Review Summary: Definitely not close to being their funnest album though, if that's you thing. But if you want grown up Blink...
The infamous Blink 182, mainly being known as a punk-pop band that liked to make songs about sex and farting, but this album prominently named Blink 182 was supposedly to be something different than their albums from the past. Blink had been one of the few punk pop bands that I liked to listen to, but wasn't a huge fan of them. I wasn't quite sure what to expect of this new album, but when I bought it and listened a few times I thought that it was different from their other stuff, but anyone who liked them before should still like them now. They had begun this transition of maturity well before this album. What could have been Blinks' final album, would not have been a bad way to go out.
The first song
Feeling This is about sex so really what's the big difference anyway? The drums are enjoyable for this song no surprise there, Travis is the most talented member of Blink by far. The bass and guitar here aren't the best on the album, but are good as well. I like how the song ends with Tom and Marks vocals going back and forth with each other and was a cool way to end the song Up next is the song
Obvious which is probably a favorite of mine on this album and lyrically shows a profound increase in Blinks maturity. While still being about relationships, this song, in my perspective, is about a girlfriend cheating on her boyfriend and how it is obvious to him what is going on and she knows that he knows (How do we fix this if we never have vision), but neither of them are willing to confront the issue and ignore it. As for the music, I think this is a rather clever song with a simple, but interesting bass intro and the pause in the middle of the song that comes back in with some nice guitar. The whole song is rather enjoyable to listen to both musically and lyrically which was something new for me to think about a Blink song.This is where it slows down a lot with the mellow, relaxing song
I Miss You. One of the singles of the album, I dont know what the others are though I didnt listen to the radio back then (dont anymore now either) and watch MTV at the time either, and never will. I like the bass line in the beginning and Marks vocals are also good and it"s a shame they broke up because I would have liked to hear more of Blinks songs featuring Mark. The lyrics are once again more mature and the music actually is as well. This song is a good example of why I consider Blink 182 as musicians and not many other pop punk bands. The song however isnt a good example of what the rest of the album is like as it is more upbeat. I cant listen to this song a lot of times because it can get dull and repetitive.
The album picks the pace back up somewhat with song
Violence. Once again I like the intro to this song, very unlike Blink 182. The lyrics are good again, but this song gets drastically repetitive and boring very quickly. I dont like the end part where the women is speaking with no music in the background except for a piano, but the first part of the five minute plus song is long enough to make up for that part, but again is to long and makes it boring and repetitive. Overall, I commend Blink for trying something different than the standard pop punk song, but it just isnt a song for me.
Here we go, fully back with the upbeat pop punk pace with defiantly one of my favorite songs on the album
Stockholm Syndrome. Mark is the main vocalist again for most of the song, which is something that I enjoy. I like his voice and it is a good break from Toms voice, not that there is anything wrong with his voice of course. I like the music for this song a lot and my only complaint is that it is too short. This song could have been really great, but is limited due to the short length of it. Overall I liked the intro again best, but the rest of the song is great as well, just not as good as it could have been.
Down is another fast, upbeat song that all my friends who own this cd say is their favorite and is one of my favorites as well. It is my favorite song on the album musically and is very well put together with good drums and guitar, but the bass is just plain average. The vocals are very catchy and the actual lyrics show the bands maturity, which also shows how good they are as lyric writers. At this point I start to wonder if they depend on one word chants in order to transitions to different parts of each song.
The Fallen Interlude is just a two-minute and twelve-seconds interlude that has some cool drums and noise effects along with the voice of a women in the background. There is also a nice little guitar that kind of resembles Spanish music. Then Mark says a couple of times Down, down, down, pick me up Im falling a few times. A lot better than other interludes Ive heard before. I wont include it in the final ratings, but I think it deserves a 4/5 because I like it a lot and makes a smooth transition to the second half of the album.
Another nice little pop punk song,
Go is short, but I really liked it musically and vocally. Marks singing is very good again and takes over as the main vocalist in this song. I believe the song is about Mark having an abusive dad and wanting to leave with his mom in order to get away from him. Its sad if you think about it and once again shows how they have matured lyrically and musically. Its a short song, but is very catchy and the music itself is good as well. One of the better pop punk songs to me on this album is
Asthenia. It starts out silently then Tom comes in singing with some nice silent music in the background. The drumming is very good in this song, but the guitar is the same 3 chord stuff. The lyrics I find confusing so I wont comment on them. This is one of the more catchy songs on the album, but overall isnt that great.
Eventually it fades out to what is the beginning of
Always, which is a good slow song and I think it was a single of theirs as well for the album. It is a very well put together song and once again shows how the band has matured from writing songs about ***ing gramps. The song is pretty much about a broken relationship and the guy wants to start over and be in a serious relationship. The drumming from Travis is good as it is on the rest of the album. I like the singing on this song and the actual lyrics as well. The bass is nice to hear in the background, but isnt complicated or anything. This song is defiantly not my favorite song on the album, but it is the best slower song of the album.
The next song is
Easy Target. Which starts off nicely with some good drumming and then the rest of the instruments come in smoothly quickly followed with Tom singing. This song another example of Blinks change in style for this album. One of the main downfalls for this song and many of the others on this album is that they are to short and could be even a whole two minutes longer than they are.
All of This is one of the best songs on the album and pretty much Easy Target Part 2 and people will know what Im talking about when they hear the music for each one. The song has some great guest vocals added by Robert Smith of The Cure. The music is probably my favorite on the album and is also a different variation of Easy Target. This is also the slowest song on the album besides I Miss You. I like the weird noises in this song of which almost reminds me of a Cure song to an extent. The lyrics are nice and once again show the bands maturity and the Robert Smith appearance is good. Despite the Rob Smith appearance, I like the music itself better than the vocals.
Heres Your Letter is a song featuring Mark as the main singer with Tom not singing except as backup for a couple of words. Its a mix of their slow and more up beat songs and is a very good song, but can seem bland and repetitive to me sometimes and might be because of Marks vocals. While I like his vocals a lot, I dont think it is a great idea to have him sing so much on one song. Musically it is once again more of the same three chord stuff on the album, but has some simple, yet interesting bass and drums. Overall, the song is still above average despite how harsh I was on it and can be a good listen, every once in while.
Here it is, the last song on the album.
Im Lost without You is a quiet song that features some great vocals from Tom and is the longest song on the album clocking in at 6:20. The beginning starts off with a piano and Tom singing and later the bass silently comes in to. After a minute, all the instruments come in. Halfway through the instruments fade out and it goes back to the piano for a bit, but soon all of the instruments come back in and repeat pretty much from when they first came in. Some people probably think that it could have been shorter, but I think it is truly a great way to end the album.
Pros:
-All songs are above average
-Plenty of different songs on here so it doesnt get boring
-Robert Smith guest appearance
Cons:
-Some songs could be longer
If this had ended up as Blink 182s last album, then I believe it is something that they should be proud of. There are too many bands that decide to stick around and end up being a joke of their former selves. This is one of their more consistent albums. Definitely not close to being their funnest album though, if that's you thing. But if you want grown up Blink... Well, you should have it figured out by now.
