The blink 182 general discussion topic

[zzzz]

1 hour ago, Champ182 said:

Sounds like something Tom would say haha. And sadly no Skiba, you guys definitely did not "nail it" in terms of having lyrics influenced by beautifully written prose. I think the general consensus is that the Cali lyrics have been a giant step backwards for Skiba and Mark compared to their previous output.

Yeah, I mean they both have some lyrical masterpieces on their resume, but I just listened to Neighborhoods the other day and realized a lot of the lyrics (Tom's in particular) are pretty bad and not memorable. (And I have loved NH since Day 1).

I guess when you've written as many songs as they have, you end up having to force inspiration to come up with stuff sometimes. Seems like Matt/Mark did this with their little book club. 

[hammerpipe]

1 hour ago, Olidamus said:

Depends. If you are a big AK3 fan, sure!

People seem to forget we are the customers. Why they forget that? I don't know. Think it has something to do with idolatry. But as a paying customer, you have a right to be pissed off if you are unhappy with the product given.

No one is forcing you to buy it, dipshit.

[Kay]

To be fair, Dan and Derek have given the impression for the last few months that they were under the impression that once Skiba wrapped up the blink UK tour that Trio would be working on new music, they'd been talking about writing new material and stuff like that. 

I can 100% understand why alk3 fans are pissed. I'm pissed. We havent had an alk3 record in 4 years, he's just shat out 28 incredibly mediocre songs with blink and done a shit load of touring, and instead of taking a break and then spending some time with Alk3, he's allegedly marching back into the studio to do even more half baked bullshit with blink and Feldmann. 

In that interview, he's practically dismissed alk3 as some cult band with friends - which represents 20 fucking years of his goddamn career - and has essentially said his focus is on blink. 

I usually have mad respect for the Skeebs but he's somehow managed to fuck up two of my favourite bands. Thats impressively shitty.

[thongrider]

1 hour ago, ryan1125 said:

Also in a Twitter Q/A Mark was asked what his favorite record he wrote was, to which he replied "Untitled/California"... All these beautiful records to choose from, and you think he's gonna choose one where he sat in a room playing Candy Crush while Feldmann wrote it all...lol.

I told you guys Matt was doing Blink exclusively now, I asked him 2 months ago. Anyone blaming him for that is crazy, and from a Blink fan perspective you should be happy because we're getting 100% of his ideas. (I could mention Alkaline Trio to all of my friends and not 1 person would know who the hell they are, they are not popular at all.)

Tom's not coming back any time soon, he's getting ready to direct a film which will take another 1.5-2 years to complete and his Sekret Machine stuff isn't even halfway done yet... we're definitely getting another album w/Skiba and full tour again.

I think very few artists will be honest enough to admit their newest record isn't their greatest. It's WAY crazier to blame Tom for wanting to do AVA than blaming Matt for wanting to do Blink. He still hasn't sung a song by himself in Blink. 


Now, John Feldmann deciding to only focus on Goldfinger for a while. THAT would be good for Blink, or possibly disastrous. 

[zzzz]

@Kay I completely understand Alk3 fans being disappointed but I do not agree with your opinion that he's pooping out songs with Blink and not giving a fuck. I don't know why you all think Blink and their big bad wolf producer are intentionally releasing dog shit. I genuinely think they all love these songs and think they're great, regardless of whether or not we do.

Matt tried Alk3 for 20 years and it didn't go anywhere really, here an opportunity of a lifetime arose and he took it. It's the same thing as working somewhere for 20 years, and then getting offered 30x your salary to take a new job. Yes, people at your old job will miss you, but it's a no brainer decision anyone would make. 

Matt is the nicest dude in the world, I mean he cries when he sees retarded people...to paint him as some soulless sellout who fucked over his bandmates to poop out Kidz Bop songs is so wrong IMHO. Bums me out that everyone has to paint some crazy narrative instead of just saying you don't like the songs and leaving it at that.

 

@thongrider I think Feldmann is focusing on Goldfinger right now, they have an album coming out and he's touring hardcore with them... but I don't think that'll really matter come November when they're all back in LA ready to start working on a new album.

[radioactive tomdog]

alkaline trio "didn't go anywhere." lol really? for a band that wasn't part of the MTV/TRL craze, they went about as far as you can go without it. 

[thongrider]

42 minutes ago, ryan1125 said:

@Kay I completely understand Alk3 fans being disappointed but I do not agree with your opinion that he's pooping out songs with Blink and not giving a fuck. I don't know why you all think Blink and their big bad wolf producer are intentionally releasing dog shit. I genuinely think they all love these songs and think they're great, regardless of whether or not we do.

Matt tried Alk3 for 20 years and it didn't go anywhere really, here an opportunity of a lifetime arose and he took it. It's the same thing as working somewhere for 20 years, and then getting offered 30x your salary to take a new job. Yes, people at your old job will miss you, but it's a no brainer decision anyone would make. 

Matt is the nicest dude in the world, I mean he cries when he sees retarded people...to paint him as some soulless sellout who fucked over his bandmates to poop out Kidz Bop songs is so wrong IMHO. Bums me out that everyone has to paint some crazy narrative instead of just saying you don't like the songs and leaving it at that.

