blink-182 Band • Page 1235

I'm a little late but seeing the complaints about production/mixing are making me take a trip down memory line as I've been there for a whole ride of anticipated "new" Blink 182 albums. Here's a brief summary of the common complaints that greeted every new album after Dude Ranch (I didn't start listening to them until Dude Ranch so I have no idea if Chesire Chat truthers thought THAT album was too polished/poppy):

ENEMA OF THE STATE - "OMFG, so poppy/clean, this is like TRL music. Sellouts!"
TAKE OFF YOUR PANTS AND JACKET - "Blink 182 are no longer punk, there are pianos/strings on some songs!"
BLINK 182 (S/T) - "WTF?!?! This isn't pop/punk anymore, where are the feel good summer songs. I hate it when artists 'mature' "
NEIGHBORHOODS - "Not as good as self-titled/where is the feel good pop-punk stuff?"

 

This is 100% accurate and why I think I just laugh off all the talk around it since I’ve seen it span literal generations now. It’s just a rite of passage. Each new group of fans wanting what came before, before starting that cycle again for the next that fall in love.

 

Very accurate. People want to feel what they felt during a fundamental time in their life. even when they get what they want it won’t feel the same. California was a very strong callback to enema in a lot of ways with some good heavy dark themes sprinkled throughout and “true fans” rioted.

IMO if you let go of expectations and just accept things for what they are it’s a lot more fun / fulfilling.

 

more than satisfied with the releases this month. going to go dark on new songs / leaks / plays on the songs out until friday morning. Very happy with the!variety in the rollout. wild we have less than a week until the record is out.

 

I feel like the conversation about production has gotten worse each cycle, but I’ve noticed a weird uptick this time around of critiquing the songwriting. And not just saying it’s good or bad, but people are actively dissecting each song and basically trying to suggest ways to rewrite them for the band lol. Maybe that was going on before, but it feels way more prevalent now, like the theme of this album’s criticism.

 

I blame the “if X did X” YouTube-ification of everything. AI will make it worse.

 

As someone who is old enough to remember all of their releases from Enema on, none of the negativity surprises me. What does surprise me, though, is the talk about production. I much preferred the hilarious criticisms of “selling out” and “too poppy” - now everyone is an expert in 2023. For example the guy who said they left in a “mistake” at the beginning of One More Time lol and nobody could tell him otherwise because he went to school for engineering.

 

The increasing prevalence of critiques about production sort of make sense to me (though no less annoying). As years have gone by, at-home production software, plug-ins, etc. have improved like crazy and there is SO much good info out there that is readily available. So a lot of it is just that people’s awareness has increased, but it’s also a lot of Dunning-Kruger from people who have probably just watched a couple of YouTube videos.

The whole “I would have written the song like this” critique is weirder to me, as if the guys aren’t doing trial and error and seeing what ideas work for them. People act like they’re on autopilot and not making deliberate creative decisions that they believe in.

 

Like I said yesterday, time to celebrate

https://www.billboard.com/music/cha...umber-1-alternative-airplay-chart-1235441877/

 

Yeah those are probably my two least favorites on the album. I don't hate them though

 

Mutt is one of my favorite blink songs lol! It has a unique vibe. Agree on Party Song though.

 

According to the lyric video, the chant in the pre chorus of Fell in Love is "What Was That" and I refuse to believe that is accurate lol. Does it not sound like "When I look back" to anyone else?

 

I remember sorta laughing at Fred’s face during Tom’s “I fucked her in church” line.

Can’t even imagine his reaction to literally every line of Max’s in SA. Poor guy haha

 

If I was a strong writer, I’d do a whole listicle on albums that were met with divisive/negative feedback that are now retconned as undeniable classics. Blink’s “s/t, GD “Warning”, Smashing Pumpkins “Adore”, Midtown “Forget What You Know”, etc

 

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When he first joined the group and they were blowing up, I remember hearing friends argue that Travis wasn’t a very good drummer and he couldn’t play fast like Scott, which is why they never played any early stuff anymore. Hilarious.

 

I love reading talk about production, whether people know what they’re talking about or not. Production is cool, keep it comin

 

Fell In Love has grown on me a little but I'd kill for "it's cra-aaa-zyy" to be replaced by virtually any other lyric

 

You forgot about the outrage over Mark “rapping” on the bridge of Feeling This and how it wasn’t punk.

 

I do vividly remember heaps of people being surprised by the verses on Violence

 

Yeah this is the same thing with the new TGA too…it’s almost like people want to be miserable no matter what

 

Fell in Love has kinda grown on me too. Came up with other songs in the car that kinda matched the vibe and I was like ok.

 

I can't believe I'm just over four days away from listening to a new blink album with Tom.....

 

I listened to We Don’t Need to Whisper yesterday and let me tell you, I think people were too hard on that record. There’s a lot of cool stuff there.

 

So exciting that we are finally getting a new blink album this week! Seems surreal.