Two years after announcing their plans to make more music in 2009, Blink-182 has finally released its long-awaited album “Neighborhoods.”
“Neighborhoods” has 14 songs, each featuring a unique sound. Blink-182 members include Tom DeLonge (vocalist and guitarist), Mark Hoppus (vocalist and bass guitarist) and Travis Barker (drummer).
The album opens with the song “Ghost on the Dancefloor.” The band has done a great job changing and maturing its sound during its hiatus of nearly five years. “Ghost on the Dancefloor” opens with Barker playing a mini solo on drums, followed by a synth and then DeLonge comes in with the guitar.
According to the band’s official website, this song is a tribute to DJ AM, Barker’s friend who recently died from a drug overdose. The lyrics are noticeably dark as Hoppus sings, “Yea I, I saw your ghost tonight/that moment felt so real/your eyes came right on mine/my wounds would start to heal.”
The album’s first single “Up All Night” begins with a weird drumbeat and guitar, and then goes into a breakdown followed by the first verse. DeLonge and Hoppus switch off main vocals. DeLonge sings the full chorus, backed up by Hoppus. It’s a repetitive instrumental, but at the end, it goes into a dark-sounding breakdown. This track specifically, sounds like a mixture of the old Blink as well as DeLonge’s other band Angels & Airwaves.
Fittingly enough, the album’s second single is “After Midnight.” This song shows off the original snare sound from the old Blink days. DeLonge sings the verses, but Hoppus sings the chorus. Besides DeLonge’s overpowering vocals, this song is flat-out amazing.
From the first chord of “Hearts All Gone,” listeners can tell it’s a fast-beat song. Ironically, Hoppus takes the vocal responsibilities for this one. It’s a good distraction from all of the dark songs on this album.
I like how most of these songs remind me of Blink’s older music. But it’s more mature, which is exactly what what was expected from them.
The song “Love is Dangerous” sounds like it should be an Angels & Airwaves song. The opening is very slow. DeLonge and Hoppus’s vocals are combined, giving it a weird and unique sound. While it doesn’t sound like the band’s older music, it’s more of a combination of Blink and Angels.
The one song to avoid on the album is “Fighting the Gravity.” This sounds more experimental than the other songs, and opens up with a powerful guitar sound and lonely drumbeat. It’s followed by Hoppus muttering words and Barker changing the beat. It’s a good song, but they tried too hard to experiment.
