How Bizarre (album)

How Bizarre is the only album by the New Zealand musical group OMC, released in 1996. It was first released on 27 September under the Huh! recording label, issued by PolyGram New Zealand, and manufactured and marketed by Mercury Records on 25 February 1997 in the United States. The album garnered a mixed reception from critics. How Bizarre reached number 5 in its native New Zealand and number 40 on the Billboard 200, spawning four singles: the title track, "Right On", "On the Run" and "Land of Plenty". It was also certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of over 500,000 copies in that country.

This article is about the OMC album. For the title track, see How Bizarre (song). For other uses, see How Bizarre (disambiguation).

How Bizarre
Studio album by
OMC
Released27 September 1996
Recorded1995–1996
Genre
Length50:29
LabelHuh! Records
PolyGram
Mercury Records
ProducerAlan Jansson[1]
Singles from How Bizarre
  1. "How Bizarre"
    Released: December 15, 1995
  2. "Right On"
    Released: 1996
  3. "On the Run"
    Released: 1996
  4. "Land of Plenty"
    Released: 1997

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Consumer Guide[3]
Spin8/10[4]

Chuck Eddy, writing for Spin, praised the overall musicianship throughout the album, highlighting the update to Flying Nun's "angelic-melancholy-through-odd-instrumentation aesthetic" and Fuemana's vocal performance resembling that of Billy Ocean and R. B. Greaves, saying that he crafted a genre hybrid that mixes Beck from 1996, reggae from 1971 and recent pop music that "dour mid-'90s U.S. radio might not know what to do with it."[4] Thom Owens of AllMusic called the record "an intriguing fusion of worldbeat rhythms and urban soul that never manages to catch fire, despite several strong grooves and soulful fusions."[2] Robert Christgau cited the title track and "On the Run" as "choice cuts",[3] indicating good songs on "an album that isn't worth your time or money."[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Pauly Fuemana and Alan Jansson, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."On the Run"4:01
2."How Bizarre"3:43
3."Never Coming Back"4:02
4."Breaking My Heart"5:18
5."Angel in Disguise"3:54
6."Lingo with the Gringo"5:51
7."Land of Plenty"5:19
8."Right On"4:50
9."Pours Out Your Eyes"4:53
10."She Loves Italian"4:31
11."I Love L.A." (Randy Newman)4:07
  • Track 11 was only on the second release of this album, issued in February 1997.

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes.[6]

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts
Chart (1996) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[7] 48
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[8] 5
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[9] 35
US Billboard 200[10] 40

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[11] Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. "Pauly Fuemana: The whole Bizarre story". The New Zealand Herald. NZME. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  2. Owens, Thom. "How Bizarre - OMC". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  3. Christgau, Robert (15 October 2000). "OMC: How Bizarre". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  4. Eddy, Chuck (March 1997). "OMC: How Bizarre". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. pp. 104–5. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  5. Christgau, Robert. "Key to Icons". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  6. How Bizarre (liner notes). OMC. Huh!. PolyGram. 1996. 314 533 435-2.CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. "Offiziellecharts.de – OMC – How Bizarre" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
  8. "Charts.nz – OMC – How Bizarre". Hung Medien.
  9. "Swisscharts.com – OMC – How Bizarre". Hung Medien.
  10. "OMC Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  11. "American album certifications – OMC – How Bizarre". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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