The 31 year old rock band Blink-182 came out with their new album “One More Time” Oct. 20. The album consists of 17 tracks, totaling 44 minutes of that punk-rock style you thought you wouldn’t hear again. It’s easy to play this band off because of the classic humor in their songs, but under that humor is music that brews pleasantly to the ears. This three-man-band gave us an album that is lovable, catchy and makes you want to dance your heart away.
One reason why this album is so big is because this band was believed to have broken up. In 2019, there was a fallout with the band where Tom DeLonge left his two bandmates, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker. It wasn’t until 2021 when Mark Hoppus was diagnosed with cancer that the three re-united, and the rest was history. When this album came out it was almost like the falling out never happened, but that doesn’t mean changes don’t come in different forms.
Unlike the other albums from Blink-182, this album mostly strays away from grossing out parents with dirty humor, and instead focuses more on the idea of death. In fact, they even make a reference to Hoppus’s cancer in the title track when Hoppus and DeLonge sing “do I have to die for you to miss me?” But it actually gives a nice twist to what you usually expect from Blink-182, and that doesn’t change the album’s quality in the slightest.
“More than you know” has a great vibe and it is awesome to listen to. It’s great if you need a song to drown out something else. It definitely gives you the punk rock vibe but adds an alternative twist to it. I liked the chorus of them singing “I don’t feel pain but I feel more than you’d ever know.” What interested me is that the band in front of the chorus yelled “black lights across my face, words that we’ll never write, wait for the phone to ring, back to the starting line go!”
“Bad news” has got to be my favorite track on the album. I like the vocals a lot and the chorus is great. The song, despite the weird title, is upbeat and fun to listen to. It has a great vibe and is something to bob your head to. I love the drums, and the beat timing is perfect. It’s so good I wish it was longer.
“Blink waves” is definitely something to vibe to. It is great for background music and gives off a bit of an alternative feel. The song definitely makes me bob my head. The drums are perfect and the song is really catchy. The message of the song is pretty basic though, as it is just about falling in love with a girl.
Although I mentioned the good songs, there were also some mediocre ones, like “Dance with me.” It doesn’t have the typical vibe you would get from Blink-182. It relies more on the vocals than the background music. Speaking of background music, “Terrified” is by far the worst song on the album. It has a punk rock type of background music that does not flow with the lyrics. The rhythm is terrible and the autotune might as well be cranked all the way up. So not all of the songs in the album are winners.
Blink-182’s “One More Time” was an understandable hit nevertheless. Fans have been waiting four years for this album, and being able to see a band that’s been sensational since they formed in 1992 play some more was mesmerizing. What was really surprising is right when this album was released, it claimed number one on the US iTunes album sales chart. The band is also preparing for the “One More Time tour” in 2024, which the band will play not only in Minnesota, but across the world.
Although it was beautiful to see the band get together and make a new album for millions of fans to see, it also had some downsides. In the album, there was okay songs, and as much really good songs as really bad songs. The album is humbling nevertheless. Even though it touched on different themes, in the end it was still something for people to enjoy.
“One More Time”: ★★★☆☆
