Jump to content
 

New Feldmann Topic


Ghent

Recommended Posts

16 minutes ago, raw_sounds said:

Sometimes i just wonder what would had happened if blink signed with Epitaph and work with say Bill Stevenson and finally make a focused punk record -no mainstream-

Would be like a parallel universe where they continue the "Chesire Cat/Dude Ranch" era
 

This is actually what I would really want them to do in a perfect world, but it's clear that isn't going to happen, so I'm happy with Feldmann moving forward.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, b00bies said:

We did get ride of a cancer (Tom) and got a new functional member Skiba. That's all we wanted.  A perfect combo would be to get a producer also. Something happened during that transaction and this parasite Feldmann got involved. He stepped up and changed the game completely. To answer your question - everyone expected an album that sounds like Marks and Skiba past work with their own sound. Instead we got Feldmann's style with Mark and Skiba vocals. 

Not we, they did.

Anyway, can't you hear classic blink in Cynical, Bored To Death, She's Out Of Her Mind, Rabbit Hole, Built This Pools or The Only Thing That Matters? Really? I mean, the album is overproduced, obviously you can hear it), but on the back of it, there is blink. And I can hear Skiba's influence, for example, in bits like the bridge on No Future. Listen closely after a very deep session on Alkaline Trioand you'll be saying "heck yes, there you go". His influence is more like an overall layer which makes itself visible in several moments.

Also, we have to remember ye olde days of Untitled. Yeah, now is a classic, now we all (or pretty much all) adore that record and consider it like their masterpiece. But... do you remember cristal clear what were the reactions to that album back in the day? There was tons of hate to it. I remember reading they turned emo, they were re-selling out. Feeling This (that song which won our poll) was hated as hell the first time it came out, along wth songs like I Miss You. Always? Woah, Always was a poppy song for the girls. That's the kind of opinions you could read back in the day (specially from fans).

It was a departure in style and production too. And it was very criticized, for the bad. But was Finn, the godfather, and nobody questioned anything but the band.

Now we have Feldmann. I'm not defending Mr. Fake Smile, but despite the difference in production techniques and cliches, I don't see how that process has been so shot-fired.

I respect your opinion, though.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

yep. as i said it has elements of the blink we used to have, but it's just a minor things like drum parts, bass lines but melodies, style, hooks are no longer a classic blink. 

i absolutely remember how i felt when Untitled made it's way. I also remember all the cheetah videos that were fucking cool and you could clearly see how excited they were, how they put a lot of work, how they tried everything to make the album sound epic, those acoustic guitar parts like down, ssyndrome, here's you letter, i was dying to hear that little Always riff that Tom been playing in a full song. It took me time to get used to Down, Easy Target, ILWY, Obvious. Once i've heard them live i was blown away it sounded so great - fat intro with tom echo's in obvious, the ending of Down. Anyway Untitled felt great, confused, fresh. California feels dull, cheap, very poppy record. I enjoy a few songs but that's it. Songs are boring, when you listen to the album i'm not even sure what to pick up first, not a single stand out track. Only 4-5 songs are good, the rest ...meh. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most people despised Untitled when it came out. I'm going to assume the same thing is happening with California. People hate change (even when it's actually a return to roots change). The album is solid, people will come along over time and I'm sure this album will eventually be considered the album that really saved and redefined the band.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Ghent said:

Most people despised Untitled when it came out. I'm going to assume the same thing is happening with California. People hate change (even when it's actually a return to roots change). The album is solid, people will come along over time and I'm sure this album will eventually be considered the album that really saved and redefined the band.

who knows, it could happen. but right now i just don't understand how this album saved the band? i would say this ablum set the worst path for the band. blink were known as a crappy fun punk rock band. they grew up, took a serious step forward and eventually progressed with albums like Untitled, Nhoods, DeD, not quite with big changes but still. 

it used to be chesh.cat (crappy), dude ranch (crappy), eots (fun), toypaj (mainstream), untitled/hoods/ded (serious), with feldmann i'm afraid all we gonna get is crappy mainstream. these are not the same levels. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Ghent said:

Most people despised Untitled when it came out. I'm going to assume the same thing is happening with California. People hate change (even when it's actually a return to roots change). The album is solid, people will come along over time and I'm sure this album will eventually be considered the album that really saved and redefined the band.

That's pretty inaccurate. It was probably even split, or at least favored within the blink fan camp. Of course there were some adamant dissenters and a lot of them had problems with the progression (not punk!) and lack of immediate hooks.

I think the novelty will wear off and California will be blink's only true misstep and slump. I mean if it isn't already.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I loved Untitled when it came out. It had a lot of depth to it which is why it took some a while to come round to it - don't think the same can be said for California.

Too many throwaway songs on it to be regarded as a truly great album. I listened to Untitled reguarly for years whereas I've listened to California once in the last fortnight and the album is barely 6 weeks old.

  • Like 4
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, _Kyle_ said:

That's pretty inaccurate. It was probably even split, or at least favored within the blink fan camp. Of course there were some adamant dissenters and a lot of them had problems with the progression (not punk!) and lack of immediate hooks.

I think the novelty will wear off and California will be blink's only true misstep and slump. I mean if it isn't already.

It was almost exactly as it is for California from what I remember.

Calfornia is a top 4 blink album already for me. I'm pretty confident it will be held in high regard as years pass. We shall see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Clarke said:

My thoughts exactly.

How would any one of us know that assumption about mark? That is so far out there. Also the whole "dark" thing, thats not a mass opinion either. The only people i have ever heard/read saying they want that is a few members on this forum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, b00bies said:

who knows, it could happen. but right now i just don't understand how this album saved the band? i would say this ablum set the worst path for the band. blink were known as a crappy fun punk rock band. they grew up, took a serious step forward and eventually progressed with albums like Untitled, Nhoods, DeD, not quite with big changes but still. 

it used to be chesh.cat (crappy), dude ranch (crappy), eots (fun), toypaj (mainstream), untitled/hoods/ded (serious), with feldmann i'm afraid all we gonna get is crappy mainstream. these are not the same levels. 

