Review Summary: Listen to a record about life, love and loss without feeling like a pansy. I-Empire is Angels and Airwaves sophomore effort and offers an insight into the band that has progressed greatly from it's debut album.
Ok we have all heard of Blink-182, one of the biggest bands of the 90’s and early 00’s. Their music mainly consisted of driving drums and distorted pop-punk guitar work and every now and then a memorable lyric. Well think Blink 182 slowed down, drowned in effects and reverb and with a hint of U2, you have Angels and Airwaves. I know its crazy but it’s the closest I could get to describing this band.
Today many bands come and go, or stay longer than the public want *cough Bon Jovi cough* all whom have an influence or a similar band but Angles and Airwaves have a sound of their own, on their first record the majority was a swirling mixture of space effects and whiny vocals courtesy of front man Tom Delonge but truly the record was disappointing and really didn’t go anywhere leaving fans (who were told it was the greatest album in 20 years) let down, now a year later the band release their sophomore effort, I-Empire.
The record opens in the way Angels and Airwaves know how, a reasonably lengthy introduction that builds up to an uplifting verse, much more speeder than anything from Whisper yet it combines elements from what we have heard before, the sing-along chorus is a new aspect of the bands artillery and is used vastly throughout the record.
“Breathe” and “Lifeline” are the slower songs which I have come to expect from the band the latter is a real standout track, Tom Delonge’s lyrics really reach out and drag you into this song (in a good way), however “Breathe” is a forgetful track because of its repetitive nature. Both hold their own on an album which as a whole they don’t suit.
Most songs are driven by a new found drumming aspect of the band, of all of Angles and Airwaves members Atom has taken a much larger responsibility in making the record a much more light-hearted and an easier listen than its predecessor. Again the guitar work is average; it fills its job well on the record but overall is quite bland in terms of the numerous opportunities there is to pull out a decent solo or catchy riff.
The first single of the album “Everything’s Magic” is my least favourite track the song, it is a copy of Blink-182’s Anthem Part 2 and has a rhythm very similar to many of The Cure’s songs. The verses are sang out of place and a frustratingly repetitive, sadly a track that may appeal to the masses but not to the fans.
Don’t you just hate those annoying intros? Well those annoying intros is what makes up a fair amount of I-Empire as a general rule many songs have introduction of roughly 45 seconds to a minute, excluding the two (pointless) prelude tracks, The bridge between Lifeline and Rite of Spring is filled nicely by “Jumping Rooftops” however “Star of Bethlehem” is entirely pointless, it builds up and feels almost like a dance track but “True Love” has its own 2 minute introduction.
The lyrics on the album are the standout feature from the cringe worthy (I love you/ come and lay with me/ I love you), to the breathtaking (Every day I wake/ I tell myself a harmless little lie/ The whole wide world is mine) this album has it all, but there is no song that rivals Rite of Spring, the verses has a distinctive Blink-182 feel however when it flows into the chorus you know that this is an Angels and Airwaves song leaving you both sad and uplifted at the same time, this is the song every Blink 182 and Angels and Airwaves fan wants to hear.
Another song reminiscent of the Blink-182 sound song is Sirens overall it gives you a little flavour of nice bass work, flowing verses and an artist touch of lyrical simplicity in the chorus that adds up to another stand-out track.
With the combination of Secret Crowds, Heaven, Call to Arms, Love like Rockets and Lifeline you have nothing short of an epic dose of music, all are full of life which contain the characteristic I-Empire sing-along chorus and drum driven tracks.
Secret Crowds is very similar to “The War” on Whisper it builds into a heavily distorted guitar riff and eases into a verse which discusses of the ownership of your “empire”, slowly the track works its way into a powerful chorus that really stands tall on the record. This track entirely sums up the direction of I-Empire and the uplifting themes which are present song in and song out on the record.
I downloaded this record slightly sceptical of what to expect, I was certain that it would be interesting to see whether the band had learnt from their mistakes and whether they could deliver something memorable for the fans, and that is exactly what they do.
I-Empire really isn’t anything new from the band, similar instrumentally, similar lyrically, but they have indeed picked up their game, occasionally there is a little stroke of genius that you cannot help but admire. As a whole this is a terrific record personally one of the best record I have heard in a while but once you reach the conclusion there is something missing maybe a knockout blow or a few extra songs instead of 2 pointless prelude tracks and the band could have produced a record that listeners would be taken aback by or maybe the realisation that Tom Delonge’s ego was justified… to some extent.
Check out:
Rite of Spring
Call to Arms
Secret Crowds
Sirens
STREAM:
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