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California Deluxe Album


Ghent

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6 hours ago, Blink 18Feldmann said:

 but I really doubt deep down they like the music themselves. Compare California to the band's they listen to. 

What?  Mark has loved bands like ATL or FOB or Simple Plan or whoever since day 1.

Mark has probably wanted blink to sound more pop-punk like California for years.

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43 minutes ago, Ghent's Brother said:

What?  Mark has loved bands like ATL or FOB or Simple Plan or whoever since day 1.

Mark has probably wanted blink to sound more pop-punk like California for years.

Mark also said he is 'the indie guy' of the group. Most the bands he's looked up to aren't Simple plan. But I do agree Blink sounds like FOB, Simple plan, and ATL mixed right now.

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Note that mark doesn't even put them in his "greatest songs ever made" spotify list. he's into indie bands and brit pop. the production isn't good in the sense that it doesn't even sound good glossy like TOYPAJ and Enema. It sounds neutered and un-dynamic. like poptarts coming out of a factory line.

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Yeah, I remember seeing some screenshot Mark took of his iTunes music. None of them were All Time Low, Simple Plan etc. There were bands like the Cure, Joy Formidable etc. Mark truly is the guy that is into weird indie rock music. That doesn't show whatsoever on California. Shows in +44 and Neighborhoods though IMO.

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43 minutes ago, _Kyle_ said:

Note that mark doesn't even put them in his "greatest songs ever made" spotify list. he's into indie bands and brit pop. the production isn't good in the sense that it doesn't even sound good glossy like TOYPAJ and Enema. It sounds neutered and un-dynamic. like poptarts coming out of a factory line.

Don't hate on Pop Tarts. More like Toast'Em Pop-Ups.  The generic off brand. At least Pop Tarts have an identity and are true to themselves.

 

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20 minutes ago, Nosferatu said:

Yeah, I remember seeing some screenshot Mark took of his iTunes music. None of them were All Time Low, Simple Plan etc. There were bands like the Cure, Joy Formidable etc. Mark truly is the guy that is into weird indie rock music. That doesn't show whatsoever on California. Shows in +44 and Neighborhoods though IMO.

That's interesting, I'd love to see that. I've been curious about what he actually listens to for awhile now because of the way he referred to himself as "the indie one of the band" in the Neighborhoods era. But since then for the most part he's tried to cater toward the All Time Lows of the world with his music and his guest appearances and stuff so I always assumed it was just a line he got used to saying. It would've been awesome to see how Blink would have evolved toward more of an indie rock style rather than the glossy modern pop punk style in my opinion.

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3 hours ago, Zoltan said:

i doubt that this is the truth, even if they said so. in fact they had a signed contract at the end of 2014 (before tom quit). maybe they didn't have a concrete record deal at the beginning of 2016 (when they started california), but obviously they were somehow controlled by "something bigger".  the official story of partnering with feldmann (travis hit him up on twitter, they started writing from 0, etc) is not lifelike, it's complete/partial bullshit.

So instead of believing the band member's interviews, and rationally considering the circumstances of having a brand new band member (and a fairly important legacy to protect), you choose to create a story to further support this crazy narrative that Mark/Travis/Matt skiba are intentionally writing (actually letting John Feldmann, the douche from Goldfinger no one cares about) dog shit generic teen hits for them which they don't care about, on a comeback album that had no timetable for release and didn't even have to happen.

That is just so fucked up IMO. I completely understand people not liking the songs, I completely understand people not liking this version of Blink. But why is it easier to paint Mark/Travis/Matt as con-artist sellouts who have sold their artistic souls, as opposed to just not digging their new tunes?

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10 minutes ago, ryan1125 said:

So instead of believing the band member's interviews,

LOL

Quote

and rationally considering the circumstances of having a brand new band member (and a fairly important legacy to protect), you choose to create a story to further support this crazy narrative that Mark/Travis/Matt skiba are intentionally writing (actually letting John Feldmann, the douche from Goldfinger no one cares about) dog shit generic teen hits for them which they don't care about, on a comeback album that had no timetable for release and didn't even have to happen

 

.. But why is it easier to paint Mark/Travis/Matt as con-artist sellouts who have sold their artistic souls, as opposed to just not digging their new tunes?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see this. I mean have you listened to anything these guys have written previously? You can't seriously think this content is genuine. I think the difference is whether or not you can look past it or not to be able to semi enjoy it. If you can't look past the blatant factory writing, you'll hate it even if it has decent elements.  

