Style and Direction
In revealing details of the album to NME in April 2009, Stockdale compared Cosmic Egg to the band's debut album Wolfmother by explaining that "Everything is magnified. The heaviness is magnified to heavier state. The simple ones are really simplistic, two-minute songs, and the journey songs are like 12 parts". In a pre-release interview with the singer-songwriter, Rolling Stone Australia described the album as "vintage Wolfmother", mentioning features and qualities such as the "distorted, frenetic, bass-heavy sounds of 'White Feather'" and "the epic 'In the Morning'". MTV also hinted at the style of the album early, explaining that "Tunes like 'California Queen' and 'Sundial' chug along on meaty chords, dive into sludgy breakdowns and sizzle with Stockdale's flame-kissed solos". Writer James Montgomery went on to add that "'Far Away' and 'Pilgrim' are moody, fog-machine ruminations on astral planes and mythic realms, floating on pealing organ lines and stony synths".
In August 2009, Spin published a track-by-track review of Cosmic Egg, revealing the following song descriptions:
| “ | "California Queen" From the first head-banging riff, to Andrew Stockdale's Ozzy-with-his-balls-in-a-vice vocals, to bongy, fantastic lyrics about "Standing in front of the rainbow" and "Homegrown hydroponics," Wolfmother still parties like it's backstage at a Uriah Heep show in 1972. "White Feather" Where the first two tracks leaned toward metal with their thick distortion and wailing vocals, "Feather" sits more towards the hard rock side of things. "Sundial" A simple rocker. The song kicks off with a funky, Hendrix-y guitar lick and some one note piano plinking. "Cosmic Egg" The bluesiest track so far. "Far Away" If "In the Morning" was power-ballad-as-psychedelic-rainbow, then "Far Away" is its prom-friendly cousin. "Pilgrim" Very reminiscent of "Woman." "Violence of the Sun" A tense, mid-tempo keyboard part kicks things off. Guitar licks slither around a skittering hi-hat. The bass doubles the guitar. The drum rolls come fast and heavy. Stockdale's voice reaches into a higher register through to the conclusion of this fittingly epic album closer. | ” |
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