This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply. Tom DeLonge talked with ABC Audio: DeLonge now feels that he may have been “too heavy-handed” in trying to change Blink’s sound for Neighborhoods, something he admits Barker and Hoppus were “probably rightfully hesitant” to do. Should he ever return to the band, though, DeLonge believes he’d be able to strike a better balance between what all band members want from a Blink record.“Knowing that I’ve gotten so much out of my system with this type of music with Angels & Airwaves, I don’t need Blink to land here, like I might’ve 10 years ago,” he says. more Not all embedded content is displayed here. You can view the original to see embedded videos, tweets, etc.
Nice when someone can critique their work like that and give credit to their band members . I’d love to see blinks dynamic with this perspective from Tom.
Neighborhoods lacks energy and chemistry between the members, but at least it doesn't give me listener fatigue after five songs like California and Nine. Those albums are so compressed and squeaky clean it's ridiculous.
Neighbourhoods had some misses but it at least sounded like they were trying to push themselves. Especially when the three of them weren’t exactly in a good place. I’d be interested to hear what they produced now although out of nostalgia it might be more of a nod to old blink. I like the last 2 albums but I do feel like they were too ‘safe’
I can never tell if the reason I don't like Neighborhoods is because we know the recording sessions were tumultuous or because the songs sound like the sessions were tumultuous and disjointed. Whichever the case, I can't get past either feeling, and it's still my least favorite blink album.
I love Neighborhoods. And I can see how he may feel there’s some heavy-handedness. So if he ever did come back and that perfect balance could be stuck that could be an amazing album. And would probably have all my favorite pieces of the best things they’ve done! Please do this!
I agree to a point. My only issue with the last two is there’s a bunch of filler. If you take the best songs from both albums you have a really good album. They should have edited a bit and waited a bit and put out that one amazing album.
Nine is excellent. California is fine- mindless summer fun. Neighborhoods has a few great tracks, some good ideas on others, and bad bad production. Curious for whatever comes next!
Excited to see what their live set up will be like when Tom comes back. I've always thought Blink could really benefit from a Jason White type like Green Day has to fill their shows out a little bit. I think a set up where Skiba fills that role and still takes the vocals from his newer songs would be cool.
I still enjoy Neighborhoods quite a bit. Is it perfect? Hell no. Is it much better than California and Nine? Without a doubt, yes lol
Creatively speaking, they seem to be aligned more now then ever given Mark and Tom's love for new wave/post-punk stuff and where they both have gone creatively the past few years. Travis will always show up and bring stuff to the table. Because of that, I can totally see Mark and Tom vibe off one another more now compared to the Neighborhoods/DED era. Plus, Travis bringing his production skills to the table would only help them more. Just Do It.
For me, Neighborhoods is easily the band's weakest release. I think Nine is by far the best thing these guys have put out since Untitled. Like, by far.