Karl Wallinger defined the ornate, Beatlesque World Party sound on their debut Private Revolution, and he never strayed from that blueprint over the next decade, even if he augmented it with other '60s and '70s pop flourishes.
Egyptology finds Wallinger at his most conservative, sticking to the basic late-'60s pop and psychedelia that distinguished Private Revolution and Goodbye Jumbo.
As always, his production is tasteful and subtle, revealing new layers of sonic detail on each listen, and his songcraft is sturdy and tuneful, if not remarkable.
Few of the songs jump out upon the first few listens, yet there are no weak moments on the record, which makes Egyptology, of all things, a workmanlike release.
It's not flashy or extravagant, and it may not have the inspiration of Goodbye Jumbo, but it does deliver a collection of fine pop tunes without pretension, and that alone makes it a better album than the overly ambitious Bang!.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It Is TimeKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 25 MB |
| 2 | Beautiful DreamKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 3 | Call Me UpKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 02:58 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 4 | Vanity FairKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 5 | She's the OneKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 28 MB |
| 6 | Vocal InterludeKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 00:24 | 0 MB | 2 MB |
| 7 | Curse of the Mummy's TombKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 05:58 | 13 MB | 37 MB |
| 8 | HerculesKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 9 | Love Is BestKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 03:05 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 10 | Rolling off a LogKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 05:56 | 13 MB | 37 MB |
| 11 | Strange GrooveJohnson Somerset, Karl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 12 | The Whole of the NightKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 04:24 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 13 | Piece of MindKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 04:59 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 14 | This WorldKarl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 04:20 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 15 | AlwaysJohnson Somerset, Karl Wallinger | World Party | Play | 04:23 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 60 mins | 138 MB | |||||
| 60 mins | 391 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Sharrock | Engineer, Producer |
| 2 | Johnson Somerset | Composer |
| 3 | Anthony Thistlethwaite | Guest Artist |
| 4 | Karl Wallinger | Composer, Engineer, Producer |
| 5 | World Party | Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |