Oslo

The Rise and Fall of Love and Hate

(Six Feet Music Group)

Record Review by Alexis Roberts

Oslo play alternative music for people who don’t really like alternative music. The Rise and Fall of Love and Hate is their second album; their self-titled debut in 2005 never really seemed to take off. Rise and Fall, however, came out with much critical acclaim, and it’s no wonder why. It’s the exact kind of music that Top 40 radio stations are going to eat right up. Poppy, melodic, dramatic and emotional, Oslo will win the hearts of soccer moms and Coldplay fans everywhere.

The progression of the album from start to finish is basically an anti-climactic collection of technically “good” rock music. They are firm believers of the familiar verse-chorus-verse song structure, which they use to their advantage to make songs like "On My Mind" all the more catchy and permanently branded into your memory.

The unfortunate thing about this album is that although the songs stay ingrained in your brain, even after hearing them album several times over, it’s difficult to tell where one starts and ends because of the lack of variety.  In other words, it all kind of sounds the same, which inevitably makes the album rather trite but uncannily listenable nonetheless.