Blink 182 - "Neighborhoods"
November 17th 2011 09:47
I was probably 14/15 when I first got into Blink 182. They redefined pop punk when the genre had seemed lost under the new wave of punk rock acts that exploded in the early 90s. (think Green Day, Offspring, Rancid , NOFX et al). Their songs were made for confused teenage boys learning to deal with emotions and the realities of growing up. Infatuation with girls, getting drunk underage and silly songs about star wars and shitting your pants made them such a huge hit. Then, like their fans they grew up, older and matured. Their last studio effort in 2004 showed a band looking to move forward. The reality was one member was looking for one sound and the other two had their own ideas and the band broke up.
Tom went on to form Angel & Airwaves after releasing the quasi solo album under the project Boxcar Racer. Mark formed 44 which was more punk orientated. He tried his hand at producing records and now hosts a TV talk show. Travis worked on his own solo album and surviving plane crashes.
With time, tensions eased between the three and reconnected as friends and got back to writing music and Blink 182 again. Sure. NOFX liked to mock them and their underage fans. The punk community always debated the validity of Blink as a punk rock act and all their teenage fans have grown up, but with the announcement of a new album, we waited in anticipation. There were the million tweets. Photos from inside the studio and all members spoke about the new album for best part of a year.
Now the time has come for “Neighborhoods”. And what a bland, uninspiring and downright hollow album it is. It sounds like a collection of Angels & Airwaves b-sides. And thats not a good thing. Musically, its mediocre. The songs blend into the next one without varying in tempo or pitch and really they could’ve just linked them all together into one long track. Lyrically, it’s not their best work either. Tom sings majority of the songs and his vocal can get annoying after a while, especially when he sings serious type songs. Mark, who I think has a great melodic voice gets little time behind the mike and as a bassist, he just not strong enough. Together, it all combines to be the vanilla ice cream of albums released this year. Few will love it, most won’t care for it.
It’s a shame. A real shame that this is all they can offer after a year n the studio on the most hyped comeback in a while. Maybe, its best that they stick to playing the hits on stadium tours and surface every once and a while and stop making new music. It could be for the best.
Tom went on to form Angel & Airwaves after releasing the quasi solo album under the project Boxcar Racer. Mark formed 44 which was more punk orientated. He tried his hand at producing records and now hosts a TV talk show. Travis worked on his own solo album and surviving plane crashes.
With time, tensions eased between the three and reconnected as friends and got back to writing music and Blink 182 again. Sure. NOFX liked to mock them and their underage fans. The punk community always debated the validity of Blink as a punk rock act and all their teenage fans have grown up, but with the announcement of a new album, we waited in anticipation. There were the million tweets. Photos from inside the studio and all members spoke about the new album for best part of a year.
Now the time has come for “Neighborhoods”. And what a bland, uninspiring and downright hollow album it is. It sounds like a collection of Angels & Airwaves b-sides. And thats not a good thing. Musically, its mediocre. The songs blend into the next one without varying in tempo or pitch and really they could’ve just linked them all together into one long track. Lyrically, it’s not their best work either. Tom sings majority of the songs and his vocal can get annoying after a while, especially when he sings serious type songs. Mark, who I think has a great melodic voice gets little time behind the mike and as a bassist, he just not strong enough. Together, it all combines to be the vanilla ice cream of albums released this year. Few will love it, most won’t care for it.
It’s a shame. A real shame that this is all they can offer after a year n the studio on the most hyped comeback in a while. Maybe, its best that they stick to playing the hits on stadium tours and surface every once and a while and stop making new music. It could be for the best.
Blink 182 - Neighborhoods
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