautiful One" you have four songs that stand apart from the rest as prime examples of which tracks you should play for your friends.

The Bad

I didn't care for "Do It Up" or "I'm Sorry". Each song came up as a misfire for me. The bonus cut not listed on the back of the album is called "Sweet Girl." It starts out as a pretty solid piano based song but peters out into a stretched out self-indulgent piece of boredom for the last two plus minutes.

The Verdict

The benefit to not judging a book by it's cover is that invariably you will come across and album that really takes you by surprise with it's level of quality. The self-titled album from Oval Opus is one such album. A great lyrical sense, combined with excellent vocals and top notch musicianship breathe life into a solid set of numbers that I for one would love to hear on rock radio.

Did You Know?

The band has an endorsement deal with Washburn Guitars. Oval Opus has toured with O.A.R., Jason Mraz, Maroon 5 and The Calling.

Rating: 4 out of 5