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 surprised, but generally positive reaction from critics; it was considered so bold and unique that it could not be compared to anything, and journalists struggled to classify it as one thing or another. 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, becoming the best-selling Urban Pasifika album.

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

How Bizarre
The cover is in black and white, with the background being a wall of roots. A man with slick black hair and a leather jacket appears left of the cover. Opposite of him is both the group name and album title colored in white and red respectively.
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: 1997
  4. "Land of Plenty"
    Released: 1997

How Bizarre was reissued globally on vinyl for the first time on April 16, 2021, remastered by Alan Jansson.[2]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide(choice cut)[4]
Mojo4/5[5]
Music Week[6]
Q4/5[5]
Spin8/10[7]

Critical reception was mixed to positive. Chuck Eddy, writing for Spin, praised the overall musicianship throughout the album, highlighting the update to the "angelic-melancholy-through-odd-instrumentation aesthetic" pioneered by Flying Nun Records, and Fuemana's vocal performance resembling that of Billy Ocean and R. B. Greaves. Eddy said OMC 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."[7] 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."[3] Robert Christgau cited the title track and "On the Run" as "choice cuts",[4] indicating good songs on "an album that isn't worth your time or money."[8]. Both Q Magazine and Mojo magazine gave the album four out of five stars and it was named Album of the Year by publications in Japan and the Philippines.[5]

Track listing

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

No.TitleLength
1."On the Run"4:03
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 September 1997 in the US only.[5]

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes.[9]

Charts and certifications

References
  1. "Pauly Fuemana: The whole Bizarre story". The New Zealand Herald. NZME. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  2. "How Bizarre reissue at Discogs". Discogs.
  3. Owens, Thom. "How Bizarre - OMC". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  4. Christgau, Robert (15 October 2000). "OMC: How Bizarre". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  5. Grigg, Simon (2015). How Bizarre: Pauly Fuemana and the Song That Stormed the World. Awa Press.
  6. "Reviews: Albums" (PDF). Music Week. 12 October 1996. p. 26. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  7. Eddy, Chuck (March 1997). "OMC: How Bizarre". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. pp. 104–5. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  8. Christgau, Robert. "Key to Icons". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  9. How Bizarre (liner notes). OMC. Huh!. PolyGram. 1996. 314 533 435-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. "Offiziellecharts.de – OMC – How Bizarre" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
  11. "Charts.nz – OMC – How Bizarre". Hung Medien.
  12. "Swisscharts.com – OMC – How Bizarre". Hung Medien.
  13. "OMC Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  14. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1997". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  15. "American album certifications – OMC – How Bizarre". Recording Industry Association of America.
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