The (now) pop-punk legends return with another album, this one a bit more serious than the last, but worry not, for their potty-humor is still here, just in smaller doses, and personally I like it better that way. I don't know what happened to them since they released their last album, but they're ready to tackle some harder subjects of their life, such as Tom's parents divorcing, the community hating on them for not being punk enough, and Mark dealing with a tough relationship.
If you liked the last album, there's a very good chance you'll still like them now. It's not like they went and completely changed their sound, despite what you may have heard on the radio with 'Stay Together for the Kids', which might I add is a very emotional and sad song about Tom's parents getting divorced that I personally love."I see them every day.. We get along, so why can't they? If this stupid poem could fix this home, I'd read it every day.."
There's also two songs that could be described as almost too sweet, 'First Date' and 'The Rock Show', sung by Tom and Mark, respectively, about a girl that they adore. It seemed from those being two of the singles off of this album that they were beginning to go soft, but that thought is immediately gone when 'Happy Holidays, You Bastard' comes on, with Mark cursing up a storm, and some of the lyrical matter of the other songs.
I can't really describe this album in a different way than I could describe the last album. Look up that review if you're curious what I think about this album, because it's basically the same opinion. Is it basically the same album? No. But the same exact quality to me, except maybe just a little less.
The album does have a few less memorable songs that I really can't bring myself to care for, like 'Roller Coaster' and 'Reckless Abandon', the album just seems to lose a bit of its personality and grip for me around the latter half of the album. It's sad that it does this, because this album contains my all-time favorite song by Blink-182, sung by Mark, called 'Online Songs'. That song is sort of short, but by far is the catchiest song by them I've ever heard, with an awesome amount of energy.
Check it out if you liked the last album. If you're new to Blink-182, check out the album before this one first, and then this one if you like that. They kind of go hand-in-hand.
6/10
Recommended track(s): Online Songs, Stay Together for the Kids
