This time, the pop-punk legends are back, but with an album that's more alternative rock and experimental than pop-punk. Don't fear, they haven't forgotten their pop-punk roots, but instead of joke songs here, everything is completely serious. Not an ounce of humor to be found, as the guys sing about things they've experienced, and just looking back on their lives from before they had children.
Not all Blink-182 fans will like this album, and that's totally to be expected, as this is unlike anything they've ever done before. There's hardly any happiness, and tons of depressing songs, and even a few love songs thrown in for good measure.Some of these songs even sound like something you'd never expect them to do, from the slow, calming 'I Miss You', which is definitely a stand-out for this album, to the dark 'All of This' featuring Robert Smith of the Cure, to even a new-wave track 'Always'. A lot of music here is influenced by stuff they listened to when growing up, and applying a Blink sound to it.
They had all gotten married and had children right before releasing this album, and in a way, it kind of sounds like it. There's no joke songs on it, like the past albums, having songs like, and pardon my french, 'I Wanna Fuck a Dog in the Ass' and 'Happy Holidays, You Bastard', instead we have more songs about things they've experienced. Instead of joyful happy songs about wanting to have sex with animals, we have a song about Mark witnessing his father hit his mother, and not being able to do anything about it, which contains some of my favorite lyrics by them, and instead of hating Christmas, we have a song about how Tom was used by a girl to get closer to his brother, and ended up getting his heart broken. Blink-182 is in an entirely new phase, and one I fully embrace.
Like I've said before, not all Blink-182 fans will enjoy this, but I personally find it great. Tom, Mark, and Travis are digging deep into who they are.
The only bad things I can really say about this album is that not all of the tracks are exactly the greatest songs they've ever put out, but there's some great tracks on here, and if you're a Blink-182 fan, there's no reason this shouldn't be given a listen, and if you hate Blink-182 for their immaturity, maybe this album will be the one to win you over.
8/10
After this album, Blink-182 went on hiatus. Tom Delonge formed Angels and Airwaves, a continuation of his previous project, Box Car Racer.
Mark Hoppus formed +44 with Travis Barker.
And Travis Barker did a solo album. I will cover these later.
Recommended Tracks: Feeling This, I Miss You, Go, All of This
