Champ182

You're kinda right, I think everyone agrees they went to a poppier direction and tried different "modern pop" production touches, but some people think it sounds great and is just what Blink needed, and others thing it sounds tacky and misguided. I'm somewhere in the middle, I'm glad they went simple and catchy, but I also think they went too far into the pop zone at times.

Haha this is what it's come to now? Anyone who didn't like it was planning to diss it before it even came out??

Haha I know, I love that guy I'm glad he's still out there.

I agree with you, I think you'll enjoy my very scientific post from a few days ago:

hahaha that karaoke guy is awesome!

Me too, I didn't know people were against that one!

Great vid!

Man, I have no idea. It almost looks like his in-ear monitors are fucking up or don't fit right and he's trying to adjust them or something haha, but since he does it all the time I have no idea what the deal is.

2nd single - Now-ish: She's Out Of Her Mind 3rd single - Late August: Left Alone 4th single if they have one - Mid-October: Home Is Such A Lonely Place (not a fan of the song, not convinced it would be a hit, but a Fall release would give it a good shot I think)

In some of them, the melody is there but the overabundance of vocals just makes it annoying. I think there are quite a few that would have worked better as little guitar riffs, especially in a Blink album with zero guitar riffs!

Classic example of speaking for a whole group when you should just speak for yourself. Yeah, you and some others here think it's all perfect and can't tell any differences in production or sound. That's fine by me, honestly. But there are plenty of us who do sense a difference, including friends of mine in the real world who have been Blink fans forever too. But for them it's more of just a shrug and a "eh, I don't know I don't really like it, it sounds overproduced" and that's it. People here are just trolling back and forth at each other at this point.

Glad for everyone's friends who freaked out over how good it is! My friends have had the same reaction as me - Glad they're having success! Some songs are awesome some are terrible, it sounds too poppy so it won't be an album that sticks with me for long. And for the record, very few "haters" are going as insane as the "defend at all costs" crowd haha. I think people with critiques have generally been pretty detailed. At least I've tried to be, it's more fun to actually discuss things than just shout over each other.

Haha I don't think anybody is offended or upset, you should just branch out more because I bet there are tons of other bands you'll like too! Maybe you've already done this but get Spotify and listen to Blink's "Artist Radio" and it'll show you a bunch of stuff that is in the same genre.

That was Travis, they mentioned it in one of the articles somewhere haha. But I think Jack Hoppus was the yell in Kings Of The Weekend? I don't know if that was confirmed anywhere or just speculation

Well, yeah? Obviously? I figured most of us were posting from work all this time.

We'll never know exactly how much input Feldmann had with the songwriting, but the way they have talked about it makes it SEEM at least, like he did more than a producer traditionally does. Just based on the little bit we know, I think the differences would be something like: Finn: *just thinking back to that pre-Enema live version of Dumpweed someone posted a few pages ago* "Ok let's try speeding it up, Tom let's re-work that first main riff part a tiny bit, Travis more attack on the drums on that second main riff part, and oh check out this fucking awesome guitar tone I can get with these amps on these settings with these mics" Feldmann: "Ok guys, the album is all about reloading from all parts of your career, we really need a big ballad that could be a huge hit and get you guys back on top. Check out this chord progression and melody I've had sitting around, see what you can do with it, I'm gonna go grab coffee, make it sound like a Blink song by the time I get back!" Like I said, it's total speculation, but producers all work with bands in totally different ways and that's kinda how *I* have been envisioning how some things worked. I don't think every song was like that with Feldmann by any means, but I think that's more how he works and tries to get the best out of the bands he works with. I don't think he's some evil pop warlock or anything.

Hey guys after seeing people here give props to people like Taylor Swift and Justin Beiber, as well as more expected bands like Fall Out Boy, it made me realize that we all come at Blink from totally different angles. The stuff that bugs some people about California doesn't bother anybody who listens to Taylor Swift or Fall Out Boy because they're seeing it as still more on the punk or rock side of what they usually listen to. Take this very scientific, painstakingly crafted, piece of academic art that I just created: Some people don't mind where California drops on this spectrum, but others who don't cross over into the poppier parts of the spectrum find that some of the songs, along with the writing process/production choices made it veer a little too far into the pop side for their tastes. Some of the songs are PERFECTLY in that Blink sweet spot, by the way. Wow, I just solved everything!

Whaaaa? This must have been before my time here haha. Personally I don't MIND them, but I'd rather let them dictate the tempo themselves because some midtempo songs end up sounding a little plodding when they're played live. Bored To Death is an awesome song, but I think it would benefit by speeding it up a little bit live. Tuning down would help Mark sing it too of course, you can tell he wants to belt it out but he just can't! haha

I loved The Force Awakens!

I love that it's a huge success, Bored To Death rules and I hope it keeps getting more popular on the charts, it's so cool seeing them having fun together again, and I can't wait to see them this summer. Doesn't mean I can't have some critiques about my favorite band!

I guess we just disagree with genre labels. That FIDLAR song sounds way more like an old Blink song than the mid-2000's pop punk scene does.

I don't want Blink to be heavy/dark/emo. I actually said all along I wanted them to go back to catchy, energetic, fun, rock and roll music. They went that direction which I appreciated, but they veered off into areas I don't like. This is an example of the type of shit I think they'd just knock out of the park, rather than the more shiny poppy side of pop-punk. It's simple, energetic, catchy as shit, hell they even have "ahh ahh ahh ahhhhhs" and it sounds great! Haha

I fan-boy out for Blink 182 too, but for me that means being able to say what I like and dislike about what they're currently doing. It's almost like following a sports team, you are always on their side and rooting for them, but you also want them to be the best they can be and sometimes get disappointed haha. Comparing this to Untitled's reaction doesn't quite add up to me. Sure Untitled had some people who didn't like it, but if anything that was because it was too far away from the pop sound. California has some people who don't like it because it's too far TOWARD a pop sound, and at times goes further into pop than anything they've ever released. They're both a little bit different from the Blink Standard Sound, but in opposing directions. *Once again I feel like I need to say there are about 6 or so songs that are fucking awesome and I'm very glad they exist. Just commenting on the pieces of the album that I dislike!

I loved it when I heard the live version! The one line is definitely funny, I just don't know how the autotune is a joke in itself or a parody of the Queen song.

The thing that bums me out about the album is that, in a way, it's what I wanted to hear from them. I'm so stoked that they're back to energetic, fun, melodic, (sometimes) fast songs. Mark sounds totally rejuvenated which is awesome. So that isn't my issue with the album. The good songs are great (Cynical, BTD, SOOHM, Left Alone, Rabbit Hole, TOOTM), and those are the ones where you can totally hear classic Blink shining through. Then there are some that are close to being good, but just miss the mark from being a little overly sugary and lean JUST too far into the poppy cheesy sound. But the ones that leave a bad taste overall are the ones that sound nothing like Blink 182. Los Angeles, Sober, and Home Is Such A Lonely Place. Those are the ones with overkill on production choices, and melodies/instrumentation that are just honestly totally out of place in the world of Blink 182. Home Is Such A Lonely Place is close to a great song, but the boyband chorus melody and "Hey There Delilah" acoustic pop sound made my jaw drop when I heard it the first time. So basically, that's how it lines up for me, and why John Feldmann's production is what stands out in a negative way. There is a LOT of good on the album, and like I've said elsewhere I actually really appreciate how Feldmann brought back motivation and a sense of purpose to Blink. But the parts that I don't like about the album SEEM to be based on what he brought to the process.