Megalithic Symphony

( 1 )

Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - William Ruhlmann
Following his group sojourns with major-label projects Home Town Hero (on Maverick) and Under the Influence of Giants (on Island), Aaron Bruno resurfaces as a one-man band (albeit with a lot of help, including longtime partner Drew Stewart) under the name AWOLnation on Megalithic Symphony. A megalith is a large stone, so a megalithic symphony would seem to be an ambitious suite of rock music, and the album fits its title if one interprets the ambition as an unfettered eclecticism and sense of whimsy, as tethered to constant dance beats. Bruno seems to have built his tracks up from the percussion patterns, and once he got the beats he liked, he was willing to put ...
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More About This Product

Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - William Ruhlmann
Following his group sojourns with major-label projects Home Town Hero (on Maverick) and Under the Influence of Giants (on Island), Aaron Bruno resurfaces as a one-man band (albeit with a lot of help, including longtime partner Drew Stewart) under the name AWOLnation on Megalithic Symphony. A megalith is a large stone, so a megalithic symphony would seem to be an ambitious suite of rock music, and the album fits its title if one interprets the ambition as an unfettered eclecticism and sense of whimsy, as tethered to constant dance beats. Bruno seems to have built his tracks up from the percussion patterns, and once he got the beats he liked, he was willing to put whatever came to hand or mind on top. That includes poppy melodies supporting nonsense lyrics sung in falsetto or a gritty tenor, with plenty of goofy electronic sounds in between. The "anything goes" quality takes in an odd spoken word track ("Some Sort of Creature") and tracks that recall everything from Prince to Men Without Hats. (Remember "The Safety Dance"?) It all comes together on the 15-minute closer, "Knights of Shame," which begins with Bruno imploring, "Dance, baby, like the world is ending," continues through various sections including a rap by Cameron Duddy, and ends, after a minute or so of silence, with a hidden track that finds Bruno strumming his acoustic guitar and croaking, "It's been a long time waiting for you." What does it all mean? Who knows? But Megalithic Symphony engages the ear from moment to moment and allows Aaron Bruno to try out a variety of ideas, many of them half-baked, but all of them entertaining.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 3/29/2011
  • Label: Red Bull Records
  • UPC: 844942010860
  • Catalog Number: 1086
  • Sales rank: 2,897

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Megalithic Symphony (0:57)
  2. 2 Some Sort of Creature (0:26)
  3. 3 Soul Wars (3:37)
  4. 4 People (3:58)
  5. 5 Jump On My Shoulders (4:08)
  6. 6 Burn It Down (2:45)
  7. 7 Guilty Filthy Soul (3:33)
  8. 8 Kill Your Heroes (2:58)
  9. 9 My Nightmare's Dream (0:26)
  10. 10 Sail (4:19)
  11. 11 Wake Up (3:02)
  12. 12 Not Your Fault (4:02)
  13. 13 All I Need (3:37)
  14. 14 Knights of Shame (14:56)
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Album Credits

Performance Credits
AWOLNATION Primary Artist
Brian West Synthesizer, Casio
Christopher Thorn Guitar
Aaron Bruno Synthesizer, Bass, Guitar, Percussion, Piano, Drums, Keyboards, Vocals, fender rhodes, Synthesizer Bass
Jimmy Messer Synthesizer, Bass, Guitar, Drums, Keyboards, Synthesizer Bass
Drew Stewart Guitar
Billy Mohler Bass
Kenny Carkeet Synthesizer
Cameron Duddy Vocals
Arielle Verinis Vocals
Hayden "Great White Shark" Scott Drums
Dave Amezcua Bass
Watts Choir Vocals, Choir, Chorus
Tony Royster Jr. Drums
Tarrah Toland Vocals
Technical Credits
Scott Sheldon Management
Eric Stenman Composer, Engineer, Additional Production
Brian West Composer, Producer, Engineer
Christopher Thorn Engineer, Additional Production
Aaron Bruno Composer, Programming, Producer, Engineer, String Arrangements
Jimmy Messer Composer, Producer, Engineer, Additional Production
Brad Smith Whistle
Brian "Big Bass" Gardner Mastering
Kenny Carkeet Engineer
Cameron Duddy Composer
Berko Pearce Management
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 1 )
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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted August 21, 2011

    Just the Right Kind of Loud

    a great cd, well produced and energetic. i had only heard two songs when i bought it, and the rest of the tracks were exactly what i wanted. it is just the right kind of loud, great for driving, or dancing around the living room.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted August 19, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    Dancy Summery Goodness

    This cd is cool and light and heavy and dancy. It's easy listening for adrenaline junkies. Blame it on the ADD, baby!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews