boxelder

OMT is pretty good overall. none of it holds a candle to anything pre-2005, but it's certainly the best album since then. more consistent than neighborhoods though less exploratory, less obviously commercial than california. i sort-of wonder what would make a perfect blink post-2005 album, sans skiba era. i tried to sequence it like i'd imagine it. made some hard cuts (pretty little girl, more than you know, blink wave), but: GOTDF dance with me every other weekend when i was young after midnight one more time heart's all gone bad news kaleidoscope wishing well you don't know what you got anthem pt 3 childhood

sometimes i wonder if travis is just not hearing things like most people hear them. he already has stated he doesn't use an in-ear in one ear whenever he plays live, which has got to have consumed some of his hearing in that ear. perhaps the ringing natural tones of a drum kit are not pleasing to him at this point, which is truly unfortunate. OMT is so great overall, it's just a shame the production doesn't meet the songwriting. jerry finn worked really hard to make the classic records sound great drum-wise, and it's obvious from trav frequently talking about how annoying it was that finn took forever to mic the drums up that he fundamentally disrespects some of the art of recording. i understand that it's easier and more efficient creatively, the way they're currently working, but it undermines the final product in an audible way

crazy how he overuses the drum quesadillas on OMT. he's like "people think it's programmed!" that's cause the drums sound like shit, take a hint lol

i don't even post here a lot man, don't scare me off

Travis’s book underrated. Great ghostwriter. Pretty no holds barred which is what you want from a rock bio.

was very disappointed in the zane lowe interview. it still felt guarded and tom's body language was uncomfortable, which is to be expected, but it feels like they didn't scratch the surface. i'm not expecting a therapy session i guess, but if you had truly buried the hatchet, it wouldn't be uncomfortable to talk about. on the other hand, maybe they wanted to put all of that behind them and let the music speak for itself. it was pretty clear from the hundreds of shows they've played since coachella that the love is really there again -- from the playing BCR/+44 medley, to letting matt guest on BTD the other week. that said, i'm really hoping mark's book -- which is 400 (!) pages long, so it should have enough time -- delves into the specifics. it's billed as the definitive story of the band, so i'm hoping he doesn't shy away from how the rift emerged, and how time has healed it.

as an ATLien, my ass will be there! seeing MCR (likely) play black parade in its entirety will also be a treat

this is neat. dolby atmos versions of the albums that came out on apple music has allowed some quasi-stems for the albums. really neat to hear of a few of these harmonies that were unclear on previous editions. i'm really fond of the isolated organ on rock show and the harmonies on give me one good reason.

i skimmed the entire palladium show out of curiosity after someone on reddit said they were fighting. they're definitely not fighting, though tom was pretty wasted and his vocals show it. mark gestures to travis before aliens exist in awe of how drunk he is. other than that, it's not particularly vicious or anything. mark does his typical anodyne "wasn't it better when tom quit" joke that he did at every show. he apologies for tom before down, and seems pretty annoyed most of the time tbf. tom himself seems peeved the lack of audience response before he botches the WMAA intro lmao. at one point after edging mark does get PISSED at the sound guy for cutting tom's vocals during the banter... i guess mark had requested that tom's vocals be turned off for the songs themselves, but the sound guy wasn't clicking him back on in-between the songs, which was frustrating. but it didn't seem directed at tom. before more than you know mark jokes that tom could be cut again and tom says "put me louder in his ears", but none of it seems mean-spirited. prior to can't go back, tom DOES make an unusually graphic comment about skye, but it doesn't seem to make mark wince or anything. i don't think it's out of the realm of things they've said in the past. m&ms sounds sooo sick though.

saw the instagram live video. im sure we'll have a video soon. was cool! tom seemed very stoked and his dance moves are always hilarious. skiba seemed to enjoy singing the song for the first time in 5 years too.

They HAVE to play at least BTD together. I’m really excited to see what comes of it. It’ll really be a testament to all the band has been through and overcome, and will be a neat crossover

same. really feel like that song is indicative of where they were going and still could go, it felt like a true synthesis of where they were then. it’s a great live song too, full of energy and cool lighting. i get the riff in UAN is very appealing but GOTDF blows it out of the water. i loved where it sat in the 2023 setlist, near the tail end surrounded by hits

yeah i know motion city soundtrack had a gold single a few years back, which implies that someone (mgmt, label, etc) pay attention. who knows! what you will notice on RIAA is an artist will get sort of “re upped” and dozens of singles and albums will get adjusted at once. blink is way overdue though. the last time they measured any of EOTS’s sales for example was like mid-2000, and while it’s not a strong catalog seller like idk dark side of the moon, it’s defintiely, by their metrics (sales + streaming) got to be certified for higher by now.

aw man i wish i knew more about it. i know WDNTW actually had a huge hit in the adventure which could’ve helped sales. i don’t really have an idea as to how this stuff works but i glean that record labels don’t care about those statistics as much as they once did, so it’s sort of a “thing” to get the RIAA to recognize it (i could be wrong though). why do it for decades old catalog albums? i noticed that WYHSB has tons of plays too and was shocked haha. must have been a sort of sleeper hit over the years. i really would love to see an updated sales tally for blink though — some of the statistics are way off base and outdated. with songs like ATST creeping over a billion plays, i feel like the latest reported data (like you said, from like 2011 even) needs a refresh

the video is supremely underrated. nerd here but the shots of them playing the club are some of my favorite clips of the band... you're right, they look so cool and the footage is so filmic and neon-tinted, it's got a very distinctive look