Tedder produced all the eleven songs on the standard edition, four by himself, as the band's effort at the album's concept, which revolves around waking up after nights of bad dreams.

[10][11][12] To ensure a smooth transition, Tedder sought to create a concept for songs that fit a formula for OneRepublic and would not become the target of comparisons to his work for other artists.

[12] The band shared ideas with composer Danny Elfman, using his orchestra of Batman (1989) and Edward Scissorhands (1990) as the center of the album's "more sweeping and cinematic" structure.

The first, "Missing Persons 1 & 2", was recorded at the Nine Zero Hotel in Boston and Park Hill Studios in Denver, and is characterized by the use of dubstep drum loops and Afro-pop marimba melody.

[16][17] "Made for You" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, and features a children's choir throughout the song followed by a melodramatic chamber piano, forming part of the album's cinematic concept.

[17] Critics noted the theatrical production of "All the Right Moves", containing "electro-charged chamber music", with its pealing organ, trilling strings and vocals inspired by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake.

[22] Several critics, including Cross Rhythms' Tony Cummings, noted the funk aesthetic behind "Everybody Loves Me", a track which was additionally recorded at MasterMax Studios in Johannesburg and regarded as a favorite from the album by Tedder.

[25][26] "All This Time" is a sweet piano ballad inspired by Paul McCartney that features a grand string and violin production performed by The London Studio Orchestra.

While the first is a ballad-heavy song, the title track has two parts; the first is a ringing guitar with hard rock influence, while the second features the orchestra with slow range.

[1] "Lullaby", the closing track of the standard version, is a heart-bruised alternative rock ballad, echoing similarities to Keane's Tom Chaplin.

[34] Los Angeles Times writer August Brown opined that Waking Up "internalized a lot of the things that made Timbaland such a compelling producer; that good sounds are paramount, songs should move in odd directions and many different ideas can constitute a hook", and complimented the tracks "Missing Persons 1 & 2" (for having a "real playfulness"), "Marchin' On" (which "earn[s] the bigness of its flags-and-fighting imagery") and "All This Time" (for its "solo-McCartney goofy sweetness").

[16] Bob Roose of Plugged In (publication) appreciated the album's concept, writing "Waking Up is a wholesale—and wholesome—encouragement to stick to the high ground and the positive things of life".

[40] Tony Cummings of Cross Rhythms complements the commentary on Waking Up, "the album have stay-in-the-mind song hooks and production", and praised Tedder's vocals, calling them "haunting".

[1] Mikael Wood from the Entertainment Weekly gave a positive review, writing "Waking Up reflects that studio experience with loads of sleek synth licks and juicy percussion tricks; it's much more flavorful than the band's Fray-like debut", praising most of the tracks, but also citing the lack of something that "turns a good song into a great one".

[...] A rare instance of Tedder distancing himself from his celebrity buddies to send up their pretensions", appreciating the band's versatility in create "near-genius great choruses".

[37] Bill Lamb of About.com praised the album's production values, writing that Waking Up, "is that its a work of expert pop music craft", concluding that "band shows off their versatility in rhythm, instrumentation and mood".

[41] Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic compared the title track to the Killers "only with their goofy pomp replaced with po-faced circumstance", and criticized the album for having "no joy, only dogged diligence, an alienating insistence that texture means more than warmth or melody".

[27] In a negative review, Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine gave the album 1.5 of 5 stars and stated that "OneRepublic's music just isn't that interesting".