Blink 182 Update Thread

Basq

Listened to first few songs this morning..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36BvyC_ODRM

Revolution9

Too many people talking about this, almost impossible to resist downloading.

Review from MTW:

Sometime around 2003, Blink-182 decided it was time to tack their dirty joke doctorates to the wall (presumably in their respective offices, which is where everyone's degree eventually ends up) and press on as a more serious-minded outfit. The reasons behind that decision were many — the new perspective that comes with fatherhood, a decade spent on the road, recording with Robert Smith — though, truth be told, their somber new suits never seemed to fit, mostly because, at that point, they were best known for putting porn stars in their videos and giving their albums titles like Take off Your Pants and Jacket and Enema of the State.

Of course, in the eight years since their last album, a whole lot has changed. Blink-182 splintered in 2005, subsequently sparred in the press, attempted to conquer the world with non-Blink projects, endured the deaths of longtime producer Jerry Finn and close friend Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein, and in late 2008, drummer Travis Barker was seriously injured in a plane crash that killed four, including two of his associates.

Needless to say, they've earned the right to be serious. And on their long-awaited Neighborhoods album (due September 27), they take full advantage, cramming the past 96 months of doubt, darkness and death into just 49 minutes — that's the running time of the deluxe edition — and doing so quite convincingly. For the first time in their career, Blink seem comfortable in those somber suits. Sadly, it's because they've worn them to so many funerals.

Lyrically, Neighborhoods is the bleakest thing Blink have ever done, haunted by specters both real — depression, addiction, loss — and imagined. Death is a near constant, showing up in songs like the thundering "Natives" ("Maybe I'm better off dead"), the crunching "After Midnight" ("Standing close to death"), and the snarling "Hearts All Gone" ("Let's drink ourselves to death"). Shoot, even first single "Up All Night" is highlighted by a corker of a chorus: "All these demons/they keep me up at night." There's a reason the first song on the album is called "Ghost on the Dancefloor": Neighborhoods feels less like a rock record than it does an exorcism.

Sonically, it's practically nocturnal, melding the electronic flourishes of Mark Hoppus and Barker's +44 project and the laser-light grandeur of Tom DeLonge's Angels & Airwaves into a sound that recalls nothing so much as dark streets and black expanses, mostly of the suburban variety (the field behind the 7-Eleven, the cul-de-sac illuminated by the single streetlight, etc.). Even the chords — and there are a lot of them — are dark, as if DeLonge has dipped his Epiphone in ink. Hoppus' bass booms ominously and Barker's backbeats are skittering, scraping and downright scary in parts.

That said, it's not all doom and gloom. Blink still know how to write a walloping chorus, and, much like the chords, there are a lot of them on Neighborhoods. In most instances, they provide brief respites from the general bleakness: "Wishing Well" has DeLonge going "la-da-da-da-da," the hook to "Love Is Dangerous" is practically buoyant, and, of course, there's the aforementioned "Up All Night," which booms and crunches like the Blink of old.

And speaking of the old Blink, well, they're largely gone here (the synthy, star-smattered opening of "Ghost on the Dancefloor" serves notice of that fact). But given everything that went into Neighborhoods lengthy gestation — it's the rare album that took so long to come out that it actually contains a song, "Kaleidoscope," about how long it took to come out — you can certainly understand that transformation. Blink have grown up, mostly because life forced them to, and willing or not, that maturity fits.

Neighborhoods is a deep, dark, downright auto-biographical effort, and when Hoppus sings "Hold on, the worst is yet to come" (on the bopping "MH 4.18.2011"), you don't really believe him. The worst is over. It's all good from here on out.

Yeah I'm totally gonna cave and download this tonight, but buy the album anyway when it comes out.

A V A

few re- cycled chords and progressions ,cant help but sing other words from other songs over them haha

CMpunked

A V A wrote: »

few re- cycled chords and progressions ,cant help but sing other words from other songs over them haha

What ones have you picked out?

