Blink-182 [ARCHIVED] Band • Page 1261

i like it more than the last one, it's not totally what i expected, and it's really fucking good

 

My expectations for lyrics are so low after California that I'm not registering how awful they may be in the recent songs. You can definitely tell the difference though between where they are grasping at depth in these songs compared to what ended up on the album, which I'll say is an improvement. They need someone or something to give them a happy medium between not overworking the songs and not letting weird word vomit be and for the love of god stop trying to force "joke" songs, at least they way they're doing them now. I think the difference between now and then that people are getting at even though it keeps being said they were never lyrical poets, when they were doing it before there was the natural chemistry between Mark and Tom and a self aware tongue in cheek aspect that was in direct response to what they were experiencing in life and pop culture of that time. Trying to replicate that 20 something years later doesn't make much sense and seems disingenuous. You can recapture feelings of nostalgia without taking steps backward to the point of seeming stagnant.

 

Good song. No need in that 10-seconds intro though. They could easily start on 10 seconds mark and the song would only win because of that. Also... What's up with all this lyrics hate?.. I dunno Im not a native speaker, but in my opinion these lyrics are OK. Well lyrics by every band are OK if we measure words only. The thing is we should judge a song as a whole, with melody, vocal, production etc.

For me Daft Punk's Around the World is a great song with lyrics which suit this exact song best.

Same w/ Blink and other artists. Cali and Delux Cali are sunny, nostalgic, youthful, summer records w/ a pinch of darkness. They have certain concept, from the very beginning I guess. So why overload songs with... I dunno... depressing self-reflecting poetry, for example. It's obvious that Mark, Matt and Travis are smart people to say the least, and I'm sure they could bring some dark vibes if they wanted to. But the concept was different.

 

2 out of 4 so far for me . Starting to get a little worried about the rest of the songs.

 

My hot takes: Wasn't in love with Hey, I'm Sorry but it isn't terrible IMO - just literally unremarkable, really. I am among but a few that LOVES parking lot. I only liked the bridge on Misery, really. 6/8 was rad but I haven't gone back to it much. Wildfire was a fun song. Too new to think much beyond that.

I remember being in a band in high school and we'd have songs we "crafted" and songs we cranked out kinda like First Date and Rock Show. Super simple, lyrics didn't usually mean shit, and it got the crowd going. I'd say Wildfire is along those same lines. Not holding it to too high a standard.

 

I don't necessarily like this new song or the lyrics and only moderately enjoy the other new songs, but I still think some of the reactions towards the band in general are overblown. If you don't like California, that's fair. But I think a lot of people are getting hung up on these "new" songs like they are a true follow up release.

Just keep in mind when you're listening to these that we're hearing leftover tracks/lyrics/ideas. All of the best ideas went to the actual album. Even the songs started after the album was finished were made after they had already written like 30 songs. It's understandable that they would hit a wall in creativity (and it's not like they were TRYING to deviate from California even).

It's fair to criticize them but I still think people are reading into them too much.

 

Good points. I mean the songs they recorded during the California sessions were left off for a reason whether the band didn't think they were good enough or didn't fit with the rest of the songs on the album for whatever reason. These are mostly B sides and not an actual follow up album.

I think what hurts is the hype that the band put on these songs dating back to right after they released California they started talking about an EP of songs they recorded but didn't make the cut and of course you had Travis saying these songs were better than the songs on California.

 

Really hoping they evolve in a more Misery, 6/8, Cynical direction on the next album..

 

So interesting to see some of the excuses that get made for these songs not being good.

When the band claims they're better than the real album and they're ... generally not, it makes me question how self-aware they are.

 

California gave us No Future, Cynical, and Sober, all of which I'd consider staples if I were to put together a Blink playlist. None of the bonus tracks have been "bad" to me as a whole - I'd say I like all of them. But some of the lyrics are just awful, even for blink. California, Kings of the Weekend, and Home is Such a Lonely Place are some of the worst songs they've ever produced though. I don't know if I can adequately express how much I dislike Mark's voice and lyrics on Home.

 

I think my reception of the songs is partially hurt by getting one new song randomly every few weeks. If I heard this as part of a full album (even a b-side album), I wouldn't think much of it. It's unspectacular and sub-par but if I was listening to a new blink release full of other songs I wouldn't think so much on it. But they're making a big thing of "Look a new song!" and it's new blink and I'm pumped and then it's bad so I fixate on that and find new things I don't like about it and the songs aren't really aging well, I'm liking most of them less the more they gestate. Whereas if the deluxe had come out and I hadn't heard and been disappointed in 6/8 and Parking Lot and Wildfire and fuckin' Can't Get You More Pregnant, I think I'd be more forgiving cause if there were songs I dug I would be stoked about them and thinking less on the songs I'm not into.

Though, if the deluxe songs are an indication, I might not like any of it enough to listen to the album more than once or twice.

 

Home is Such a Lonely Place is one Blink's worst songs? I'd say just the opposite.

 

Agreed. Especially what the song is about and how it's so personal to Mark. The song can actually be relatable to long time fans that are now grown up with kids of their own.

 

In fairness what band/artist that has a new album doesn't come out and say it's the best album they ever did or better than their last one? Blink isn't the only band to be guilty of that.

 

I can honestly say I've never heard a band, less than a year after the release of an album, puff up a deluxe edition by saying they fucked up and made a BETTER album.

 

His vocals are awful, and a powerful subject did not result in powerful writing. Obviously this is all opinion.

 

They set ridiculous expectations during the press cycle before the release of California and it led to huge disappointments for some people. All I want is for them to take their time with the next record. Not use any shortcuts or easy ways out. I wish they'd go with quality > quantity and not the other way around.

 

Listening to all the songs again, the spoken word part of 6/8 is maybe the low point of this band's career.

I think Misery is my favorite of the bunch and better than probably at least half of California but yeah I'm just not into the California era of the band. Always hopeful for whatever they do next though, and seeing them live with Skiba was really fun.

 

I felt like MCS were kind of like that with GO. They didn't seemed all too thrilled or hyped up. If I'm remembering correctly, it was like "here's a record we wrote a year ago when we weren't signed" and Released it.

 

I only like Go when I listen to it in the fall/winter. I get that vibe from it and it makes it a lot more nice to listen to than in the summer when I'd normally listen to anything else by MCS.

 

Can't argue with that haha.

 

Speaking of HISALP, I wonder when we're getting that video. I miss anticipating music videos in general.

 

Ok? What does that even mean? It's not an "excuse" to say that the band wrote literally dozens of songs in a six month period and these tracks are some of the leftover material. That's literally what it is. It's not an excuse; It's the reason they're bad.

I'm just saying I personally never expected these songs to blow me away or stray too far experimentally. Most was scrap material from California, and "Parking Lot" was probably close to the 40 or 50th song they wrote. It's fine to not like the bonus songs (I really don't), but it's also ok to have lower expectations for b-sides. I don't care if they band tried to say some of these songs were better than the album tracks; Everyone hits a creative wall.

 

Honestly. Blink needs to stop releasing these new songs with these corny lyric videos. Completely takes away from the song. The first time I hear it I'm not stoked but then I listen to my car later and they are bangers.

 

and TRL premieres?