Review Summary: Blink 182 cash in as longtime fans proceed to check out...
It's hard not to come off passionate when talking about Blink 182. The band's music defined my late high school years and even, admittedly, some of my early adult years. As I grew older and began to learn about life...
I realized...
I love Blink 182.
Blink 182, with Tom, Travis, and Mark were a really authentic band for young adults. They wrote songs about young love, hating your job, and being stuck in a place in your life you didn't want to be. Eventually, they started to lose their charm a little more after every release and became a bit...
Stale...
Blink 182 went silent for a while and released their magnum opus “Blink-182” in 2003. Then after critical acclaim, everyone wondered: What next?
They broke up, only to get back together again a near-decade later and then break up again. Tom Delonge was kicked and in his place, Travis and Mark brought in Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio.
There's definitely potential there for a fresh new change in Blink’s sound. However, Skiba in Blink 182: squandered potential. Travis and Mark's chemistry with Matt is lacking when compared to Tom, but that was to be expected. After an adjustment period and the mediocre “California”
in 2016, Mark, Travis, and Matt release “Nine”
Did Skiba help Blink-182 reclaim their throne as the king of sad pop-punk? No. In fact, all Blink 182 gave fans was a reductive, bastardization of a pop-punk album that tries the patience of fans who remember when Blink 182 was once a good band
It's bad. REALLY BAD. Take any generic pop-punk band from the early 2000s... throw in some awful "modern" production, slather it all in reverb, and make the guitars sound like synths. On top, sprinkle in the diary of your 12-year-old sister who just discovered Twitter. Yeah, now we have "Nine."
If all that wasn't enough, The band comes through with condescending lyrics with "Generational Divide." No, Mark... It's not better just because you chose to actually put some passion into the song. It still sucks that Blink 182 think that I'm dumb enough to buy their bull***.
It worked before because the SONGS WORKED MARK!
Nine is worse than California if that's even possible. It is also the last nail in the coffin of a once-loved band. Blink 182 once stood for integrity and the artistic freedom to *** dogs in the ass, but that's a thing of the past.
