Awolnation immediately demanded attention with their debut album Megalithic Symphony. Their track ‘Sail’ really shot them into popularity, but it wasn’t just the one track that defined that album, as the likes of ‘Kill Your Heroes’, ‘Not Your Fault’ and more really helped to exemplify what their sound was. Awolnation came into the music industry with something new and interesting, and at the same time good. The challenge now is to keep that popularity moving forwards and not become just another one hit wonder.
Run is that challenge for Awolnation, and overall it’s a difficult album to try and explain, unlike the last, this one really does hit some peaks and troughs. The electro-rock that they helped create in their last album is very much present still, but you get the feeling that they might be trying a little too hard, and because of this certain tracks just fall flat. The opening and title track ‘Run’ is overall repetitive and uninteresting, and the album doesn’t really peak your interest until ‘Jailbreak’ where the catchy chorus’ and hooks are really apparent.
Although, as has already been pointed out, there are a number of points in this album where they do everything right. The aforementioned ‘Jailbreak’ is the start of the positives, and from there it does end up building itself back up. ‘KOOKSEVERYWHERE!!!’ is very similar to what they created in Megalithic Symphony, but upping the tempo right up creating a fast paced and perfect running track. ‘I Am’ will become an incredible live sing-along, and ‘Woman Woman’ is one of the better tracks purely for its ability to be instantly memorable, if not being slightly repetitive in places.
The biggest problem Run has, is the fact that it’s incredibly schizophrenic in how it’s set out. You’re often left confused as to what it really wants to be, are you an upbeat album, or a slower and melodramatic release? The album is oddly tracked where the tempo and style jumps all over the place throughout, and I was certain I was listening to The Lion King’s, and Elton John’s ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ at one point, until I realised it was just the piano part of ‘Holy Roller’. It’s inherently not a bad album, just confused and often times feeling a little forced.