 

@thongrider I think Feldmann is focusing on Goldfinger right now, they have an album coming out and he's touring hardcore with them... but I don't think that'll really matter come November when they're all back in LA ready to start working on a new album.

what? 

[zzzz]

16 minutes ago, Kevin. said:

alkaline trio "didn't go anywhere." lol really? for a band that wasn't part of the MTV/TRL craze, they went about as far as you can go without it. 

Yeah I agree, it's not a knock against them at all but on a mainstream recognition and/or financial success scale they did not go very far. Not many people know who they are. Dan and Derek play at small bars with 100 people there... 

 

[thongrider]

Well, 

47 minutes ago, ryan1125 said:

@Kay I completely understand Alk3 fans being disappointed but I do not agree with your opinion that he's pooping out songs with Blink and not giving a fuck. I don't know why you all think Blink and their big bad wolf producer are intentionally releasing dog shit. I genuinely think they all love these songs and think they're great, regardless of whether or not we do.

Matt tried Alk3 for 20 years and it didn't go anywhere really, here an opportunity of a lifetime arose and he took it. It's the same thing as working somewhere for 20 years, and then getting offered 30x your salary to take a new job. Yes, people at your old job will miss you, but it's a no brainer decision anyone would make. 

Matt is the nicest dude in the world, I mean he cries when he sees retarded people...to paint him as some soulless sellout who fucked over his bandmates to poop out Kidz Bop songs is so wrong IMHO. Bums me out that everyone has to paint some crazy narrative instead of just saying you don't like the songs and leaving it at that.

 

@thongrider I think Feldmann is focusing on Goldfinger right now, they have an album coming out and he's touring hardcore with them... but I don't think that'll really matter come November when they're all back in LA ready to start working on a new album.

If Matt and Mark are so thrilled and inspired to write as many songs about teenagers in California why do they make other people write them?????????? Hell, I like a lot of the songs on California, but that they are hiring people to write the songs just leaves me with a bad taste! in my mouth!

If Mark and Matt wrote really bad songs that sounded like a shitty mix between +44 and Alk 3,  at least they would have written them themselves. I guess I don't like many Deluxe songs and probably won't listen to them much, but the fact that they feel like new products straight out of the Feldmann factory makes it even worse. Also, if Matt loves Blink and being a product and finds that cooler than Alk 3, that's cool for him. But saying we should be happy for him because he makes more money now, is just a nice way of calling him a sellout. 

Well, if he kept touring with Goldfinger in November that would be the best for Blink I'd say. Or if Matt and Mark got some time to write before going into the studio and the band didn't become some kind of shitty aseembley line. 

[thongrider]

10 minutes ago, ryan1125 said:

Yeah I agree, it's not a knock against them at all but on a mainstream recognition and/or financial success scale they did not go very far. Not many people know who they are. Dan and Derek play at small bars with 100 people there... 

 

I'm sure they don't live on the street. 

[vic vinegar]

6 hours ago, MSandt said:

Skiba also explains how they got in the mood for writing new songs:

“Then for me and Mark – I think I can speak for both of us – we were reading a lot together. We read Dead Wake about the sinking of the Lusitania, we read Blood Meridian in tandem, we read The Revenant in tandem before the movie came out, so there were a lot of rushing rivers and the whole idea of using metaphors to describe loneliness, just like settler, Native American and Southern Gothic influence of literature, that was kind of our rhyming dictionary. While we were making the record we were reading this incredible, beautifully written prose and I don’t want to sound cocky but I think we nailed it, it represents a lot of the things we were reading and some of the things that I was going through and likening them to that sort of description and having it be a little less ‘poor me’ and a little bit more empowered and coming across the fact that you aren’t drowning and you need to fight your way out, that was the theme of the record and I think for me and Mark that was influenced by literature.”

But don't expect that to convince the haters who believe Feldmann wrote the whole album by himself.

I've read Revenant and Blood Meridian. Can't seem to find the influences in such "masterpieces" as Sober or Parking Lot. Sorry.

[_Kyle_]

11 hours ago, Barry said:

It took Katy Perry saying that for you to figure it out? For years people have been saying that these award shows are basically circlejerks.

no shit sherlock, but some here didn't believe it. 

[Ghost]

3 hours ago, ryan1125 said:

@Kay I completely understand Alk3 fans being disappointed but I do not agree with your opinion that he's pooping out songs with Blink and not giving a fuck. I don't know why you all think Blink and their big bad wolf producer are intentionally releasing dog shit. I genuinely think they all love these songs and think they're great, regardless of whether or not we do.

Matt tried Alk3 for 20 years and it didn't go anywhere really, here an opportunity of a lifetime arose and he took it. It's the same thing as working somewhere for 20 years, and then getting offered 30x your salary to take a new job. Yes, people at your old job will miss you, but it's a no brainer decision anyone would make. 

