Blink 182: Neighborhoods

Blink 182: Neighborhoods

2011

DGC/Interscope Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Ghost on the Dance Floor  2. Natives  3. Up All Night  4. After Midnight  5. Heart's All Gone   6. Wishing Well  7. Kaleidoscope  8. This Is Home  9. MH 4.18.2011  10. Love Is Dangerous


Blink 182's 2011 reunion album...Their first record since 2003's self-titled album... I really didn't follow the careers of Blink 182's members after the breakup...I heard Tom DeLonge's Angels and Airwaves once or twice...The only thing I remember about it was how U2 it sounded...



(I do like that album cover...It always made me laugh because it reminded me of the old Phantom Menace videotape I used to have...)

(Holy shit! I just googled it and found out the same guy did both...)



 I know Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker had a band called +44, but I still haven't heard it to this day...So I didn't really know what to expect with this record...

"Ghost on the Dance Floor" kicks off the record, and the first thing that strikes me is how much Tom's voice has changed...He just sounds really odd and overly affected now...Again, it was probably a gradual thing and I wasn't paying attention...

On the other hand, Mark sounds great, but unfortunately, he's doesn't do much of the vocals, for some reason...He co-sings some of them...

But really, there's bigger problems than the vocals... I've listened to this album about 20 times now and I just can't get the hang of it...There's really nothing great here, but there's not anything particularly bad either...Picking out high points or low points is really hard...Nothing seems to gel enough to stir any particular emotion...I can't hear anything except for big, blocks of processed sound...

I do enjoy "Heart's All Gone" it took a few listens but I finally learned to love that song....

If Blink 182 wasn't always overly insightful, at least they had their wit and sharp hooks to keep it interesting...But they seem to have lost both assets...I understand why the humor was downplayed, It sucks having to be the guy pushing 40 and having to continue to bust out the dick jokes...But oddly enough, they had a much larger emotional range when they seemed emotionally stunted...Listen to "Dammit" again...There's a few levels there...But everything on here, seems to be delivered in the same, straight manner...So, hooray...It's very easy to take it seriously, but I'm struggling to find a reason to listen to it in the first place..



They put out an ep called  "Dogs Eating Dogs" in 2012, but somehow I completely missed even hearing about...I'm hoping I'll enjoy that one a bit more...I'm still holding out that they'll be able to pull out some of the old magic and crank out another great record...

Let's check out "Heart's All Gone" by Blink 182...