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1.Come to Stay- Bouncy, kinda punkish opening track. Decent enough, but the chorus is kind of irritating. (3/5)

2.Yours If You Like- Kinda slower, with some pretty cool vocal work. (4/5)

3.Are You There?- The single, a bit different from any of their other stuff. Pretty good, but I've gotten a bit tired of it. Plus, as I mentioned before, it sounds a lot like the Deftones, who I'm not a big fan of. (4/5)

4.Halo- Very soft ballad. Not bad, but the use of metaphors in the lyrics is embarrassingly corny ("There's an anchor on my heart dragging me down?" O-kay). (4/5)

5.Benign- I guess you'd describe it as a power ballad. One of my favorites off the album. You gotta love that chorus, you'll have it stuck in your head for days. (5/5)

6.Unwind- Kind of a fast song to get things going after the back-to-back ballads. A good song, but not a great one. (4/5)

7.Goodbye- Kind of mid-tempo, with a heavy riff. Another one of my favorites. (5/5)

8.Jimmy Shaker Day- Based on the clip, I didn't think it'd be that good, but it's actually one of my favorites. Very punkish and catchy. (5/5)

9.Back Home Years Ago- Excellent ballad with very touching lyrics. Another fave. (5/5)

10.Tightrope- Kinda boring, really. I hear the Lenny Kravitz comparisons, someone else I'm not a big fan of. And, there's those metaphors again ("tightrope of razorblade wire"...groan). (3/5)

11.She's Up, She's Down- Once again, a fast song to get you going after the double ballads. Good song, but not real memorable. (4/5)

12.Champion- Nice little ballad to end it all. Kinda corny and Goo Goo Doll-ish, but I still love it. (5/5)

All in all, a very good album. The first one was pretty good, but not anything like this. This is one of the best new albums I've bought this year, along with Staind's "Break the Cycle", Tool's "Lateralus", and Megadeth's "The World Needs a Hero". I cannot recommend it enough.


Awesome CD!!!   February 19, 2001
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

I got to hear an advance copy of this new CD and it is AWESOME! From the opening guitar riff, through their great lead single "Are You There" and into the final track, it sounds even better than their major label debut "February Son" which was a great CD on it own merits. This new album takes Oleander to the next level. Their rockers are edgier than anything they've done before, while the ballads, "Halo" and "Tight Rope" will just blow you away! This one should take Oleander to platinum and beyond...Pick it up ASAP, you won't be disappointed!


Oleander does it again!   March 8, 2001
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

First I'd like to say that Oleander is one of my favorite bands. Very few bands have inspired the way that I write music more than Oleander has. I listen to a lot of music and while I don't think the band has completely rewritten the book of rock and roll I do believe they have added their own personal style to it and I think thats praiseworthy in itself. While a lot of bands are out there trying to ressurrect the ghost of Jimmy Page claiming that they're doing it for the sake of "bringing back the rock" these guys seem to appreciate the past but keep things in a direction of forward progress. Their major label debut was stunning, not a bad song on the album. Their harsh minor key musical warnings about going over the edge really grabbed my attention. All the while, they balanced it all out with a lot of upkey major sounding stuff that made a balanced creation. It was an album that could really stand on its own. I counted down the days and on March 6th I ran out to the record store and bought "Unwind," something I impatiently waited for. I've listened to the album about five times or so and I think its an excellent album that was well worth the wait. It seems that this time around that their style has gotten a slight bit of the pop treatment. While I felt that the treatment worked well for Fuel on their new release, I don't believe it served Oleander as well. The music seems a little more radio friendly than the cuts on February Son and lack some of that angst and aggression that really gave Oleander a distinct sound a couple years ago. What we hear on this album is a more mature and experimental Oleander. I think the experiment was rather successful for one. Where a song like "Lost Cause" or "Down When I'm Loaded" would have beat me senseless with balls to the wall rock attitude, songs such as "Benign" with its jazz chords and "Yours If You Like" with it's piano-like bridge picking really knock me over with some stuff I just don't see rock bands doing a whole lot of. Now that I think of it, I don't think I really see any rock bands doing a lot of that stuff. It may sound subtle but I think small experiemental things such as that do make a difference to the normal listener. Still though, they don't let us forget they're Oleander and how they got there. Songs such as "Are You There," "Jimmy Shaker Day," and "Unwind" still don't let us forget that these guys can rock out. They even add a bit of an epic feel to the agressive mix with "Goodbye" a song that kind of tugs at you emotionally. There's a lot more worth mentioning about the album but in a nutshell thats whats going on and I think it's something good. I would give the release 4 and a half stars but since there is no half star I'll round it up to 5 with the hopes that they're coming to see us here in State College, PA. I'll definately be there if they choose to come. Personally I think Three Doors Down should be OPENING FOR these guys just because they're so much better. Three Doors Down is a little more popular though so it wouldn't seem right to everybody else. However, this album has a lot of appeal. If you're an Oleander fan you will like it. Perhaps you won't like it as much as the first one but I do urge you to give it a good try before writing it off because this really is a good album that isn't a carbon copy of their first album. Doing a carbon copy would have been too easy. Pop-Rock fans would also find this a great buy even if they never heard of Oleander.


As good as "February Son" but more mature...   March 15, 2001
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I seen Oleander open up for Our Lady Peace and Creed here in Detroit over a year ago and one thing stuck with me after the show. Even though noone had shown up to see them and most of the 16,000 fans werent even in the building yet....Oleander was on top of the world. Every band member was smiling ear to ear, just happy to be playing for the 3,000 people who cared. They are an EXCELLENT live act and they held up against the mighty Creed very well.

Unwind is a great record. Dont listen to the negative review on this page. Unwind is a little darker than "February Son" but it is a better album in many ways. It has some heavier tunes like the title track and "Are you there". It also has some excellent slower songs. The best of which is "Halo" and the great "Tightrope". I also love the song "Yours if you like".....a happier bouncy song.

Unwind is a great record from a great band who deserves to be bigger than they are. Get this one now! Go see them on tour now!