Matt is the nicest dude in the world, I mean he cries when he sees retarded people...to paint him as some soulless sellout who fucked over his bandmates to poop out Kidz Bop songs is so wrong IMHO. Bums me out that everyone has to paint some crazy narrative instead of just saying you don't like the songs and leaving it at that.

 

@thongrider I think Feldmann is focusing on Goldfinger right now, they have an album coming out and he's touring hardcore with them... but I don't think that'll really matter come November when they're all back in LA ready to start working on a new album.

That's a very wrong perception of AK3's career, in my opinion. No offense, I don't know if that's your case, but I find really funny how some blink fans make or made statements like that when they only heard a few AK3 songs to see what the hell was doing the new guy in blink. I can understand you if they're not your cup of tea, and there's no need to have a big digging process in AK3 discography to get a view of it, but saying AK3 didn't go anywhere in its career is just a wrong statement, specially because, my impression is that you're basing that on the 'fame and money' argument. I don't kow how well they are doing speaking about money, but brtistically they, definitely, developed some interesting shit over the years, with ups and downs, of course, and not reaching massive audiences, but that doesn't mean they didn't go anywhere.

Now, in general, not addresed to you, @ryan1125, my point here is the same. AK3 is (or has been, I don't know) more than a 'normal' band, as I said. They created their own thing, their own relationship with fans, and a kind of personality that, seems, Matt now decides to flush it out just for the money. If that's the case, is just disappointing. I think AK3 fans are not criticizing Matt's choice itself, but what that decission implies for what he has done and said in the past (yeah, little DeLonge-ish, tbh). Quick example: is good to have the chance to earn lots of money? Sure. Under any circumstance? Well...

I'm really tyred of the 'what would you have done for the money?' thing too. In this case, if so, it sounds like a massive selling out act. It looks like a guy who has a tremendous personality has decided to reduce himself to a punk pop gimmick just for the money. Also, the funniest part on that interview comes when he talks about how Mark and him 'translated' some literary references to the lyrics. That's just a joke. He has done that several times before and with much better results.

I mean... I love this guy. I've been following his work for years. I always liked the way he did the things, even if he just fucked up some shit. But I won't be swallowing everything he does. So if, finally, AK3 gets disbanded due to this, that would be a turning point of my perception of Skiba. For sure.

[zzzz]

All I'm saying is IMO he's doing great in Blink (as much as anyone could expect) and I enjoy their new stuff. I'm sure it blows for hardcore Alk3 fans, and even more so if you dislike the new Blink material. 

That's fine to feel that way, but I don't agree when people feel this way AND THEN try to act like Skiba is intentionally writing dog shit pop hits for teens that he doesn't care about. IMO he's giving it all he's got, to the point of where he doesn't even want his old band to interfere. You guys just don't happen to like the final product which turns into painting him as some villain when he is far from that IMO.

 

[MSandt]

3 hours ago, vic vinegar said:

I've read Revenant and Blood Meridian. Can't seem to find the influences in such "masterpieces" as Sober or Parking Lot. Sorry.

This is the definition of using cherry-picked examples to push an agenda. Sober and Parking Lot are the two worst post-Tom songs. You could have picked any number of better songs, but you picked the absolute worst.

[thongrider]

If he's writing dog shit pop hits for teens intentionally, we can't really think it sucks, because he does it intentionally!

[vic vinegar]

1 hour ago, MSandt said:

This is the definition of using cherry-picked examples to push an agenda. Sober and Parking Lot are the two worst post-Tom songs. You could have picked any number of better songs, but you picked the absolute worst.

Ok no recognizable influences of brilliant literature in BTD either. Or SOOHM. Or HISALP. Hell, I'll even throw in a song I was ok with in 6/8. Am I still cherry picking???

Fuck, even my favorite post-Matt songs Left Alone and Hey I'm Sorry has ZERO influences of either Revenant or Blood Merdian. It's an insult to those great books to compare them to bubblegum pop punk songs written in 2 days.

Edited June 18, 2017 by vic vinegar

[MSandt]

41 minutes ago, vic vinegar said:

Ok no recognizable influences of brilliant literature in BTD either. Or SOOHM. Or HISALP. Hell, I'll even throw in a song I was ok with in 6/8. Am I still cherry picking???

Fuck, even my favorite post-Matt songs Left Alone and Hey I'm Sorry has ZERO influences of either Revenant or Blood Merdian. It's an insult to those great books to compare them to bubblegum pop punk songs written in 2 days.

And yet they were influenced by the works they were reading at the time, and this is completely independent of you recognizing or understanding the influence.

[Nasa]

Given the nature of Skiba and Mark and Travis' previous output--not the quality of the music, but the way they created it (i.e. not Feldmann factory style)--I don't think it's a stretch to say they're well aware of the type of music they're putting out in the Cali era. 

[vic vinegar]

1 hour ago, MSandt said:

And yet they were influenced by the works they were reading at the time, and this is completely independent of you recognizing or understanding the influence.

Ok well next time they write about being 17 again I'm sure it connects to Jim Bridger or Cormac McCarthy. Jesus.

This post was influenced by the novel No Country For Old Men by the way, even if you can't see it.