MattA75's Full Review: Blink-182 [Edited] by Blink 182
When it comes to Blink 182, there are usually two opinions that music fans have of them. They either like them or they hate them. There are very few anywhere in the middle. Some of the criticism has been admittedly justified, given their penchant for penis jokes and album titles full of double entendres (i.e. Take Off Your Pants and Jacket).
Given that, it didn't take long for the hype machine to start up with regards to Blink 182's new self-titled album. This was going to be a more "mature" effort, and the self titled album was supposed to be the first part of the proof of that. And in parts, this album does come off as a more mature effort, but also more experimental.
The frenetic opening song, and first single, Feeling This, is, in short, a microcosm of what's wrong with the songs that don't work on this disc. Despite a nice vocal hook on the chorus ("Fate fell short this time, your smile fades in the summer, place your hand in mine, I'll leave when I wanna"), guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge's voice is much more whiney and aggravating than normal, and while bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus lends his vocal talents to a decent amount of the song, the verses are extremely annoying, with Hoppus interjecting "I'm feeling this" after just about every line DeLonge murders.
Things start looking up with Obvious, with its pounding opening salvo, but the song comes crashing to a near halt under its own weight. Not even the solid ending can save this song from it's overwrought self-importance.
The band changes things up again on the third track, the first winner of the album, I Miss You. The song is a upbeat if plaintive ballad of sorts, driven by a looping acoustical riff and simple percussion from drummer Travis Barker, who shows he can be just as much Ringo as Moon.
Other songs suffer from the same inconsistencies that plague Feeling This and Obvious. Violence is one of the few times on the record that Blink 182 sounds like Blink 182, but the annoying verses, replete with finger snaps and really light percussion, sucks any energy that the choruses might bring. And then there's Stockholm Syndrome, which features the most irritating vocal performance from DeLonge yet, something so painful to the ears that you're left wanting to kick DeLonge in the nuts.
Things do perk up though over the second half of the album. Barker stars on Down, with his manic fills and frantic snare hits, and I really like how the band used the loud soft dynamic to perfection on this track. After the annoying Transplants sounding The Fallen Interlude, the band revs things up again with Go, a straight ahead punk rocker with a bit of a pop sheen (though not as much as some of the band's past hits).
And despite what might be construed as my b*tching about Blink's failed experimentation attempts on the early parts of this record, I really do enjoy some of their other attempts on the second half, most notably Always, which finds Blink incorporating some new-wave elements into their more well-known sound, and Easy Target, which has enough punk sneer and snide in it to make even Iggy Pop proud.
The true highlight of the record though, may just be All Of This, featuring The Cure'sRobert Smith. On this song, nothing is purely identifiable as Blink 182, outside of the few lines DeLonge sings. Even the drumwork of Barker, normally easy to pick out, differs just because he keeps it so simple and basic. No weird fills or anything frantic here.
While Blink 182 has certainly not created an "album of the year" or anything of the sort on this self-titled effort, they have, in ways, redefined themselves. So many times a self titled album is a band reclaiming what they used to be, an old sound or look. But with this disc, Blink 182 has appeared to have set the course for their future, without much more than a blink into their past. Its biggest drawback is that it's so uneven, and I'm not really sure how many of these songs could be singles (hell, even Feeling This is borderline single material). If the band can focus more on their lyrics than trying to be extra super-creative musically, they may turn into a force to be reckoned with. If not, they'll swim in the waters of mediocrity that some of this album's songs do.
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