jtresk26
07/18/09, 11:43 PM
Blink-182 - Untitled
Record Label: Geffen Records
Release Date: November 18, 2003
"I've got no regret right now." No other words can help set the tone for Blink-182's Untitled record. Even before Blink-182 convened to record a new album in 2003, we saw a taste of what the album would be like in guitarist Tom Delonge's Box Car Racer project. Deeper songs with a harder-edged feel Blink was not known for at the time influenced their self-titled album. Blink spent ten months recording this album, more than any of their other records.
"Feeling This," the album's opening track, is one of the most infectious songs Blink-182 has ever created. Travis Barker, drummer, starts off the song in unconventional manner Blink-182 is not known for, but the subject matter of the song, sex, is typical for the band. Explained in the liner notes of the album, the verses of the song represent the passionate, lustful side, with the chorus representing the romantic side. At the end of the song, Delonge and bassist Mark Hoppus create vocal harmonies reminiscent of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. "Obvious" is a track that sounds like an ode to grunge combined with punk music. "I Miss You," one of the four singles from the album, shows the softer side of the band, but with creepiness that seeps throughout the song. "Violence," one of my personal favorites off the album, could be called a Blink-182 song but naked. Throughout the verses, percussion instruments, such as a shaker, and a bass line can only be heard in verses, while the chorus has one of the best lines on the record, personally speaking, "Like violence, you have me, forever and after." "Go," the shortest song on the record makes two demands of the listener: to start throwing shit and to turn up your CD or MP3 player. "Asthenia" is a track that represents a space rock with punk rock elements, with the use of a Leslie speaker.
"Always," a track heavily influenced by 1980's new wave/ pop bands and is the ultimate love song Blink wrote for the record. "I'm Lost Without You" is a track that may not represent the Blink-182 found in Enema of the State, but it shows a interesting look at what the band can do to a song, in a good way, and see where Blink's songs sound in like the future.
In a more technical look at the album, the vocals on this album are the best of any Blink-182 album, which is best represented in the song "Feeling This." In a lyrical sense, anybody off the street can tell by listening to the record that it's their most personal record they have written so far. With producing duties by three-time Blink producer Jerry Finn, he adds sounds that are integral to a song, not by making them stand out, but by adding to the feel of the song. Like any other Blink record, the trio mesh well together like a legendary band, with Travis Barker hammering away at the drum kit like he was Animal from The Muppets.
Now, about six years after this album has been released and on the brink of their reunion tour, Blink-182 threw out the drawing board of what they think pop-punk is and added new elements Blink fans were not expecting, and in retrospect, threw critics off their feet with their new innovative pop-punk/alternative sound. An album like this is hard to follow up; Blink is expected to record a sixth album, but this album may be a point they can never reach again. Either way, it should considered one of the best albums created in the decade.
Record Label: Geffen Records
Release Date: November 18, 2003
"I've got no regret right now." No other words can help set the tone for Blink-182's Untitled record. Even before Blink-182 convened to record a new album in 2003, we saw a taste of what the album would be like in guitarist Tom Delonge's Box Car Racer project. Deeper songs with a harder-edged feel Blink was not known for at the time influenced their self-titled album. Blink spent ten months recording this album, more than any of their other records.
"Feeling This," the album's opening track, is one of the most infectious songs Blink-182 has ever created. Travis Barker, drummer, starts off the song in unconventional manner Blink-182 is not known for, but the subject matter of the song, sex, is typical for the band. Explained in the liner notes of the album, the verses of the song represent the passionate, lustful side, with the chorus representing the romantic side. At the end of the song, Delonge and bassist Mark Hoppus create vocal harmonies reminiscent of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. "Obvious" is a track that sounds like an ode to grunge combined with punk music. "I Miss You," one of the four singles from the album, shows the softer side of the band, but with creepiness that seeps throughout the song. "Violence," one of my personal favorites off the album, could be called a Blink-182 song but naked. Throughout the verses, percussion instruments, such as a shaker, and a bass line can only be heard in verses, while the chorus has one of the best lines on the record, personally speaking, "Like violence, you have me, forever and after." "Go," the shortest song on the record makes two demands of the listener: to start throwing shit and to turn up your CD or MP3 player. "Asthenia" is a track that represents a space rock with punk rock elements, with the use of a Leslie speaker.
"Always," a track heavily influenced by 1980's new wave/ pop bands and is the ultimate love song Blink wrote for the record. "I'm Lost Without You" is a track that may not represent the Blink-182 found in Enema of the State, but it shows a interesting look at what the band can do to a song, in a good way, and see where Blink's songs sound in like the future.
In a more technical look at the album, the vocals on this album are the best of any Blink-182 album, which is best represented in the song "Feeling This." In a lyrical sense, anybody off the street can tell by listening to the record that it's their most personal record they have written so far. With producing duties by three-time Blink producer Jerry Finn, he adds sounds that are integral to a song, not by making them stand out, but by adding to the feel of the song. Like any other Blink record, the trio mesh well together like a legendary band, with Travis Barker hammering away at the drum kit like he was Animal from The Muppets.
Now, about six years after this album has been released and on the brink of their reunion tour, Blink-182 threw out the drawing board of what they think pop-punk is and added new elements Blink fans were not expecting, and in retrospect, threw critics off their feet with their new innovative pop-punk/alternative sound. An album like this is hard to follow up; Blink is expected to record a sixth album, but this album may be a point they can never reach again. Either way, it should considered one of the best albums created in the decade.