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Matt Skiba Appreciation Thread


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25 minutes ago, Donald Trump's Bulge said:

The problem with people who think California is amazing, is they can never actually say why.

I just genuinely like pretty much every song, and the only ones I really skip are Sober and Don't Mean Anything. They're catchy, fun, and my favorite band was/is back. I like pretty much everything Mark/Trav/Tom/Skiba have been apart of so it's not really surprising, their music just hits me the right way. Yes, I have complaints about the lack of guitar stuff, repetitive riffs, and some over the top glossy production at times, but not enough to ruin the whole thing. (And believe me, I do not like Feldmann and routinely post memes of him as a weasel). But overall it is a great album IMO and covers so many bases from quick bangers (Cynical/Rabbit Hole), throwback bangers (SOOHM/TOTTM), experimental (LA/Left Alone), ballads (Cali/HISALP), pop punk (No Future, Sober), to BTD/San Diego/etc.

It's still Blink to me, and to plenty of others. And DLX is full of bangers, Parking Lot (yes I cringe a bit at the Target line, but it's a banger instrumentally). Misery and 6/8 are 2 of my favorite Blink songs of all time, Hey I'm Sorry/Last Train Home are beautiful Skiba songs, Wildfire is a banger, Long Lost Feeling and Bottom of the Ocean are nice experimental tunes.

You guys don't like it, which is fine. But you guys just can't accept the fact that Blink is doing well and people actually like it...

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I like California because it reminds me of what got me into blink in the first place. Catchy, fun, bright pop punk songs that don't take themselves too seriously. I appreciate and love other eras of blink as well, but their defining sound to me is bright pop punk. They hadn't done anything like that since TOYPAJ. Hearing it again was a pleasure and I'm glad the album was so successful. Definitely one of my favorite blink releases.

Would I want every blink release to sound like California? Not really, it would get old. But it was exactly what they needed at the moment.

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220px-Blink-182_-_Blink-182_cover.jpg

Remember when blink used to write ballads?

Remember when blink used to play in drop tunings?

Remember when blink used to have guest vocalists?

Remember when blink used to have interludes featuring none of the band members?

Remember when blink used to have song intros that were old ladies reading a letter?

Remember when blink used to make almost every track on their album a different genre?

Remember when blink used to make creepy gothic music videos?

Remember when blink used to have super long layered drum solo outros to their albums?

#butitsoundslikeblink

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Honest non-exaggerated opinion: it sounds the least like blink of any album.  For obvious reasons like Tom, but mainly no guitar driven songs.  The lyrics are the second most glaring, no more creativity or cleverness. The forced whoas/nana backing (or leading) every song is not blink outside one hit (+online songs) of an entire discography. The overly enhanced drums are glaring as well.  Together it sounds like a weird impression of 2000s pop punk, featuring Mark Hoppus.

Mark vocals are obvious similarities, actually a high point of Cali, but even he goes off his rocker on half the songs like Sober verses. SOOHM. No Future. Parking Lot.  We've never heard Mark sing that way.

Travis is there, adding the crazy drum element to the songs, but compared to even DED and Neighborhoods, it doesn't have his signature touches outside a few moments. 

 

Mark's bass and singing on half is the only clear resemblance imo.  His bass lines were top nothch though.  

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10 minutes ago, Cheerios4u98 said:

220px-Blink-182_-_Blink-182_cover.jpg

Remember when blink used to write ballads?

Remember when blink used to play in drop tunings?

Remember when blink used to have guest vocalists?

Remember when blink used to have interludes featuring none of the band members?

Remember when blink used to have song intros that were old ladies reading a letter?

Remember when blink used to make almost every track on their album a different genre?

Remember when blink used to make creepy gothic music videos?

Remember when blink used to have super long layered drum solo outros to their albums?

#butitsoundslikeblink

Yes, but Self Titled is a masterpiece.  Cali is a master dump.

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27 minutes ago, Donald Trump's Bulge said:

How does an album without Tom, and without any type of guitar work, in a band known for being guitar driven; "sound like Blink 182?"

The questions only get harder from here.

The same way I liked both +44 and early AVA.....they sounded like blink because they had at least 1 of the two major songwriters writing the songs and singing/playing ya know...music.  

That was pretty easy.

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6 hours ago, Ry-Bread said:

Ghost has no answers other than "I know the industry"  and worthless one liners lol. While I continue to engage in facts, and decent conversation points.

