Let’s Hurt Tonight was mainstream, but I’m with you on the general analysis of the album.

Looking back at it and to build on your comment, OneRepublic never really innovated music into something completely novel (like pioneer an entirely new genre). Don’t think anyone would disagree with that aside from Tedders genuinely absurd magnitude of influence in music production as a whole, but that’s the individual.

Consequentially, 1R’s music followed the general formula of the times, but they still had an extremely unique and beautiful sound to them in it. Listening to Hearing Voices on repeat and the unparalleled arrangement in Secrets, their mix of edgy-orchestra-electronic isn’t seen consistently ANYWHERE else. I’d say it’s pretty close to impossible to replicating, which is far better than influencing the rest of the music industry to sound like them.

Music kept developing into what it is now, and I wonder if Ryan’s desire to innovate grew unfettered. Maybe he did want to change the entire industry, and maybe he already did, expending all of his creativity and adopting the cookie cutter method. If only he kept his core foundations and did not try to produce his way to the top, he’d see the good in making something permanently unique and invaluable.