In Blink-182's new album, Neighborhoods, released Sept. 27, the group integrates the new synthetic style adopted by many artists with their own traditional unique style. This blend forms a new flavor for Blink-182, one that many fans will savor.
The album opens with "Ghost on the Dance Floor," which sets the stage for the rest of Neighborhoods.
Blink-182 toys with synthetic instrumentation, and this unfortunately results in a lengthy, unprogressive intro, a trend that carries through most of the album.
This song was a boring way to start the album. Blink-182 brings back a taste of their original style with "Heart's All Gone," which fans of the band may enjoy. This song features catchy lyrics, pleasant vocals and interesting breaks.
"Snake Charmer" also has a long intro, but redeems itself with its creative new style. Listeners are sure to get caught up in the interesting instrumentation and vocals employed throughout. Neighborhoods has a habit of carrying through its songs with somewhat repetitive and uncreative lyrics, and "Love is Dangerous" is no exception. While the song opens very well with a building intro and a catchy beat, it falls into a standard song pattern, leaving listeners anxiously hoping for the end of the song to arrive. The song is not catchy and doesn't make you want to sing along, but at least the background vocals are interesting.
Blink-182 saves the album with two of the bonus tracks, "Fighting The Gravity" and "Even If She Falls." These tracks make good use of the snyth instrumentation and have very well-crafted lyrics. "Even If She Falls" returns to Blink-182's original style of their previous albums, and makes good use of lyric progression toward the end. This song is quite catchy and utilized repetition well.
Overall, Neighborhoods leaves a bit to be expected after its eight-year gestation, but many fans will appreciate the new tracks and the return of this loved pop-punk band.
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