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NINE Official Discussion


Russel Coight

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After over a week and a half of listening to this album numerous times, I gotta say, it's pretty damn great.  My first listen I wasn't sure how I felt, but the more I've listened, the more into it I've got.  No, it's not the best thing blink has ever done, but I will say it is hand down their best album since Untitled.  In some ways it does remind me of Untitled, but it's less risky of an album than Untitled ever was.  It's a more focused album while still going to many unique places.  Matt's voice really works here and gets to feel more genuine than it ever did on California.  I find some of the songs I was initially uneasy about to actually become some of my favorite tracks.  I initially wasn't into I Really Wish I Hated You for example, but as I heard the album and how it fits with the songs around it, it really started to click.  I'm still not crazy about Blame It On My Youth, but I don't hate it like I know many do, and that's probably my least favorite track on the album. 

I find it interesting that I really can't pinpoint a single song as my favorite on it.  Every time I listen to the album I find myself obsessing about a different song, from Black Rain, Run Away, No Heart To Speak Of, Hungover You, Darkside, and Pin the Grenade, and I'm sure more as I listen to it more, I feel like my favorite track is something different every time I hear the album.  Ultimately, if this is the direction they're going to continue in, if this is how blink can continue to operate without Tom, then I'm completely OK with that.  I like this music, and that is really all that matters at the end of the day.  I'm pretty happy that in a year where I wasn't really amped on waiting for the new blink album as I didn't think it'd be anything all that amazing, and thought for sure the album I'd be loving the most this year would be the new Of Monsters and Men album, that it turned out that blink seems to be my favorite album of the year and by quite a large margin at that (was pretty underwhelmed by the new Of Monsters and Men album).

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4 minutes ago, Elisa said:

It doesn't make sense though, none of them went through a break up recently. I refuse to consider it a break up album. 

I think it's a subject that probably got pushed quite a bit by the outsiders since it's a universal topic that everybody can relate to and easy to write about. Not to mention there's kind of a facade of showing off your darkness/depression that (along with the references to pills/medication/booze) is somewhat "trendy" in the radio world right now when you look at people like Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Drake, The Weeknd, Tove Lo, etc. Just total speculation of course but that seems to be the go-to move for pop artists trying to seem "darker" the last few years haha so I wouldn't be surprised if the pop songwriters recommended stuff like that.

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14 minutes ago, Elisa said:

It doesn't make sense though, none of them went through a break up recently. I refuse to consider it a break up album. 

On a serious note I don't think Happy Days, BIOMY, Generational Divide or Ransom could be considered break up songs. 

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27 minutes ago, Elisa said:

It doesn't make sense though, none of them went through a break up recently. I refuse to consider it a break up album. 

It doesn't have to be specifically like that, on the dot, for having been through a break up to write a song about it.

Out of all Nine, Run Away, Black Rain, IRWIHY, Pin the Grenade, No Heart to Speak Of, On Some Emo Shit, Hungover You are songs about heartbreak. 7/15, not considering Remember to Forget Me. So, technically, there's a topic going on the album.

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3 minutes ago, Champ182 said:

I think it's a subject that probably got pushed quite a bit by the outsiders since it's a universal topic that everybody can relate to and easy to write about.

Yeah I don't have too many complaints on NINE, but the main ones would be lack of guitar riffs again (which is no surprise), and then the subject matter on some of the lyrics. It's just really hard to hear Mark sing about break-ups/one night stands/etc when he's been happily married for 20 years...but making up fictional stories is something they have done forever and it seems they want people to be able to relate to the songs. They could all be Trav/Skiba's "stories/lyrics/input" for all we know, but it hits a bit shallow on some levels. They are still overall much better lyrics than Cali though.

And even when Mark pours his heart and soul into it (Happy Days) people still crap on it, so it's a lose/lose for him regardless lol.

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Ry-Bread said:

Yeah I don't have too many complaints on NINE, but the main ones would be lack of guitar riffs again (which is no surprise), and then the subject matter on some of the lyrics. It's just really hard to hear Mark sing about break-ups/one night stands/etc when he's been happily married for 20 years...but making up fictional stories is something they have done forever and it seems they want people to be able to relate to the songs. They could all be Trav/Skiba's "stories/lyrics/input" for all we know, but it hits a bit shallow on some levels. They are still overall much better lyrics than Cali though.

And even when Mark pours his heart and soul into it (Happy Days) people still crap on it, so it's a lose/lose for him regardless lol.

I've never had a problem with this in song writing personally, for any band.  Song writing and by extension singing is just another form of story telling.  Often it can be autobiographical, but I don't see why it always has to be.  Many of the best stories I've read are relatable and yet complete works of fiction, don't see why music or any other form of art can't also be like that.

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I don't think the lyrics in this album are perfect but they're much better than the majority of California. I do think California has amazing lyrics in some of the more serious songs though.

Blink have always had songs about youth even in their later years with Tom. Songs like Go, Easy Target, All of This are based on their youth (Jerry Finn's youth regarding Easy Target, or was it Jerry Finn?). When I Was Young, This Is Home, and hell even Tom songs from his solo EP like Suburban Kings are about their youth. Boxing Day is a break up song despite the fact of Mark and Tom being married. They've always have had songs about youth to an extent. Cliff Diving from +44 is based on Mark's childhood too.

But California, it just didn't come across as natural. The lyrics seemed dumbed down especially on the songs about youth. All of it was so forced and I really think it was that first thought equals best thought method. I know Mark still used that method on NINE, but it seems to me that he took a bit more care with the lyrics this time. I still wish he'd take more time because it's still not as strong as he can be like the way he wrote on +44/Neighborhoods. But NINE is a step in the right direction.

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2 minutes ago, Nosferatu said:

I don't think the lyrics in this album are perfect but they're much better than the majority of California. I do think California has amazing lyrics in some of the more serious songs though.

Blink have always had songs about youth even in their later years with Tom. Songs like Go, Easy Target, All of This are based on their youth (Jerry Finn's youth regarding Easy Target, or was it Jerry Finn?). When I Was Young, This Is Home, and hell even Tom songs from his solo EP like Suburban Kings are about their youth. Boxing Day is a break up song despite the fact of Mark and Tom being married. They've always have had songs about youth to an extent. Cliff Diving from +44 is based on Mark's childhood too.

But California, it just didn't come across as natural. The lyrics seemed dumbed down especially on the songs about youth. All of it was so forced and I really think it was that first thought equals best thought method. I know Mark still used that method on NINE, but it seems to me that he took a bit more care with the lyrics this time. I still wish he'd take more time because it's still not as strong as he can be like the way he wrote on +44/Neighborhoods. But NINE is a step in the right direction.

Well said!

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2 hours ago, Champ182 said:

I think it's a subject that probably got pushed quite a bit by the outsiders since it's a universal topic that everybody can relate to and easy to write about. Not to mention there's kind of a facade of showing off your darkness/depression that (along with the references to pills/medication/booze) is somewhat "trendy" in the radio world right now when you look at people like Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Drake, The Weeknd, Tove Lo, etc. Just total speculation of course but that seems to be the go-to move for pop artists trying to seem "darker" the last few years haha so I wouldn't be surprised if the pop songwriters recommended stuff like that.

This might be true. And it went well with Mark and Skiba considering their inclination to write dark lyrics. But as I said when the album came out, they were probably coming up with ideas/situations and then they started writing from that perspective, going for a general feeling that everyone can relate to. I just don't see it as a break up album though. 

 

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