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 Walking on a Dream Jun 15, 2010
Great CD. it has a few fillers but i'd say 6/10 songs are good. 3/4 stars.
new pop May 11, 2010
cool album,a new kind of modern synth pop!
great sounds and good songs. good works!
 Walking and Dreaming, but in Every Direction Apr 20, 2010
Empire of the Sun's Walking on a Dream release is just as airy, ridiculous, and imaginative as the names of said band and album. Rising to prominence from the Australian electro-pop scene and unlikely cameos on hip-hop mixtapes (see Wiz Khalifa's track titled "The Thrill"), Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore's brainchild manages to blend Klaxon-, JET-, and MGMT-esque sounds and influences into a compelling composition.
Walking on a Dream opens with "Standing on the Shore," a track that would be better off without its lyrical accompaniment. Airy guitar and keyboard riffs woven together through mixed meter set the tone for a calm, almost ambient listening experience. Yet the high-pitched, whiny vocals, reminiscent of many British pop groups, ground the song by distracting the listener from tracking the evolution of its pleasant melody. "Walking On a Dream," the album's title track, is full of (surprise!) airy keyboard riffs that wax nostalgic for the days of neon-loving `80s pop. Its falsetto vocals and strong hip-hop beats (juxtaposed to the airier synth sounds) remind the listener of MGMT's Oracular Spectacular tracks. What's more, instances of light, isolated synth and keyboard melodies continue the pseudo-ambient listening experience started in "Standing on the Shore."
Walking On a Dream's subsequent tracks ("Half Mast," "We Are the People," and "Delta Bay") constitute a fairly serious departure from that pseudo-ambient environment that the first two tracks had worked to construct. The high-pitched, whiny vocals move closer and closer to center stage, and the tracks take on more JET-esque rock influences, with louder guitars and even the introduction of tambourines (of all instruments). These tracks definitely blend Empire of the Sun's sound into a number of music scenes (pop, electro-pop, alternative rock, etc.), rather than highlight or distinguish it apart from (or as an innovator in) those music scenes.
The rest of Empire of the Sun's debut album has very little unifying material, as there is little connection between the tracks. While there's nothing wrong with branching out and experimenting within an album, it's just surprising how disconnected many of the tracks are from one another. "Country" is a beautiful, rambling acoustic ballad that reminds the listener of Coldplay's lighter tracks off Viva la Vida (like Strawberry Swing and Lovers in Japan); "The World" plays up the whiny vocals once again and would fit much better on The Klaxons' next album; "Swordfish Hotkiss Night" ventures into entirely uncharted territory (previously on the album) by demo-ing sample-heavy, electronic (arguably electronische) sounds; "Tiger By My Side" brings airy guitars back to the forefront, reminding listeners of A-Ha's "Take On Me," with possible DX7-synthesizer influences; and "Without You" closes out the album with a mellow (but still airy!) ballad that was definitely crafted to be the slow song at some `80s high school prom or another.
Empire of the Sun clearly tried very hard to make Walking on a Dream live in the 1980s and 2000s at the same time. In many respects, it succeeds, as tracks like Walking on a Dream and We Are the People have risen on charts in the US, UK, and Australia. The catchy, keyboard-heavy melodies also make for some easy listening. But the album's experimentation into so many different fields definitely leaves the listener a little puzzled. For its next album, Empire of the Sun should focus on the elements in "Walking On a Dream," "We Are the People," "Country," and "Tiger on My Side" to develop its identity and zero in on an appealing sound with unifying themes.
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CD to LED TV - Commercial Success Feb 13, 2010
We are the People is the very catchy song that is used on the Vizio LED TV commercials that you have seen for at least the past part of 2009 and this year.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
WOW! Who are these guys? Jan 13, 2010
They do tandem lead vocals with one in a falsetto like Level 42 in the 80's and they are just as good. Very melodic and edgy at the same time. The instrumental "Country" blew me away. The talent level of another era.
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