BEST THIRD RELEASE 2011 Award Winner! 
Runners-Up: Hands (Give Me Rest), Manic Drive (Epic), Deas Vail (Deas Vail),
Red (Until We Have Faces).
Honorable Mention: Brandon Heath (Leaving Eden).
All Things Bright And Beautiful opens with “The Real World”, which is a great introduction to Owl City’s main music style and whimsical lyrics (as well as being a great song in itself 
).
“Deer In The Headlights” moves to slightly bouncier music with some smile-inducing lyrics.
“Angels” has intriguing music and lyrics which intertwine with each other to create a great— and quite memorable— track.
“Dreams Don’t Turn To Dust” is a uniquely encouraging track with music that is very rhythmic and (again) very memorable.
“Honey And The Bee” (featuring Breanne Düren) is another track that will likely make you smile— the lyrics intentionally include a number of cliché’s, but they end up more sweet than silly here.
“Kamikaze” features a somewhat unusual music style for Adam at times (though in a good way ), which— in combination with its interesting lyrics— make this another great track.
“January 28, 1986″— which is actually an intro to the track that follows— contains clips from President Ronald Reagan’s Address To The Nation after the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle.
“Galaxies” is excellent in every way, from its appropriately-space-themed lyrics to its celestial music.
“Hospital Flowers” (featuring Joan Young) is unusual because its lyrics are written from the perspective of a person who went through a near-death experience; because of it, the person finally gains a ‘new sense of sight’ and realizes how precious life truly is.
“Alligator Sky” (featuring Shawn Chrystopher) is another fantastic space-themed track, this time incorporating some slow rap (!) courtesy of guest Shawn Chrystopher, which— while unexpected— actually fits in perfectly.
“The Yacht Club” (featuring Lights) has sweet verses and a very upbeat, Dance-styled chorus.
And perfect closer “Plant Life” (featuring Matthew Thiessen of Relient K) is an excellent, uplifting track with brilliant lyrics (and by that we mean ‘even more than usual’ ).
Bonus Track On Some Digital Outlets:
“Alligator Sky (No Rap Version)” is exactly what its title states — “Alligator Sky” without rap. We very slightly prefer the original; but this version does contain entirely new lyrics in the verses, and is a great track on its own.
iTunes Bonus Tracks:
The iTunes edition contains the “Alligator Sky (No Rap Version)” bonus track as well as “How I Became The Sea”, another excellent track with intriguing music that weaves around the verses like the waves its lyrics envision.
German And Japanese Edition Bonus Tracks:
Finally, the German and Japanese Editions contain two different bonus tracks: The bouncy, lyrically-soaring “To The Sky” (which was made for The Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga’Hoole movie and is also available as a single), and great, atmospheric “Shy Violet”.
Our rating for All Things Bright And Beautiful: 5 & 1/3 Stars. 