I only listened to this twice and, as much as I liked it, I’m also incredibly excited about what a follow up might be
Just chiming in to say this album is just... incredible. I'm getting a perfect amalgamation of Untitled and TOYPAJ - just a proper follow up to the former 20 years later. Zane's hype was honestly warranted, haha. Feeling so many things right now.
Yeah, I'm kind of curious about the tracks that didn't make the cut like 'Brain Candy' wonder how those sound... If I remember (this is going off of a Travis instagram story) there was a good chunk of songs that were cut.
It's a shame the lyrics at the end of Turpentine weren't included on those leaked lyric photos. Would have shut down the site if the threads had those lyrics as content during our blink lyrics discourse.
After a second listen through Travis' drumming realllyyy stands out. He alone makes this a classic for me. I'll forever cherish the memory of my first listen on my drive home smiling my ass off blasting through mountain roads with the autumn leaves falling down. Mark, Tom & Travis for life!
Blocked off my work calendar for a few hours. Taking this to the beach with the Bose headphones. Can’t believe this collaborative effort is truly here, feeling emotional. Listened to the discography last few days and Zane interview last night. LFG. Memories of my first full listens: TOYPAJ: Age 12 - Christmas afternoon 2001 on my portable CD player. I think the first song I replayed was happy holidays lol. Self-titled: Age 14 - Christmas night 2003, big CD stereo system and laying on my bed while playing Madden. “WOW what did I just listen to?” Lyrics hit hard. Neighborhoods: Age 21 - Sep. 2011 listened to the leak the afternoon after seeing them live. Sitting at my apartment desk in college with nice headphones. Ghost on the Dancefloor gave me goosebumps instantly.
I’m a little jealous of those who have avoided listening to the singles. There’s no way I could have done that, but they are in for a real treat
Finally got to listen this morning! It was killing me staying out of these threads yesterday, but I'm going to read through them today and like a bunch of posts, so be ready. This album rules! I'm so happy it exists. A few mastering/production choices I'm not in love with, but a bunch that I am. Anthem Pt. 3 is great. Will it top the other 3 parts? Only time will tell. Dance With Me continues to kick as much ass today as it did the first day I heard it. One of my favs on the album for sure. Fell In Love is fun! Terrified has that big Snake Charmer/Obvious style Tom chorus and I dig it a lot. One More Time is incredible. More Than You Know fits so well in the running order. It's a great song on its own, but I love how it sonically represents most of the album. Turn This Off! is fine. When We Were Young is excellent. Edging is still super fun. You Don't Know What You've Got is full of a gravitas I never really expected to get from the band again. Sure they have lots of cheesy lyrics across their entire discography, but when they decide to go for the heart they do not pull punches. Blink Wave is awesome. I LOVE that synth in the chorus. Bad News immediately stood out as one of the strongest songs on the album. It's a little too short, but it reminds me of Go, which I've always loved. Hurt made me laugh when I realized that Tom was singing the word "hurt." Turpentine also made me laugh. And it rules. Fuck Face is fine. Other Side is yet another late-album Mark banger. I dig it a lot. Childhood is good! I do NOT like the super autotuned descent of Tom's vocals in the chorus. But it was obviously an intentional choice and I'm sure after a few listens I'll either come around on it or learn to ignore it. I wish that the drums weren't so loud at certain parts. There's some sections where the cymbals wash out all guitar and the intensity of the kick drum pushes against the vocal. But when they aren't pushing the loudness scale, they actually sound quite good. I especially like the intro of You Don't Know What You've Got.
And now I have to do this whole emotional "favorite band gets back together and releases an album that reminds you of every significant moment in your life spent with this band's music" thing again with Gaslight next week???
I’ve played Edging like 3 times, and the other 3 that came out after just once. Seeing people have first listens where they skip the singles justifies that for me lol
It’s kinda brutal lol. Menzingers last week too? Still reeling from Spanish Love Songs. It’s too much.
And Taking Back Sunday is shockingly good (and the new Boys Like Girls album rules). We've been eating well.
Woke up (too) early because I had three things I wanted to add to the review. Now it's copy edit time. I think the vast majority of the writing part is done. Wanted all of that done before I see any other reviews or too many more comments, don't want to be influenced. Depending on how much editing I can do tonight, will hope to post mid morning tomorrow.