ATP! Album Review: Angels & Airwaves - The Dream Walker

It feels like it’s been forever since Angels & Airwaves has released anything new, but The Dream Walker was definitely worth the wait. The vibe that their music gives off is timeless and powerful so I was really excited to listen to this new album, and it didn’t totally let me down.

Let me start out by saying that one of the coolest aspects of Angels & Airwaves is the cinematic feel that all of their music has. Whether it was actually for a short film (LOVE) or not, listening to it makes you feel like you’re the protagonist of the movie about your life, which is awesome. The Dream Walker is no exception to that feeling.

Everything about the album is very epic and powerful, whether it’s the haunting lyrics or innovative production and instrumentals. This time though, it was easy to tell the band was trying something a little different. My one comment with albums like LOVE and LOVE: Pt. 2 was that all of the songs sounded pretty similar but that is not even close to being a problem on The Dream Walker.

Immediately, I gravitated towards the clean mixture of punk and synth/techno in “Mercenaries.” The intro is really cinematic but then a more rock vibe hits you all of a sudden, reminiscent of I-Empire and We Don’t Need To Whisper. The mixture of everything Angels & Airwaves has been and wants to be works really well and ends up leaving you with one of those odd feelings of being emotional but not quite sure what about.

Along those same lines, “Paralyzed” and “The Disease” really felt like a mixture of old and new Angels & Airwaves and fit really well into the overall feel of the album. Every song obviously had at least a small hint of the band’s signature vibe in it, but some really stood out as being especially innovative and interesting. “Bullets In The Wind” and “Anomaly” were a few of those really new sounding songs.

The only song I just didn’t connect to on any level was “The Wolfpack.” Who knows, it could be one that grows on you, but it just didn’t match the experimental feel of “Tunnels” and “Kiss With A Spell” or the fun upbeat vibe of “Tremors” or “Teenagers And Rituals.”

Overall, The Dream Walker is a solid release for Angels & Airwaves, but not solid enough to be considered a full on masterpiece like some of their past work.

4/5

Caroline Hall

The Dream Walker will be released on December 9th via To The Stars.