After an eight-year hiatus Blink-182 is back with a new studio album called “Neighborhoods.”
The group’s break occurred for numerous reasons with side projects and the plane crash involving Travis Barker.
Even with an eight-year hiatus, the album performed well in its first week of sales with 151,000 sold in the U.S., finishing behind J. Cole.
With all that being said the group is back but it’s hard to say they are at the same level they were once at.
The album opens up strong with a upbeat song called “Ghost on the Dance Floor.”
The best part about this song is the production, as it is very upbeat and is the best song on the album.
This was a smart move by the group.
After eight years without releasing an album, the last thing the band wanted to give the public is a bad song off the top of the album.
The first single the group decided to release is called “Up All Night,” which performed OK in the U.S. but better in other countries.
As for the single it is what you would expect from the group.
The main problem I have with it is the chorus repeating the same three words for the whole chorus.
It’s not surprising because that’s just the way mainstream singles are constructed today, but if it were me I would have released “Ghost on the Dance Floor” as the first single.
My reasoning behind that is not only is it better lyrically but, to me, the production is also better.
The place where Blink-182 falters is the production aspect.
It was reported that the album was recorded separately; allegedly most of the group was not together when they were recording the album.
That can lead to many things, but not being on the same page can affect a song a lot more in a rock song than any other genre of music really because putting a rock song together takes more than one person.
A hip-hop song, meanwhile, takes only takes one or two people most of the time and once the beat is made, everything is fine.
In terms of trying something new, the band succeeded in doing that.
However, it really hurt some of the material and was obvious that the production was not up to par with their other album.
Still, it is nice to see Blink-182 back.
It seems like the band has the sort of following in the U.S. and outside the U.S. that will keep it around for years to come.
While “Neighborhoods” isn’t exactly a great comeback album, it still does the job.
People outside the Blink-182 fan group might not be happy with the comeback album.
As for Blink-182’s fans, however, this album will do fine for right now.
ALEX FRYLING
Ne* mn� h7 ‘>The ending is a twist and one that viewers will have to see for themselves.
For those who want horror, action, suspense and twists, “The Thing” will certainly hit home in all of those places.
