thefragger
Certified Crazy.
Artist - AWOLNATION
Title - Back From Earth
Year of Release - 2010
Record Label - Red Bull Records
Genre - Indie / Alternative Rock
I'm going to start off with a bit of a story;
My friend's roommate is Canada's number 1 radio host at the moment (small world, huh) and since my friend and I go to the same school which is some 45 minutes away by car, we carpool in his car. As a direct result of this combination, I've been exposed to a lot of new music. He's into screem-o-hard-rock and I'm more indie/classic rock kinda guy; but both our sets of ears perked up when this new song popped on the radio. It sounded like early Marilyn Manson, except not. My friend has an app on his iPhone (Shazam?) which will 'listen' to a song and return the artist and song title. The result? AWOLNATION - Sail.
Well, shoot, now I had to look these guys up when I got home. After reading a bit about the lead singer, Aaron Bruno, and his past ventures (another album I've yet to review by a previous band named Under The Influence of Giants is fantastic!) I decided to go buy the album, this album which I plan to review for you all here, titled Back From Earth.
So now that brings me to this album, which I've been listening to for a couple weeks now, and am currently as I write the review.
The album opens with a song titled Burn It Down; a combination of synth beats/organ that passes from one ear to the other and back, strong drums beating away in the background, some grungy electric guitar, all accompanied by the lead singers' voice mixed and overlapped. The lyrics are simple; the song opens with an introductory verse, whereby the chorus tells you to 'burn it down, baby, burn it burn it down.' Simple. The verses are catchy and I caught myself humming the song during my 'Numerical Methods' final examination, as for me the song impresses upon me a need to speed up and the beat carries me through my thoughs.
Following this piece we have a song titled Guilty Filthy Soul; a fair bit more mellow than the previous track! There's a simple augmented acoustic guitar with basic piano and bass accompaniment. There are undertones of reggae with a dash of synth thrown in for good measure. Good for the rhythm, the lyrics don't really do much for me.
The next track on the album is simply called MF. Again, we have more synth--claps, shouts of 'what' as part of the beat, and an overal techno-ey-beat style is prominent at the opening of this song. Quickly we learn what MF stands for, and it's used rather liberally, however it adds to the overal atmosphere of the song. It's crude, yes, but it's a FUN song! Here, and only in this review, I will admit to blasting this song on repeat through my innocent Scott 222C amp when I've been home alone. The song has a great atmosphere; the chorus is enveloping with its spacial effects and at the start and end of the song there is a backdrop that sounds like an excited crowd, creating this lush depth that draws you in and carries you out.
And now this brings me to the song that got me interested in this band, Sail, which has (apparently) been overplayed on the radio, but since I listen to classic rock stations at home it hasen't been worn out on me yet (although I can see how it can wear one out fairly quickly). Again, there's some synth which comprises the main beat with some electric piano accompaniment and electric guitar. The verses are reminiscent of early Marilyn Manson's subtle-scream-o with interludes which demonstrate the wonderful tonality which the lead singer is capable of. Again; simple beat, bit grungy, and another fun song that you can rock out to with the sunroof open!
The album wraps up with a remix of Burn It Down which is, from what I can tell, intended for clubs. I don't care much for this track; it's far too electronica and bass heavy for my tastes.
That about wraps up this review. Please, I'd love to hear feedback from you if you've managed to wade through all those words up there and let me know how I did--this is my first review and hope you enjoyed it!
Title - Back From Earth
Year of Release - 2010
Record Label - Red Bull Records
Genre - Indie / Alternative Rock
I'm going to start off with a bit of a story;
My friend's roommate is Canada's number 1 radio host at the moment (small world, huh) and since my friend and I go to the same school which is some 45 minutes away by car, we carpool in his car. As a direct result of this combination, I've been exposed to a lot of new music. He's into screem-o-hard-rock and I'm more indie/classic rock kinda guy; but both our sets of ears perked up when this new song popped on the radio. It sounded like early Marilyn Manson, except not. My friend has an app on his iPhone (Shazam?) which will 'listen' to a song and return the artist and song title. The result? AWOLNATION - Sail.
Well, shoot, now I had to look these guys up when I got home. After reading a bit about the lead singer, Aaron Bruno, and his past ventures (another album I've yet to review by a previous band named Under The Influence of Giants is fantastic!) I decided to go buy the album, this album which I plan to review for you all here, titled Back From Earth.
So now that brings me to this album, which I've been listening to for a couple weeks now, and am currently as I write the review.
The album opens with a song titled Burn It Down; a combination of synth beats/organ that passes from one ear to the other and back, strong drums beating away in the background, some grungy electric guitar, all accompanied by the lead singers' voice mixed and overlapped. The lyrics are simple; the song opens with an introductory verse, whereby the chorus tells you to 'burn it down, baby, burn it burn it down.' Simple. The verses are catchy and I caught myself humming the song during my 'Numerical Methods' final examination, as for me the song impresses upon me a need to speed up and the beat carries me through my thoughs.
Following this piece we have a song titled Guilty Filthy Soul; a fair bit more mellow than the previous track! There's a simple augmented acoustic guitar with basic piano and bass accompaniment. There are undertones of reggae with a dash of synth thrown in for good measure. Good for the rhythm, the lyrics don't really do much for me.
The next track on the album is simply called MF. Again, we have more synth--claps, shouts of 'what' as part of the beat, and an overal techno-ey-beat style is prominent at the opening of this song. Quickly we learn what MF stands for, and it's used rather liberally, however it adds to the overal atmosphere of the song. It's crude, yes, but it's a FUN song! Here, and only in this review, I will admit to blasting this song on repeat through my innocent Scott 222C amp when I've been home alone. The song has a great atmosphere; the chorus is enveloping with its spacial effects and at the start and end of the song there is a backdrop that sounds like an excited crowd, creating this lush depth that draws you in and carries you out.
And now this brings me to the song that got me interested in this band, Sail, which has (apparently) been overplayed on the radio, but since I listen to classic rock stations at home it hasen't been worn out on me yet (although I can see how it can wear one out fairly quickly). Again, there's some synth which comprises the main beat with some electric piano accompaniment and electric guitar. The verses are reminiscent of early Marilyn Manson's subtle-scream-o with interludes which demonstrate the wonderful tonality which the lead singer is capable of. Again; simple beat, bit grungy, and another fun song that you can rock out to with the sunroof open!
The album wraps up with a remix of Burn It Down which is, from what I can tell, intended for clubs. I don't care much for this track; it's far too electronica and bass heavy for my tastes.
That about wraps up this review. Please, I'd love to hear feedback from you if you've managed to wade through all those words up there and let me know how I did--this is my first review and hope you enjoyed it!
AWOLNATION - Back From Earth
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