{{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}} {{Infobox album | name = How Bizarre | type = Album | artist = OMC | cover = OMC-HowBizarre.jpg | alt = 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. | released = {{start date|1996|11|27|df=y}} | recorded = 1995–1996 | venue = | studio = | genre = {{flatlist| * Electronic * rock * hip hop * pop }} | length = 50:29 | label = Huh!<br>PolyGram<br>Mercury | producer = Alan Jansson<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11500902|title=Pauly Fuemana: The whole Bizarre story |work=The New Zealand Herald |publisher=NZME |date=22 August 2015 |access-date=26 June 2018}}</ref> | chronology = OMC | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = | misc = {{Singles | name = How Bizarre | type = studio | single1 = How Bizarre | single1date = 15 December 1995 | single2 = Right On | single2date = 1996 | single3 = On the Run | single3date = 18 January 1997 | single4 = Land of Plenty | single4date = 1997 | single5 = Love L.A. | single5date = 1997 }} }} '''''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! record 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.
''How Bizarre'' was reissued globally on vinyl for the first time on April 16, 2021, remastered by OMC band member and producer Alan Jansson.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Bizarre reissue at Discogs |url=https://www.discogs.com/OMC-How-Bizarre/release/18309583 |website=Discogs |date=16 April 2021 }}</ref>
==Critical reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}<ref name="AM">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000091993|pure_url=yes}}|title=How Bizarre - OMC|last=Owens|first=Thom|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=25 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521041205/https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000091993|archive-date=21 May 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> | rev2 = ''Christgau's Consumer Guide'' | rev2score = {{rating-Christgau|cut}}<ref name="Christgau">{{cite book |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |chapter=OMC: How Bizarre |chapter-url=http://robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=10592 |date=15 October 2000 |publisher=Macmillan Publishing |isbn=9780312245603 |language=en |access-date=17 May 2018 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/christgausconsum00chri_0 }}</ref> | rev3 = ''Mojo'' | rev3score = 4/5<ref name="SimG" /> | rev4 = ''Music Week'' | rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1996/Music-Week-1996-10-12.pdf|first=|last=|title=Reviews: Albums|magazine=Music Week|date=12 October 1996|page=26|access-date=6 September 2021}}</ref> | rev5 = ''Q'' | rev5score = 4/5<ref name="SimG" /> | rev6 = ''Spin'' | rev6score = 8/10<ref name="Spin">{{cite magazine |last=Eddy |first=Chuck |author-link=Chuck Eddy|date=March 1997 |title=OMC: How Bizarre |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HpC1D--hcoAC |magazine=Spin |pages=104–5|language=en |publisher=SPIN Media LLC |access-date=17 May 2018}}</ref> }} 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 Pauly 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."<ref name="Spin"/> 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."<ref name="AM"/> Robert Christgau cited the title track and "On the Run" as "choice cuts",<ref name="Christgau"/> indicating good songs on "an album that isn't worth your time or money.".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg90/grades-90s.php|title=Key to Icons|last=Christgau|first=Robert|publisher=RobertChristgau.com|access-date=29 October 2018}}</ref> Both ''Q'' and ''Mojo'' magazines gave the album four out of five stars and it was named Album of the Year by publications in Japan and the Philippines.<ref name="SimG">{{cite book |last=Grigg |first=Simon |title=How Bizarre: Pauly Fuemana and the Song That Stormed the World |date=2015 |publisher=Awa Press}}</ref>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | all_writing = Pauly Fuemana and Alan Jansson, except where noted | title1 = On the Run | length1 = 4:03 | title2 = How Bizarre | length2 = 3:43 | title3 = Never Coming Back | length3 = 4:02 | title4 = Breaking My Heart | length4 = 5:18 | title5 = Angel in Disguise | length5 = 3:54 | title6 = Lingo with the Gringo | length6 = 5:51 | title7 = Land of Plenty | length7 = 5:19 | title8 = Right On | length8 = 4:50 | title9 = Pours Out Your Eyes | length9 = 4:53 | title10 = She Loves Italian | length10 = 4:31 | title11 = I Love L.A. | note11 = Randy Newman | length11 = 4:07 | total_length = }}
* Track 11 was only on the second release of this album, issued in September 1997 in the US only.<ref name="SimG" />
==Personnel== Adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=How Bizarre|others=OMC|year=1996|publisher=Huh!. PolyGram|type=liner notes|id=314 533 435-2}}</ref>
{{col-begin}} {{col-2}} '''OMC''' *Pauly Fuemana – vocals, guitar *Alan Jansson – engineering, keyboards, programming, guitar ("Right On")
'''Additional musicians''' *Sina Saipaia – backing vocals ("How Bizarre", "Right On") *Lee Baker – guitar ("How Bizarre", "Right On") *Hershal Herscher – accordion ("How Bizarre") *George Chisholm – trumpet ("How Bizarre", "Right On") *Glenn Campbell – pedal steel guitar ("Right On"), dobro guitar ("Breaking My Heart") *Geoffrey Heath – cello ("Pours Out Your Eyes") *Steve Robinson – piano ("Pours Out Your Eyes"), hammond organ ("Land of Plenty") *Steve Kellner – drums ("Pours Out Your Eyes", "She Loves Italian") *Mia Camilleri – French horn ("Pours Out Your Eyes", "Land of Plenty") {{col-2}} *Walter Bianco – saxophone ("Breaking My Heart") *Harmon – tea chest bass ("Breaking My Heart") *Taisha – backing vocals ("Land of Plenty") *Christine Fuemana – backing vocals ("Land of Plenty") *James Gaylyn – drums ("Angel in Disguise") *Juliet Primrose – violin ("Angel in Disguise") *Manuel Bundy – scratching ("Lingo with the Gringo")
'''Production''' *Rick Huntington – additional mixing and engineering
'''Artwork''' *Deborah Smith – photography *Richard Kingsford – design {{col-end}}
==Charts== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}}
===Weekly charts=== {|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" !align="left"|Chart (1996–1997) !align="center"|Peak<br />position |- {{album chart|Germany|48|id=2431|artist=OMC|album=How Bizarre|rowheader=true}} |- {{album chart|Hungary|37|year=1997|week=5|rowheader=true}} |- {{album chart|New Zealand|5|artist=OMC|album=How Bizarre|rowheader=true}} |- {{album chart|Switzerland|35|artist=OMC|album=How Bizarre|rowheader=true}} |- {{album chart|Billboard200|40|artist=OMC|rowheader=true}} |- |} {{col-2}}
===Year-end charts=== {|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" !align="left"|Chart (1997) !align="center"|Position |- !scope="row"|US ''Billboard'' 200<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1997/top-billboard-200-albums|title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1997|magazine=Billboard|access-date=27 August 2021}}</ref> |align="center"|173 |} {{col-end}}
==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|award=Platinum|artist=OMC|title=How Bizarre|relyear=1996|certyear=1998|access-date=26 September 2025}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=album|award=Gold|artist=OMC|title=How Bizarre|relyear=1996|certyear=1997|id=1997-07-18|source=newchart|access-date=26 September 2025}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|award=Gold|artist=OMC|title=How Bizarre|relyear=1997|certyear=1997|access-date=29 October 2018}} {{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1996 debut albums Category:OMC (band) albums Category:PolyGram albums Category:Mercury Records albums