Angels & Airwaves
I-Empire

THE REVIEW

Among all the music (good or pseudo) that I've been listening to my whole life, I've always had a skeleton in the closet: punk rock, and above all, Blink 182. I know very well how goofy, superficial, and commercial they were, but their super catchy melodies combined with a great rhythm have always made me enjoy listening to them, and their place in the CD holder in the car is never lost.

After their breakup, I didn't care much, except that one day in a store, I recognized Tom De Longe's face on a record. Angels & Airwaves: I-Empire, the album. I bought it and immediately put it in the car stereo... a carpet of keyboards... well... after 30 seconds I understood that there wouldn't be a trace of Blink. "Call to arms"... but where's the goofball who made vulgarity his artistic creed? The whole album plays, and in the end, I tell myself that Blink had to split up. Very subtle sounds, keyboards very present, extremely clean sound (anyone who listened to Enema of the State remembers that sometimes you couldn't distinguish the sound of the instruments), therefore, great production... great voice... (studio recording works miracles, I've seen Tom live on YouTube... horrible). Mind you, it's not a masterpiece (the oh ohs, da da das, yo eos abound) but it's really something I didn't expect, where the usual catchy melodies combine with a cleanliness and power of sound that's truly surprising (the drums are impressive). Final question: Has Tom De Longe really grown up, or is this another one of his pranks?

Best tracks: Call to arms, Secret Crowds, Lifeline.

P.S.: I then bought the album by +44, the band with the other two former Blink members (Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker): there's no comparison.