Rob Thomas w/ OneRepublic and Carolina Liar

It’s ironic that Rob Thomas rubs so many people the wrong way, given that the Matchbox 20 singer-songwriter tries so hard to please everyone with his sentimental, sky-scrapping alternative rock. Yet for all his effort, he’s viewed as a second-tier Bono, without the critical credibility or the goodwill amassed by decades of charity and outreach to back up his inflated ego. Thomas emerged as a viable solo artist in 1999, singing Santana’s “Smooth,” and since 2005 has recorded and toured on his own, releasing this year his second solo album, cradlesong, which sounds like a particularly fierce, self-righteous Matchbox 20 album.