So, since marketing/budget/environment are the keys for what you deem false success, EOTS/TOYPAJ are both crap right? Since they had marketing budgets, promotion, radio play, producers, suits asking to write HITS, etc.? In fact, TOYPAJ should be the crappiest of all crap, right? Since they were told to write First Date/Rock Show, and then promoted those, and went on to sell tons of records? Or does that not apply to those because you enjoyed those albums, but miss Tom on this one?

That's an opinion, I love Cali & DLX. If Subway started a huge promotion sellings turds on $5 footlongs, pretty sure people wouldn't buy them. Maybe a few because they love Subway, but certainly wouldn't go on to get nominated for sandwich of the year, massive sales, and a world tour with people begging for more turd sandwiches, even with a billion dollars promoting it and the best chef designing the turd layout. 

The lengths you guys go to in order to simply avoid giving current Blink any credit is hilarious. 

I'm gonna eat lunch at Subway tomorrow. Maybe listen to Cali too. If we can agree that California is the Subway of music, maybe we're onto something. 

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5 hours ago, Nosferatu said:

I actually think California revived blink a little bit and I do think California is a good album. I can't stand that style of pop punk but blink make it bearable to listen to. That's just a testament to them as songwriters. Yeah sure, Feldman was heavily involved but I don't believe he wrote one single lyric on the album. He just pushed Mark and Skiba with the first thought stuff. The co-writers definitely wrote a few lines in some songs though. Feldman probably had a few guitar ideas here and there too.

He was just very in their face by the sounds of it but Mark seemed to have no problem with it. After all, it was clear he wasn't the main songwriter of blink from 2003 and onwards anyway. I think a lot of us do like California but a lot of us know blink are capable of so much more. +44 and some of the Mark songs from Neighborhoods prove that blink can just write kick ass rock music with or without Tom.

I believe the majority of us like the album. California just disappointed a lot of blink fans that's all. I myself was expecting progression. I was annoyed as fuck when I first heard Bored to Death, but that's a great pop punk song still. Was even more annoyed hearing She's Out of Her Mind & Rabbit Hole. Those songs sucked iMO. I was annoyed hearing No Future although I thought the song was ok. It's no Bored to Death though.

Blink hired Feldman who hired a bunch of co-writers to help out here and there. All they care about is writing a hit album. Although I don't believe you have to write songs like that to be a hit. It's all about promotion or following. Brand New got to number one with shit promotion and a weird ass sounding but still great album. But it's rare. Neighborhoods had shit promotion but got to number two. It's just more easy to sell records by writing in that California style. Anyone can do it. Especially if you're already a band the size of blink.

Look at that Meghan Trainor bass song or whatever. It's such a shit song but it probably made shit loads of money. Being successful from a commercial stand point doesn't mean quality. California is way better than that trash music though. But it says a lot about rock music as a whole if it's getting nominations. In the past two or three years I haven't heard one great album by a rock band. Brand New are the only ones who literally had a 5 star album I believe. But that isn't putting down California. It is what it is. It's simply a decent pop punk album by a band that is capable of way more.

That's why the majority of us are disappointed. It's the exact same with Neighborhoods but different reasonings behind it. It's a decent album, but we all know they're capable of so much more.

I also agree with Ghent that blink definitely need to be playing California songs more. They're good songs for blink to play live IMO. Enough with the hits. Only need to play like 5 IMO.

All about that bass is a great song! That chorus is amazing. Most of her songs are great! 

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1 hour ago, Donald Trump's Bulge said:

The problem with people who think California is amazing, is they can never actually say why.

I've been nothing but ready willing and able to tell people why it is technically a pile of trash. But not once in the 3 years and thousands of posts has any Feldmann ass kisser ever taken me up on the offer.

Not due to lack of trying. Believe me, I've tried many times, like the time Feldmann invited us into his amateur looking studio that was a complete embarrassment and showed us a distorted guitar tone that would have Hank Williams rolling in his grave, and It was just silence and more "Oh man I love California ain't it awesome"

Must be cool to be stupid!

 

I don't get it. 

 

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35 minutes ago, Ghent said:

I like California because it reminds me of what got me into blink in the first place. Catchy, fun, bright pop punk songs that don't take themselves too seriously. I appreciate and love other eras of blink as well, but their defining sound to me is bright pop punk. They hadn't done anything like that since TOYPAJ. Hearing it again was a pleasure and I'm glad the album was so successful. Definitely one of my favorite blink releases.

Would I want every blink release to sound like California? Not really, it would get old. But it was exactly what they needed at the moment.

