Blink-182 [ARCHIVED] Band • Page 1142

Does @BTDandFeelingThis wanna beat on that?

 

Also, Mark specifically name-dropped the artist of the cover as well. I was only 6 rows back from the stage and having an incredible time, please don’t ask me to remember the guy’s name haha

 

RiskRock probably?

 

I’d imagine they expect it to be done by Friday and that’s why they have the timer

 

The art will definitely be some weird looking cartoon.

 

At this point I'd be more than happy if they didn't release another song before the album came out.

 

beat on what?

 

Yeah I usually try to only listen to 2 tracks before an album and I wait it out. With this, I've listened to all 3. With 2 months away we will definitely get 1-2 more (especially if we are close to 13-15 tracks on the album.

 

I would imagine so, the first three I haven't overplayed because I want them to be fresh so I can enjoy them with the context of the album.

 

I've listened to "Happy Days" only a handful of times, but I've listened to each of the other two about 650 times.

 

I can confirm that this is the new artwork for Blink's new album:

I

 

I think I might have listened to GD 5 or 6 times in total, Happy Days maybe 10 times and BIOMY 20ish. I'm trying not to overplay them before the album and for whatever reason I haven't been having any trouble going back to listen to them. I mean I like the songs but I'm just not going back to them as much as I did with the California songs or even the Neighborhood songs.

 

"I'm very fortunate that blink has always been very supportive of people stepping outside, doing different things and then taking that accumulated knowledge back to blink."

Riiiiiight, Mark... haha

 

BIOMY: 85
Happy Days: 68
GD: 35

 

I feel like you're slacking with GD, especially since it's so short.

 

Lycanthrope – It’s apparent from the first 30 seconds of this album that this is going to be a bit darker lyrically and musically than blink. Hard not to imagine this one is about Tom & the break up as well. “I hear your silence loud and clear.” Quite honestly this is the kind of song I hoped would come out of a collaboration between Hoppus & Skiba. I can hear Matt doing the backup vocals in the chorus. Current Blink should just start playing this one haha. Great opener and introduction to the darker sound +44 had.

Baby Come On – This chorus, damn. Riff kind of reminds me of STFTK or TOYPAJ era blink. Bridge kind of goes nowhere. As great as this song is I can’t help but think of what it might have been as a song on the next blink album after untitled. The best ideas from WDNTW and this record would have made one hell of a blink record.

When Your Heart Stops Beating – This one goes. It’s probably the one I’ve heard the most over the years since it was the single and I have it on my skatepark playlist. Still holds up and I’m not sick of it. Mark was firing on all cylinders on this record. Classic mid-2000’s dancey drum beat from Travis too on the chorus.

Little Death – Nice little chill out after the first 3 come out swinging. Really shows Mark’s growth as a songwriter and person – serious, dark song, but still titled after orgasms. I also like that Mark has always had a lot of space imagery in his lyrics too. Must be all the Star Wars.

155 – Probably my favorite on this record. That opening riff or keyboard line whatever it is really gets me going. Also really love Mark’s delivery on this one. Also, dig the overlapping vocals on the chorus BUT can’t help but imagine the call and response nature of the chorus being way more effective with Tom also there. Really nice bass work from the man himself on the verses too. I remember learning how to play this in college and trying to record shitty garageband drums to my shitty guitar playing.

Lillian – Cool little song. Also think it’s about blink. Nowadays this one kind of reminds me of “San Diego” on California. The bridge on this one goes. “And she’s trying to sleep it off/with her head on my shoulder/and I’m trying to keep it out/of my thoughts when I hold her.”

Cliff Diving – Always liked this one a lot. Just a fun Mark song. Lyrically, this wouldn’t be out of place on California.

Interlude – Nice vibey jam to set the stage for the next one.

Weatherman – “I miss you” style low/deep vocals from Mark on this verse. The guitar effect before the chorus is cool. Apparently this was written right after the blink breakup. Mark wanted to write a “dark and dirty song” which he seems to be continuing with Simple Creatures sound.

No, it isn’t – Savage. The “Please understand/this isn’t just goodbye.” Lyrics obviously hit hard but this line towards the end always gets me: “And now all our dreams are cashed in/You swore you wouldn't lose then lost your brain” It was kind of petty for Mark to release this on Tom’s birthday though. I wonder what was going through his head back then. Gnarly.

Make You Smile – Kind of jarring to go from the darkness of the last track to the poppiness of this one. I think that’s one of the minor issues with this record, Mark was obviously in a darker place after the breakup of blink but also still had these awesome earworm pop melodies in him. The female vocals on this one are cool and I kind of wish they had stuck with the original idea to have a female co-vocalist on everything. I kind of think this one should have come earlier on the tracklist though, it’s kind of weird sandwiched between the darker vibes of “No, it isn’t” and “Chapter 13”

Chapter 13 – Love this song. Peak Mark. Great way to close the album. Another one where I can hear the nostalgia Mark has while looking back on his career to this point.
“And we both take our revenge/But we still won't feel any better” – Gutted.

Overall I really like this album. I think Mark was at the top of his game and the break up of blink gave him inspired lyrical content and he was writing like he had something to prove. The entire thing has this cool nostalgic vibe. It’s hard to articulate. It’s like Mark was reflecting on everything that had happened and if you were a big blink fan at the time it was almost therapeutic to hear it laid out like this. That said, I can’t help but wish that some of these songs and the best WDNTW songs were worked on by Mark, Tom and Travis and we got the proper follow up to Untitled.

 

this is my favorite album ever

 

Pretty much agree with everything you've said here. This is probably the last truly great album Mark has done (and probably will do) only because you can just feel how personal this album is to him and how much he wanted to say in it. While I really like and even love a lot of his work he's released since nothing has felt this personal. I feel like he truly felt lost and hurt after the blink break up and this is him letting out all of these emotions. It's such a great album and one I really need to go back and listen to more.

It's funny to listen to this album and then WDNTW, because although Tom wanted that album to be massive and have such a big message it kind of feels empty especially comparing it to WYHSB. Tom's songs kind of just feel there without a real purpose except to spread positive vibes while Mark's songs just have all this emotion to them. I hate comparing different bands, especially when they have different goals but it's kind of hard not to in this case.

I also agree with you that it would have been nice to have 2003 Tom in the studio working on the songs too as the guitar sounds are kind of just there and not anything special (just like California). You can tell from this album which blink songs Mark wrote the guitar parts for on Neighborhoods and even past albums which I think is pretty cool.

Like BCR, I'm glad this album/band was just a one and done. I can't imagine a follow up album being as good and sometimes it's best to leave at the top.

 

When Your Heart Stops beating is a really good album. Mark's lyrics were at their peak here. Last them they worked with Jerry Finn as well. He is still missed.

Now I'm waiting for the Delonge Demos review.

 

always thought the "we're human shapes burnt on concrete walls" lyric was absolutely stunning. that is some dark shit for pop-punk

 

Love that line. Weatherman is easily my favorite on tht album

 

Not sure whether it was intentional on Hoppus' part, but it's a perfect parallel to the BCR album cover.

 

def in my top 3, just below Chapter 13 and No It Isn't... album ends crazy strong

I'm accepting this as headcanon