A One Year Later Review.
blink-182
neighbourhoods
it's officially been a year since this album dropped, so I figure I'll write a review, why not?
WHY BLINK?
I've been a fan of Blink-182 since I was very little, after their hiatus I found myself to still be a huge fan. Being a kid of the 90's you couldn't turn on a radio or watch a music video channel without seeing or hearing their fun pop punk sounds. (this was back when music channels still showed music videos)
I remember them being described to be as a band that "sang a lot about chicks", which is very true for their earlier work, along with songs about having sex with animals, star wars, poop, sex with humans, all the good stuff. Later in their careers they began to write songs about heartbreak, divorce, alienation, depression, being unsure about yourself, death, isolation, confusion, losing loved ones, getting older, pretty much evolving as a band and playing rock songs about the realities of life.
I thank the music video for All The Small Things for tuning me into the band indefinitely, basically taking everything I hate in popular culture and making fun of it, they deserve every bit of fame for reinventing themselves in such fun and clever way.
After a four year hiatus from 2005 until 2009 it took two more years for new material to finally be released, Neighbourhoods was their comeback and followup to a number of side projects from each member, seriously I could write for days about this band, all you need to know is that these three dudes have had a lot of play from my ipod/cd player (with anti-skip protection bitches)
lets listen to the album shall we?
Neighbourhoods, 2011(deluxe edition)
GHOST ON THE DANCE FLOOR:
lyrically this song is about losing a best friend and hearing a song that reminds you of them so much it hurts, oddly I think it's one of the funnest sounding songs on the entire album, the guitar riffs are quick and easy, this is definitely a return to their earlier work with the maturity of their new work, I do believe this song is worth being a single.
NATIVES:
the opening guitar work in this song bring me back to the days of Dude Ranch's "Dick Lips", but definitely a song that could of easily appeared on their self titled album. lyrically this is a fun fast song, which I think is about just being a shit head sometimes, I'm still on the edge about the bridge in the end.
UP ALL NIGHT:
the first single and first new material we've heard from this album, this is a much more darker sounding song than anything we've heard from the band before, I definitely like the song but I do feel sometimes that it's a little over produced compared to the rest of the album. I guess you have to give it your all in a single, killer fucking ending though.
AFTER MIDNIGHT:
I'm surprised not a lot of people know that this is somewhat of a sequel to I Miss You from the self titled album, Blink-182 is never afraid to explore the concept of love, I felt this song was more of a tribute to the fans, it has pretty much everything you love about a Blink-182 song in it, the drum work is fantastic.
SNAKE CHARMER:
A hard song to put my finger on, I believe the band wanted to show us that they're still not afraid to experiment with both sound and content. A song about Adam and Eve, this is the most unique and interesting song on Neighbourhoods, and a new 'anthem' for the album "good girls like to sin". I've heard mixed reviews of this song, but I think it's stepping into new territory for the band, and the closing beat fits so well with the tone of the entire album.
HEARTS ALL GONE INTERLUDE/HEARTS ALL GONE:
a well crafted interlude, I wish it had showcased more drum work, but I think thats the point of hearts all gone, a fast song packed with loud guitar and drum work, this was the second song released to the public, I feel though that it sounds more like a +44 song than a Blink song, but it's songs like this that give the album title its credit, they wanted to show each member is from a different neighbourhood now, this is Mark's.
WISHING WELL:
When I first heard this song I absolutely hated it, not sure why it took a few listens for it to catch on, very quickly it became one of the most listened to song on the entire album, this is a return to their pop punk sound, an easy course that gets stuck in your head is pretty much what made this band famous in the first place. I can imagine in the studio they said "something fun".
Kaleidoscope:
I believe this to be the same case with Wishing Well, they wanted fun sounding songs on the album, I do believe at the same time though they are singing about themselves and what was going on at this time in their lives, this song seems like a very personal view on the process of recording this album. the fade out is a perfect look at the self producing and somewhat hip hop influence Travis is bringing to the table.
This Is Home:
This is a song that could of appeared on Take off Your Pants and Jacket, mixed with the 80s influences "Always" had from their last album. Its indeed a good song but not the best they've come up with.
MH 4.18.2011:
I like this song, the lyric writing always bring me back to "Apple Shampoo" from Dude Ranch, Mark knows how to write a song and make you think about your own life at the same time, "stop living in the shadow of a helicopter" is one of the coolest verses in the album.
LOVE IS DANGEROUS:
This song is so well produced, I'm glad both Mark and Tom are featured in this song, but this is probably my least favourite song on the album, it sounds more like a Angels and Airwaves song than a new Blink song. But again this is why the album is called Neighbourhoods, Tom is more into the stadium rock now a days.
FIGHTING THE GRAVITY:
This is another song along with Love is Dangerous that remind me of The Cure. The beginning of this song is dark and the guitar keeps up with the theme throughout. Travis drumming really complete this song, though I think this is a song that still needs to grow on me because, well, I never really listen to this one and the last one in their entirety, I usually always skip to the last song.
EVEN IF SHE FALLS:
They intentionally made this song the last on the album to say "everything is going to be alright" after the last darker slower songs, in my opinion anyway. This is probably my second favourite song on the album, it's exactly what Blink is really good at, and reminds me of that first time someone tried to explain that they "sang a lot about chicks".
over all this album isn't about which song is the best, it comes down to "is this a good return?". so you kinda have to rate the album in it's entirety.
I wish they had an acoustic song on the album, or some more slower songs, it was a darker album than anything they've ever done, but at the same time it's a proper return, any Blink fan who is a true fan would appreciate it as it is, sad that it got leaked but happy it reached number one on Itunes the first twelve minutes it was out. The reviews are mostly positive, Mike Giant doing the album cover pretty much makes the best album cover they've ever had.
I highly anticipate what they do next as a band, they are done running around naked, but they continue to sing about truly meaningful things. This album makes sense for the band.
In closing I would give the entire thing 8/10, but again I've been a fan of this band since I was about eight years old, and eight year old Mitch would of been pretty upset if I didn't go out and buy a physical copy of it.
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