Eagerly Anticipated New song Leaked Out, First Review RIGHT HERE (Blink 182 in general)

Name: MakeMeOver

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Product:	Blink 182 in general
Date:	05/08/03 (453 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Maturity, Spirited Ban performance for once!, Great concoction of hip-hop, experimental dance beats and rock

Disadvantages: Too many influences?

The Kings Have Returned

“Action” by Blink 182
RATING ****1/2

Rather than the hyped dizzying return to their roots for punk/pop’s previous darlings, this is instead a huge step forwards for the group- musically and lyrically. And although the influences are very clear indeed, one can’t help but be charmed immediately by the song’s heady mixture of DJ Shadow style samples, melodies and lyrical maturity akin to The Cure’s Robert Smith (who incidentally, along with DJ Shadow contributes to the band’s long awaited, heavily delayed and as-of-yet untitled album due out supposedly on November 11th) and drumming akin to the late Bon Scott, as if tattoo freak drummer Travis Barker has inherited his spirit. But instead of ending up as an embarrassing pastiche as these concoctions always do, Action is actually a hugely enjoyable, surprisingly mature and short jolt of rock with a heart of gold- a very strange thing for a group that’s favourite pastime used to be writing enjoyable but immediately throwaway songs like “The Party Song” and playing concerts in the buff. But such maturity is a mixed blessing for bands.
One can’t deny Blink 182’s ambition here and their huge skill at pleasing their audience, a task at which they’ve only failed at once with 2001’s catchy but depressingly dull “Take Off Your Pants And Jacket”. Just take a look at their back catalogue.
Their debut proper, 1995’s Cheshire Cat was a fun, but single-minded romp through suburban punk rock. Although fun, one couldn’t deny how one-dimensional the record was and so Blink182 responded with a hell of a good sophomore record, 1997’s Dude Ranch that still stands as the fan’s favourite, being a winning mix of Cheshire Cat’s tomfoolery and a wider variety of song structures, hooks, tunes and jokes. For their major label debut on MCA, Blink 182 had honed down this
formula into an art form on 1999’s Enema Of The State, their most successful release to date going on to ten million records sold as wee speak, thanks to a number of hits on MTV. But, the band feeling it time to grow up released their first serious song, “Adam’s Song”, a suicide note to a cruel, unforgiving world condensed into a snappy, piano-laden, catchy but morbid pop/punk song.
By 2001, the signal was that Blink 182 would be going on to bigger and better things after taking the basic pop/punk formula to its limit on Enema Of The State, but after an indie hit live album, with 2001’s Take Off Your Pants And Jacket, the joke was wearing thin and the band seemed out of ideas for the first time in their career. The vitality, adrenaline and most importantly- the hooks were missing and although the record was another huge hit, one cannot help but feel Blink 182 played the wrong career move. Now that their core audience has grown up into today’s much more lo-fi, experimental and meaningful music- it was time for Blink 182 as well.
With “Action” being the first heard material from the band’s forth coming lp, the previous high expectations are now sky high, and with contributions from some of the world’s top indie and popular stars, Blink 182, always seen as jokes in the music industry, may have an album that will shock all that have criticised them for being childish, an album that even could change the musical landscape of today. The music has definitely changed, with Tom Delonge pointing out the “Cure style guitars” and DJ Shadow style sampling and song structures while Travis Barker commenting that its all about edge and impact this time around. On a webcast, bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus displayed a surprising jazzy bass line that then morphed into proto-grunge.
And now that they aren’t pop/punk’s darlings anymore, with Sum 41 and Good Charlotte tainting their brand na
me- Blink 182 have something to prove… and judging by “Action”, one of the most downloaded songs this year (there are around 400 fake files on the Internet), we are in for a big, BIG treat come November.

"I'm not in the scene, I'm falling asleep"- Action, the first serious rock song concerning sex.

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