I don't really remember what the shelf life of Neighborhoods was for me but I think I listened to DED once and went back to Disaster periodically.
I listened to Neighborhoods for a LONG time trying to make it click with me. I was so underwhelmed by it, but I desperately wanted to love it because it was my favorite band's reunion album. But yeah... aside from a very small handful of songs, I don't go back to Neighborhoods often at all.
I still love Neighborhoods honestly and it's in the upper half of their discography for me. A lot of that has to do with it coming out on my 15th birthday and the nostalgia but at the same time I think it has a lot of their best songs (yet their worst ones too)
Neighborhoods hasn't held up for me at all. I probably haven't listened to it all the way through since 2012.
It's so inconsistent. I feel like Natives, After Midnight, Even If She Falls are amongst their best, and then for me it has some of their dead last songs (This Is Home, Love Is Dangerous, MH) and then there's the production issues. I didn't even listen to it much leading up to California, I listened to everything else of theirs a lot.
People get so hostile against this opinion, but I'd take Neighborhoods over California any day of the week/month/year
I think this is an important factor too. It kind of all depends on when you grew up/when you first started to listen to blink. When I was 15, Enema of the State was just coming out and blink was getting super popular. To me nothing will ever top Enema, TOYPAJ and the Untitled records. It's probably why blink will almost always be my favorite band because I felt a personal attachment to them because I felt like Mark and Tom could be myself and one of my best friends. Plus the songs they wrote were perfect for growing up, especially in high school. As far as California goes, I still listen to it a lot, not straight through as much but I will put the album on shuffle if I'm running some quick errands. The only songs I tend to skip are California, Teenage Satellites and Home is Such a Lonely Place. I don't dislike any song on the album but have to be in the mood to listen to certain ones. On the flip side I like Rabbit Hole a lot more now, I think I just played it so much when it first came out I got sick of it.
Yeah the album absolutely feels like three separate albums recorded at different times. You have the pure Tom songs like Ghost, Snake Charmer, Wishing Well, This is Home, Love is Dangerous, Even if She Falls. The pure Mark songs like Hearts, MH, Gravity. Then you have the combined songs: Natives, Up All Night, After Midnight and Kaleidoscope. It's no surprise that the combined songs are some of the better tracks on that album while the solo songs outside of Wishing Well, Even if She Falls and Hearts are some of the poorest songs they've done since Dude Ranch. I do think that there are some good songs/ideas on the album but after the initial "oh my god blink has a new album out" hype I find it hard to go back to it. Especially after all the stuff about how little some members of the band cared, and it certainly shows. It would have been nice for all 3 guys to be in the same studio at the same time and working with an outside source because I think there could have been a really good comeback album in there. This is part of the reason why I don't want Tom back in the band unless he agrees to record for 3 months of so straight in the same studio with Mark and Travis with an actual producer.
I was honestly very worried the first blink album without Tom would be full of songs like MH4whatever
Yeah I forgot Kaleidoscope, that's probably my favorite on there actually. The songs that were collaborated on are easily the best and it makes them stand out that much more over the rest. Agreed with your last statement, and I don't see that happening. I'm excited to see what this lineup makes with a little more freedom knowing how well they get along. Any subsequent albums are pretty much guaranteed to get better I feel and I already love this one.
Completely agree and I'm also excited about their follow up album. The more they work with each other, the more comfortable they will get, the more trust builds etc. That's why I was fine with them putting out a "safe" album and picking someone like Feldmann to produce. California was a huge success and was really their much needed comeback album. I'd be really disappointed if their next album isn't better than California.
I've been listening to California a lot lately and it's really a great album. Skiba is really a great fit. He's a guitar player who's used to sharing vocal duties and writing. He of similar age and has experienced success before. He's used to working with other artists and always has other projects on the go, most importantly Alkaline Trio. He's had to battle personal demons, had failed relationships and resides in California I believe. I'm just really impressed how this version of te band came together for such a nice fit. And I have no real vested opinion with Feldman, other than I think he did a great job capturing the Blink sound on this record.some of those guitar parts/riffs reminded me of older blink. Just happy to finally have a new record from this band that sounds complete. Glad Travis talked them into releasing more songs. I could do with the joke tracks but they are short and don't harm the album. Curious to hear what else they recorded and what music comes next and when for these guys.
California (Deluxe) is out May 19 with 11 new songs and Acoustic Bored To Death. Free download of "Parking Lot" with pre-orders Cynical Bored to Death She's Out of Her Mind Los Angeles Sober Built This Pool No Future Home is Such a Lonely Place Kings of the Weekend Teenage Satellites Left Alone Rabbit Hole San Diego The Only Thing That Matters California Brohemian Rhapsody Parking Lot Misery Good Old Days Don't Mean Anything Hey I'm Sorry Last Train Home Wildfire 6/8 Long Lost Feeling Bottom of the Ocean Can't Get You More Pregnant Bored to Death (Acoustic)
Does being in blink automatically make Skiba write horrible lyrics? What is happening here these dudes are 45!
Haha, I don't know. I mean, I don't hate this song I guess but it's so... standard? Basic? Emotionless? I dunno, just feels like we've heard it all before
New song screams b-side to me. It does make me wonder what the rest will sound like, particularly since "Hey, I'm Sorry" is a lot more in line w/ the rest of the album.