You've lost your mind.

Get a new set of ears.

Setting aside that it sounds nothing at all like TOYPAJ or Enema.

You'd have to be a fucking fruit loop to prefer 2/3's of Blink in their 40's all washed up, vs All of Blink in their prime.

Nutjob.

40 minutes ago, Ry-Bread said:

I just genuinely like pretty much every song, and the only ones I really skip are Sober and Don't Mean Anything. They're catchy, fun, and my favorite band was/is back. I like pretty much everything Mark/Trav/Tom/Skiba have been apart of so it's not really surprising, their music just hits me the right way. Yes, I have complaints about the lack of guitar stuff, repetitive riffs, and some over the top glossy production at times, but not enough to ruin the whole thing. (And believe me, I do not like Feldmann and routinely post memes of him as a weasel). But overall it is a great album IMO and covers so many bases from quick bangers (Cynical/Rabbit Hole), throwback bangers (SOOHM/TOTTM), experimental (LA/Left Alone), ballads (Cali/HISALP), pop punk (No Future, Sober), to BTD/San Diego/etc.

It's still Blink to me, and to plenty of others. And DLX is full of bangers, Parking Lot (yes I cringe a bit at the Target line, but it's a banger instrumentally). Misery and 6/8 are 2 of my favorite Blink songs of all time, Hey I'm Sorry/Last Train Home are beautiful Skiba songs, Wildfire is a banger, Long Lost Feeling and Bottom of the Ocean are nice experimental tunes.

You guys don't like it, which is fine. But you guys just can't accept the fact that Blink is doing well and people actually like it...

This is kind of fair.

I never said I hated California. It actually has a number of songs that are pretty good. But there are tons of songs that I just skip. Setting aside all its flaws, you can maybe scrounge up a 5 song CD of some good tracks by shutting off your brain and ignoring the flaws.

 

But they could have done like 1000 times better. Its definitely a low point for them in terms of quality.

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Outside of like 4-5 songs, none of the California songs sound like blink IMO. Bored to Death and The Only Thing That Matters are the biggest examples. Cynical outside of the singing intro sounds like old school blink too. SOOHM is a blink sounding song to me.

The rest just sound like FOB, ATL, McBusted, Paramore, Good Charlotte and Simple Plan but with Mark and Skiba singing over them. I mean they could've sounded like better pop punk bands. Like maybe Alkaline Trio? That's what I can't stand about California. They're just forcing a sound that ain't them IMO. Can't say this about smiley face/Neighborhoods because no band except blink sounds like that. They invented new shit for pop punk. That to me is what makes them sound like blink. Because blink invented that sound.

California has been done before by trash pop punk bands although the songs are better because blink are just way better songwriters. Nearly all the California songs are good. Like 7 are terrible. 5 are great. The rest are just average to decent. But that's piss poor for a band like blink. They used to be the kinda band where you'd just love every damn song they ever wrote.

They never had a song I hated either. Even First Date was a likeable song and I think that was one of the worst blink songs until California. Blink used to be a competition. Mark and Tom trying to outdo each other. They just kept getting better and better. Now it's just about trying to think about what sells.

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17 minutes ago, thongrider said:

All about that bass is a great song! That chorus is amazing. Most of her songs are great! 

Well, California definitely is all about the bass! One thing I can praise California for are the bass lines. Mark was on fire for them. They even top the smiley face album IMO when it comes to bass lines.

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27 minutes ago, JarJarBlinks said:

The same way I liked both +44 and early AVA.....they sounded like blink because they had at least 1 of the two major songwriters writing the songs and singing/playing ya know...music.  

That was pretty easy.

You think AvA sounds like blink?  If they released their albums under the name Blink 182, would you feel it fits or sounds similar at all?

Blink 182: I-Empire

Think about that one.

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The way I see it. I think California has some great songs. I was pleasantly surprised at a lot of the songs, even if the production is plastic and awful. If Feldmann wrote those songs. Good on him. I'm still more interested in what Mark and Matt can write though. If they did write the songs. I guess Feldmann just ruined them. 

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30 minutes ago, Cali Denial Cape said:

You think AvA sounds like blink?  If they released their albums under the name Blink 182, would you feel it fits or sounds similar at all?

Blink 182: I-Empire

Think about that one.

I feel like half of I-Empire could easily fit as Blink songs. Rite of Spring, Call To Arms, Everything's Magic, Sirens, and Secret Crowds all sound like Blink with a bit of AvA production thrown in. 

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