AdamD

Epic Holiday/Ghosts on the dancefloor (riff in the intro)
Young London/Natives

Still love the album though. GOTDF/After Midnight/Up All Night/Snake Charmer/Kaleidoscope/Wishing Well/Even If She Falls/This is Home are all class

A V A

asbove secret crowds - snake charmer (after intro) also it sounds like a cure song aswell,all that flanger put on the guitar n drums etc

A V A

and honestly lads,dpnt mean to be crude i just want to give my opinion , its so greattha i have new music from my hero's in my itunes ,but to me this is just mete-ocer ,like this to compared to their last album and where they left off,just sounds like another angels and airwaves album,thats not a bad thing but i just expected more from blink,just sounds like toms input on everything ,all the strings and space effect etc just sounds to much for blink.
fighting the gravity is the only song that sticks out for me ,something that we havent heard from them

AdamD

I don't think it sounds very AvAish at all tbh

'This is Home' is the only song I could see on an AvA album

Revolution9

I've only giving this 3 or 4 listens through so far and I'm loving it.

Don't really get the too AvA-like thing, Untitled had Asthenia and I'm Lost Without You, which if they had've been on this album would undoubtedly be labelled as too similar to AvA.

Only thing that dissapoints me is Mark's input. I thought he would sing on the album a lot more than he actually does.

Natives and Wishing Well are my two favourites so far.

I don't "get" Fighting The Gravity yet, but I've only listened to it less than a handful of times so I won't be making any definite opinions.

Revolution9

Atom left AvA. Wonder if it's anything to do with Tom's commitments to Blink.

A V A

;)he's left so many bands who knows!!!

AdamD

New AvA album has leaked for those who are interested (I'd say most follow this thread anyway)

Revolution9

AdamD wrote: »

New AvA album has leaked for those who are interested (I'd say most follow this thread anyway)

Any use?

AdamD

Its really dividing opinions. AvA fans seem to either think its their best album so far or their worst. I'm with the latter, though Saturday Love/Surrender/Anxiety are pretty good songs. I much prefer their other 3 albums

Oscorp

New 5 track EP coming out before Christmas, with one festive song on it apparently along with a "folksy" track.

All songs recorded in studio with all three members present, which represents a big change from Neighborhoods.

Blink going Independent was probably the best decision they've made since reuniting.

A V A

excited to see what it will be like now that they are independent so far so good

Oscorp

New Blink song titled Boxing Day set to premiere within the next half an hour on Zane Lowe on BBC Radio One!

Listen live: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/

Oscorp

An acoustic folksy Christmas song! Only listened to it the once but it was certainly nothing like the content of Neighborhoods. Excited for the EP now!

Basq

Different, but very good!

Oscorp

Found a YouTube upload, probably get taken down soon. Not the very best quality. Really love this song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2P3G08TfAY

A V A

i like it , its different, its new so im not complaining reminds me of in or around the time not now came out for some reason, of when they where at their peak:)

AdamD

Can somebody PM me a download link if they have one. Thanks!

CMpunked

Wow. Thats very very different.

Not sure if i like, i'm sure i love it, though.

Oscorp

Preview of Dogs Eating Dogs on iTunes! 90 second clip of each song

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/dogs-eating-dogs-ep/id586491886



Tracklist:

1. When I Was Young
2. Dogs Eating Dogs
3. Disaster
4. Boxing Day
5. Pretty Little Girl

A V A

i know they're only 90 mins clips but i dont seem to be mad on them like i was when i first heard clips from the neighborhoods album , tom is just p*Ssing me off putting ridiculous synth sounds in, wish he would just keep that for angels and airwaves,cause they're progressively getting worse and kinda dont want that to happen to blink!

also is just me but from those 90second clips, does it just seem to be toms singing mainly and mark just doin the chorus's?doesnt seem to be split ?