According to your ranking Neighborhoods and DED shouldnt be "serious" more like "crappy serious" i mean they cannot be on the same level as untitled. 

Blink was going downhill with the direction after the "reunion" is pretty much clear they needed a turn of events, and while i place California above Nhoods and DeD i do think they should do something different next time, and let Skiba have more input.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Poet Danderson said:

I loved Untitled when it came out. It had a lot of depth to it which is why it took some a while to come round to it - don't think the same can be said for California.

Too many throwaway songs on it to be regarded as a truly great album. I listened to Untitled reguarly for years whereas I've listened to California once in the last fortnight and the album is barely 6 weeks old.

I still listen to untitled to this day.   Start to finish.   It's a great album.   I have already gone large spans of time without even thinking about California in the rotation.   Which includes blink in some form on a daily basis.   

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I think comparing reactions to Untitled and California are kinda silly and just trying to make a false equivalency. Untitled was hard for some people to get into because it was pushing further away from their classic goofy pop/punk side and into more mature sounds and lyrics. I think it's safe to say anyone who ended up liking it after their first opinion just had to get used to it and listen to more and really "get" what they were going for.

With California, it's sort of the opposite because they're admittedly attempting to go backwards with their sound, back to the goofy pop/punk territory. Which is a fine decision, I was hoping for more of that vibe! But the result is sort of a shallower version of their old stuff (in my opinion), so just listening to the album more and spending more time with it won't really lead to people coming around to it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Half the people on blink online also hated Neighborhoods, now it's some kind of pet favorite with some of you. I remember getting in heated arguments about Neighborhoods, how it wasn't as bad as people said.

So I don't think it's silly at all. People hate change. I assume most of the dramatic California complaints will fade over time. It's just reactionary hate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really like a few of the songs on California but the thing that bums me out is that it's the only Blink album I can't listen to in full. There's just too many songs that are underwhelming and ones that I would be fine with not hearing ever again. Every other album I can listen to from start to finish with very little complaints. Sure there's a song or two on Neighborhoods and TOYPAJ that I don't love but there are none that I hate or find myself skipping all the time.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Mark saw the way Neighborhoods essentially turned into a science project - variety of sounds, some of which, in my eyes, turned out on the verge of something good, and then on the other hand many come up short. I think they decided the best route which made the most sense was, as mentioned previously, just diving back in the "fun" element of blink-182. Which I can't blame them for after the whirlwind of BS provided by Tom for countless years. They got on board with a guy like Feldy who is a known drill sergeant in his studio sessions and they tried to simplify their work - not force things like many sections of Neighborhoods. 

The result lies somewhere in the middle for me. It's funny in the sense that California kinda sits as a Neighborhoods type of record in my eyes. Not their best work, but not the worst. I think they had many hits (Cynical, San Diego, Left Alone, etc.) but also had their fair share of misses. Nevertheless, I am at peace with it, and I can respect it for what it is. 

I've said it countless times before on this board that I wish we got a +44/alk3 hybrid type of record. That has always been my dream since Skiba got on board. However, with Feldy in the picture, no, I don't think it will ever happen. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm so tired of this narrative that Feldmann came in and ruled California with an iron fist. As if he locked Mark inside the studio and forced him to write mainstream pop. Seriously?

As someone who's recorded in a studio before, you can 100% control over what you want. If Mark or Travis or Skiba didn't like the direction, they would have told Feldmann, "Hey, this isn't what we want. Either help us find that sound or we'll find someone who will." That's how bands operate. Clearly, they were all okay with the direction. If (and that's definitely an if) you want to blame someone for the new direction, you can't just blame Feldmann. You have to blame everyone.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Chase said:

I'm so tired of this narrative that Feldmann came in and ruled California with an iron fist. As if he locked Mark inside the studio and forced him to write mainstream pop. Seriously?

As someone who's recorded in a studio before, you can 100% control over what you want. If Mark or Travis or Skiba didn't like the direction, they would have told Feldmann, "Hey, this isn't what we want. Either help us find that sound or we'll find someone who will." That's how bands operate. Clearly, they were all okay with the direction. If (and that's definitely an if) you want to blame someone for the new direction, you can't just blame Feldmann. You have to blame everyone.

Would they really do that though? They did the exact opposite of that with Tom. They were afraid to tell him it wasn't what they wanted and just let him control the band.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Champ182 said:

Yeah I think comparing reactions to Untitled and California are kinda silly and just trying to make a false equivalency. Untitled was hard for some people to get into because it was pushing further away from their classic goofy pop/punk side and into more mature sounds and lyrics. I think it's safe to say anyone who ended up liking it after their first opinion just had to get used to it and listen to more and really "get" what they were going for.

With California, it's sort of the opposite because they're admittedly attempting to go backwards with their sound, back to the goofy pop/punk territory. Which is a fine decision, I was hoping for more of that vibe! But the result is sort of a shallower version of their old stuff (in my opinion), so just listening to the album more and spending more time with it won't really lead to people coming around to it.

Well, I'm not trying to make any equivalency, that's stupid. Untitled is far away from California in terms of quality, they are really different in any point of view. My point is just "hold your arses, people". The album will settle down after a few months, as we all start to replay the whole discography and integrate it with the rest of records. And that, yeah, that happened with Untitled.

As I was surprised for all the inmense excitement we al had when it dropped, I am also calling for a little bit of freeze in order to decide if we have to bury it or not. It's a matter of time.

That's silly? Alright.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...