I mean they've basically all admitted Feldmann had heavy input, and that they scrapped all their real shit (hey I'm sorry for proof), and that they recorded new songs in a matter of minutes.

Whether or not they're sell outs is another discussion, but 'first thought best thought' or 'hey boyz I wrote this melody, see what we can do with it' is their new style, confirmed by the band. If you like that that's on you.

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From a marketing perspective, a label handing them a producer who has made big money off of tweeny pop punk makes total sense, and I can see the argument that the whole travis back story for hitting up Feldmann seems a little over rehearsed, and I can also see the argument that blink have lied to fans in the past a million times with repeated catch phrases about their current phase (the whole 'neighborhoods' because we all like different styles of music bullcrap, for example).

However I don't know if I think thats true, I think it's something no one can know of for sure and thats that. I'd like to take Mark and Travis at their word, but a long history of being a blink fan has told me not to, but I'm not going fishing for conspiracies either. I have my own theories about blink land, but I'm sure said theories are far from the truth. None of us know, and none of us will, so the speculating is somewhat pointless.

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1 hour ago, Champ182 said:

That's interesting, I'd love to see that. I've been curious about what he actually listens to for awhile now because of the way he referred to himself as "the indie one of the band" in the Neighborhoods era. But since then for the most part he's tried to cater toward the All Time Lows of the world with his music and his guest appearances and stuff so I always assumed it was just a line he got used to saying. It would've been awesome to see how Blink would have evolved toward more of an indie rock style rather than the glossy modern pop punk style in my opinion.

I'm sure he does still listen to indie type of stuff.  But your personal music taste and what you want your band to sound like can be different.

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1 hour ago, Champ182 said:

That's interesting, I'd love to see that. I've been curious about what he actually listens to for awhile now because of the way he referred to himself as "the indie one of the band" in the Neighborhoods era. But since then for the most part he's tried to cater toward the All Time Lows of the world with his music and his guest appearances and stuff so I always assumed it was just a line he got used to saying. It would've been awesome to see how Blink would have evolved toward more of an indie rock style rather than the glossy modern pop punk style in my opinion.

Here you go @Champ182

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16 minutes ago, Blink 18Feldmann said:

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see this. I mean have you listened to anything these guys have written previously? You can't seriously think this content is genuine.

Whether or not they're sell outs is another discussion, but 'first thought best thought' or 'hey boyz I wrote this melody, see what we can do with it' is their new style, confirmed by the band. If you like that that's on you.

I think it's all quite genuine, it's stuff they made up. It's thoughts they wrote down and created. Many of the songs have obvious meanings in regards to Tom/Skye/Family/Life/etc. You just don't agree with the writing process, or John Feldmann being there. You choose to strip them of all artistic integrity, and pretend the label conspired to let John Feldmann write the next Blink-182 record. Why in the fuck would they need John Feldmann? They've done fine for years. 

Do I think they tried a little too hard on some songs? Sure. Do I think Feldmann's production has it sounding a bit too "poppy", sure. Would I prefer John not be there? Probably. But at the same time we didn't hear what they had before... could've been awful.

For your second point here, my initial comment which started all of this discussion was the other side of this argument. You are completely against his "First thought, best thought" mentality, which in theory I usually am too.. BUT, my initial point was, if you like songs from this era, then this mentality worked! Which is why I was saying, why doesn't Feldy get any credit on songs you enjoy? Even if you just like BTD and Last Train Home, Feldy could've had them write those in 2 seconds and he could've wrote every fucking word. But no one brings that up, because it doesn't fit the narrative that Feldmann is this evil mastermind set out to ruin Blink-182s legacy.

