I'm calling this review a "Part 1" because I feel like I need more time to truly get into and understand the new blink-182 album, but I can't ignore that it was released today. I'd feel like a failure if I didn't post something. I'm going to start off by saying that I won't prejudice this blog by overtly revealing who my favorite band is, but if you can't guess it after this blog...
Anyway, I was unfortunately too young when albums like Dude Ranch (1997) and Enema of the State (1999) came out to actually make my own decisions about music and buy my own records. However, I can imagine this is how it went. With Dude Ranch, people who knew about the album probably thought, Wow! what a great punk rock album. And Dammit? One of the greatest punk songs ever. I wonder where this band will go from here. Then came Enema of the State, and I bet people thought, Oh my God. They got better! AND they got a pop punk hit on Top 40 radio! A game-changer, for sure. And their concerts were great, and the blink boys were hilarious, and thus a star was born.
But, like most bands, I bet people thought their records wouldn't get better, wouldn't progress. Most bands don't after all; after coming out with an iconic album, they might have some more great albums, but never up to par with the one that made them famous. But then there was Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001). And while hits like Rock Show and First Date sounded like they probably could have been included in Enema, Stay Together for the Kids absolutely rocked my world. Add in the rest of the songs on the record, and this album was somehow, crazily, another icon in the pop punk/alt punk genre. At this point, most people were probably thinking, Well this is it. There is absolutely NO WAY they can get better.
And then...self-titled. With this album, I personally feel that blink-182 rose above their pop punk roots (in a good way) and showed the world what they were really made of, and what they had learned from their past albums. For me, this is my favorite album of all time. No one could seem to classify this album, and I read a lot of reviews because I was trying to figure it out myself. It wasn't really punk anymore, but what was it? It was like they took punk and twisted its arm until it spit out its absolute best elements; then they added in their impressive songwriting and musical imagination, and came out with something indescribable. This album, it turned out, would actually be blink's legacy in the eyes of many people.
So when blink-182 broke up and devastated millions of teens and 20-somethings, I was mostly upset because I didn't think I would ever hear anything comparable to that album ever again. From anyone.
Needless to say, all these ramblings have been leading up to Neighborhoods--the very first blink-182 album to come out since the eponymous record. Does it live up to the extraordinarily high expectations? The expectations placed on it by fans, critics, and the record label? Could this be the album that inspires masses of youth to start listening to blink? In my honest opinion...it could. I'm not saying it will, but it has that potential. Its another game-changer, mixing Tom's space rock with some of Mark's indie and Travis' hip-hop. I'm not sure that every song will be a hit, a fan favorite, but there are some real gems on there. In my initial run-throughs, I love "After Midnight," "Hearts All Gone," and of course "Up All Night." I've also been drawn to "Even If She Falls," although I definitely haven't disliked any of the songs yet either.
So are you wondering if its good enough? Give it a listen. If it doesn't have you convinced to keep listening by the first few tracks, then you might not really like blink, or rock in general, because I think this album is the eventual progression from their past. Oh, and to those upset, saying blink-182 is a sellout? A sellout continues to make the same music over and over to please their fans and make money without really trying to do anything new, or real. Blink-182, on the other hand, is always progressing, and not worrying about what anyone thinks--and not so shockingly, it has always worked out for them, and probably always will.
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