Musical Style
In an interview with Paul Cashmere after the release of Vulture Street, guitarist Darren Middleton stated that a couple of songs they had written "were just too Odyssey Number Five based," and that the first track, "Rockin' Rocks", was "probably the start of where we were heading" with the album. Cashmere stated in the interview that the album was "the toughest heard Powderfinger sound".
Bernard Zuel of The Sydney Morning Herald reviewed both of Powderfinger's more recent albums. Describing Vulture Street as "a rawer, louder" album in comparison to Odyssey Number Five, Zuel highlighted Fanning's "talent as a lyricist" and stated that it featured guitarists Haug and Middleton "dominating in a way they haven't since their 1994 debut." Zuel stated that there is a "real energy here that has some connections to early Powderfinger," and described "On My Mind" as having "AC/DC meatiness", and "Love Your Way" as "acoustic tumbling into weaving Zeppelin lines."
In his review of Dream Days at the Hotel Existence, Zuel described it as " high-gloss and muscular framework," and stated that that was what "American radio considers serious rock."
| “ | Compared with the relatively lean, agile sound they've perfected up to now, this is Powderfinger as the footballer who in the off-season spends his time in the gym and emerges buff and beefy. The problem is he has bulk but has traded in his nimbleness. | ” |
| — Bernard Zuel, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 June 2007. |
Clayton Bolger of Allmusic stated in his review of Dream Days at the Hotel Existence that Powderfinger "largely revisit the sound of their Internationalist album, leaving behind much of the glam and swagger of 2003's Vulture Street." He commented on Fanning's "commanding and distinctive vocals," the "twin-guitar attack" of Middleton and Haug, Collins' "innovative basslines," and the "powerhouse drum work" of Coghill.
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