We can go in circles all day, people can have whatever theories they want. I just think it's hilarious that Feldmann gets so much discredit, and never ANY credit, and that people would rather paint these amazing musicians as human puppets being manipulated by a tweaked out producer, as opposed to just admitting you don't like what they made and blaming the band...

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@ryan1125 I totally get what you're saying, I just think it's harder for people to give Feldy the benefit of the doubt because he's a new variable and the new music seems to have a LOT of qualities that are common in his career that haven't been common in Blink's (or Skiba's) career. So naturally people who don't like the new music question Feldy because it's easier to assume his influence is responsible than it is to assume Mark Travis and Skiba took a massive pop-fueled faceplant seemingly out of nowhere.

BUT I agree with your main point that it's something all four of the guys did together, so they all deserve the credit/blame together.

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2 minutes ago, Champ182 said:

BUT I agree with your main point that it's something all four of the guys did together, so they all deserve the credit/blame together.

Yup, and the idea that Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker could care less about the quality of the album, had no say, or didn't try - is ludicrous IMHO. If anything I bet they tried hard as fuck because they wanted to prove they could do it without Tom...

I would even buy the argument that they tried TOO hard, as opposed to just pointing at Feldmann and blaming him for everything. But it's just easier to blame Feldy, as opposed to your favorite artists.

 

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To me it's pretty clear, I will try to put it simple:

 

  1. The band accepted Feldmann to co-write and produce the entire album with them. The've been pretty honest and open about it. And that's it, they accepted the deal, they accepted him rejecting all the previous work and all, and went "all-in" into his way of work. In the end, the guy is in the top game of this all -opinions aside-. Is an industry guy. The refference in the style nowadays.
  2. They were aiming for a big comeback. Also the label which is licensing the distribution, of course. Choosing Feldmann was a big step in that direction. Well, was THE step, to be honest. That was the main goal: the comeback -obvoius, isn't it?-. The blink's story here is an advantage point for them: blink was a pretty much zombified band, so a big return was needed in terms of commercial success to set down a new ground. Fans were thristy and nostalgic about blink's music, just stuffed about Tom's bullshit. So it was kind of easy to do it all -in those terms-, in first instance. Also, they had to prove that the line-up change was for the best (best here = big spectacular sound and sales and numbers and all, trying to re-create the old vibes to say "see? we don't need Tom, we're in full shape" so, I agree with you here @ryan1125); so a huge promotion campaing was designed for that too. The songs were wwritten safely for that. The production was done in purpose for that. They had to stay relevant and in the top of this actual punkpoppy game.
  3. Of course, they agreed with it all. Big comeback = setting again the ground for work (and also, big checks). Repercusion, media response, radio play, all... Is how it works.

 

Are they sellouts due to that? As much as they were sellouts before it. I mean, I don't see any difference there when talking in those terms. Music opinions aside, they're under the radar again, so I guess all the sacrifices, invested money and all has been worth it for them.

Do they like their songs? Fuck's sake, I want to believe it. I mean, yes, I'm sure they do. But also, if we go picky, they loved Neighborhoods and DED too and it's been pretty much forgotten on the live shows -except two songs?- and bashed by Travis himself in some early Cali-era interviews. So, well... But yeah, I think they love the album, of course.

Are they capable of much more? FUCK YES. And this is vast: they are capable of better lyrics, better music and better production. We've had soe sparks in California. As I said once, they, themselves, have proven that. Skiba is an awesome songwriter and lyricist. You only have to have a sneak into the Alkaline Trio and solo stuff. Mark is a strong songwriter and lyricist too. Also, a good producer. for fuck's sake, he produced Commit This to Memory, My Dinosaur Life and the las Paws album. Those records sound amazing. He co-produced the +44 album with Travis and Finn too, and wrote the music and lyrics for that. And don't forget about his own work in blink.

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Ryan you are lost my friend.

You are getting upset with people ripping the band members of any artistic integrity but then saying "Feldmann could have written the entire song himself, and if you like it you like it"

Unless you consider Feldmann an equal member of the band as Mark Hoppus and Travis.

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