Review Summary: Plus-44 has a dark, melancholic and driving sound. The songs are unbelievable catchy and you can really tell that Mark and Travis put a ton of work and heart in this effort. It's really worth your money in my opinion.
Who is Plus-44?
Plus-44 is the newest band formed by blink-182 members Mark Hoppus (bass and vocals) and Travis Barker (drums and keyboards). Also playing in the band are former Transplants touring guitarist Craig Fairbaugh and the lead guitarist of The Nervous Return, Shane Gallagher. The band's debut album, When Your Heart Stops Beating, was released November 14, 2006 in the United States. The name was conceived as a reference to the international dialing code for the United Kingdom, where Hoppus and Barker first discussed the new project.
Tracklist:
1. Lycanthrope
2. Baby Come On
3. When Your Heart Stops Beating
4. Little Death
5. 155
6. Lillian
7. Cliff Diving
8. Interlude
9. Weatherman
10. No, It Isn't
11. Make You Smile
12. Chapter XIII
First of, I have to say that I was rather stoked to listen to this new CD. I was pretty much sure that this album was going to be better than the mess of Angels and Airwaves. Tom DeLonge always seemed like the least fitting member of the old band. Songwriting, vocals etc. Tom never really shined and know I why. Because Mark and Travis are so much more talented than him. And this record made this one pretty damn obvious.
The first track
Lycanthrope smashes in with a great guitar tune and already shows the more darker and melancholic side of Plus-44. They manage to pull of the effect, just like AFI, to have a dark sound yet to spread out a positive feeling and message. Lycanthrope has a fast driving sound a very catchy refrain with alternating vocals. Another positive remark here is of course the top notch drumming of Travis Barker, a crazy man on the drums. Perfect opener to an album that might needs a bit time of yours to grow on you. More to it later.
Baby, Come On starts off rather calm with some electronic sounds at the beginning that will set the main sound of the album later. The refrain kicks in rather quickly. I also liked the lyrical work. Unlike previous Blink 182 stuff we get a little guitar bit in the middle of the song which felt great. The refrain grows on you also the more you hear it. Good little tune.
Now we enter their first single and third song of the album,
When Your Heart Stops Beating is one of the catchiest songs I have heard in the last few years. It has a dark feeling and sound to it with a melancholic guitar riff throughout the song and a refrain that clicks with you the second it kicks in. The whole song is very guitar driven which felt placed perfectly. A huge plus is the mini breakdown towards the end which was absolute fantastic. I just can't seem to find enough of praise for this song. A really strong song.
Little Death, the fourth song of the album, has elements of a band I just can't seem to remeber. It has that ballad and hope sounding feel to it, like AFI and HIM have lately which I dig at times just like I do now. Mark did really great vocals in the in between verses. The refrain again, doesn't seem to click at first, but will do later. My only problem is that the whole album suffers at exactly this point, that they lost their drive a bit of the first 3 songs. Still a decent song.
155 is the second huge highlight of the album. The song has a very catchy background keyboard sound that got me totally hooked the second the song kicked in. The drumming and bass worked perfectly with it and so did the great vocals by Mark. The vocal work so far felt like he put a lot of heart in it which I love. The really strong element of the 44 songs are so far the bridges and middle verses which build the rferain so perfectly up that everything just fits together. It makes you instantly sing the whole song. As I mentioned before, the main keyboard sound is so damn catchy that you just won't forget them no matter what. The whole song has a more poppish like Depeche Mode sound to it. It's kind of hard to describe.
Lillian is a bit of a letdown. It just doesn't seem to find a route and just goes on. The refrain gets quickly repetive and the whole song does also not fit with the whole new sound to begin with. It's just too much ballad based. Almost mainstream radio friendly pop. Just too cheesy to listen to.
Cliff Diving continues now a more rocking outline yet still a melancholic background. Kind of like the dying days of the Blink sound. What came off surprising was the refrain after the first minute which switched aprupt to simoultan guitar/drumming. It felt completely different and had a bit of a surprising base for this song. I especially loved the ending here which faded away slowly and rocking. It left a great after taste. The eight song of the album is the
Interlude which has electronic sounds, pianos and a cool driving guitar in the background. Not much to say of it of course yet it has a very cool melody and builds up perfectly for
Weatherman.
Weatherman is by far the moodiest, dark and melancholic sound I have ever heard from these guys. The very dark electronic sound and light synths set an awesome mood in the intro and Mark's vocals sound especially emotional. The refrain completed the great previous build up and will definitely be a crowd keeper for future concerts. It's a wonderful song and faded out with a great dramatic ending. Definitely a highlight. A big plus so far have been the never repetive guitar riffs and melodies. Every song has a special melody and mood as so does the next track in
No It Isn't. It's an obvious dig at Tom. The lyrics, sound etc. It builds up very slow and takes 2 and a half minutes to explode, but this explosion is huge. We get hard guitars and drumming that connect with a good yet extremely cheesy refrain. The negative remark could have been the length. I just don't like when songs build up for almost 3 minutes just to fade out a minute later. They missed an opportunity to make a great 5+ minute song in my opinion.
Make You Smile features despite some very cool electronic beats a female vocal part. The female vocalist just fit together perfect with Mark's vocals. I really digged that. Just like "No it isn't" it's a slow burner which explodes in great fashion later. But they really did that concept better here. The big positive remark is really the vocal collaboration between those two. Strong track.
We reach the last song of the album with
Chapter XIII. And this is the song that left kind of a bad taste in my mouth overall. The whole album started out great and had an almost flawless first half. The second half just seemed to drag and didn't have a clear goal. Just like this song. Chapter XIII just seems to go on forever. They should have placed a great hard rocking tune after the more slower songs to fade out the album with a bang in my opinion. They missed this opportunity right there.
Highlights:
- Lycanthrope
- When Your Heart Stops Beating
- 155
- Weatherman
- Make You Smile
Positive:
+ Fantastic vocal work by Mark who put in a lot of heart.
+ The usual top notch drumming by Travis
+ Great electronic sound completed with at times great keyboard tunes.
+ Solid length.
+ Very dark and melancholic feel in most of their songs.
Negative
- The album doesn't seem to find a clear route first and gets lost towards the end.
- The songs take a while to get into.
- The second half of the album is the complete opposite of the first half and not in a good way. Sometimes it feels a bit lost.
Summary:
In a direct confrontation wins "When your heart stops beating" against "We don't need to whisper" in the first round via knock out. It has so much more heart and a great energy to it. It also features a lot of new elements in the electronic section and a much more dark and melancholic feel. You can really feel that they did this album with a lot of passion and full effort. The first half of the album is absolutely fantastic. Great, rocking, catchy tunes that won't get out of your head for the next months for sure. The second half just doesn't find a real path. It seems to drag. But all in all it's a great CD that beats almost everything the Blink years have produced. From Box Car Racer to Angles and Airwaves. This album kicks their butts easily.
