4 Things We Want From Blink-182's New Album
The wait for new Blink-182 music is almost finally over. After numerous delays and speculations and people just generally going crazy, bassist Mark Hoppus has confirmed that the band plans on recording a brand new album at the end of this year.
"We were going to start recording at the beginning of this year, but there were some things happening in some of our personal lives that prevented us from getting in the studio, so now we are getting in the studio at the end of this year instead," Hoppus told Rock Freaks. "We are really just excited to get into the studio and have an album out sooner rather than later." Given Blink-182's past history of the word "soon," hopefully it won't be too long of a wait. The band's comeback album, Neighborhoods, came almost three years after they initally reunited, but their follow-up, the Dogs Eating Dogs EP, was only released the following year. The release for this next album could go either way - but the most important thing is that they're heading back into the studio. Here are a couple of things we want to see from new Blink-182 music.
More: Blink-182 confirm their new album
That big first single
When the first Blink-182 track off Neighborhoods dropped, it was an interesting time to say the least. The single, 'Up All Night,' had a heavy presence of vocalist Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker's previous band, Box Car Racer, and the reception was generally positive. However, compared to the first single from their 2003 self-titled record, 'Feeling This,' 'Up All Night' just couldn't compare. 'Up All Night' failed to really make any noise commercially, while 'Feeling This' was certified Gold and landed at #2 on the U.S. Alternative charts. For the next record, Blink-182 should storm out of the gates with a single that's got the catchiest chorus they can muster up, because if any mainstream band deserves a hit, it's these guys.
[Getty/Ethan Miller]More Mark Hoppus-only songs
After Blink-182's hiatus in 2005, the members went their separate ways with entirely new bands. DeLonge formed his space-rock alternative band Angels & Airwaves, while Hoppus and Barker got together to form Blink v2.0, Plus 44. Plus 44 were essentially an even poppier Blink-182, and Hoppus' vocals on tracks like 'When Your Heart Stops Beating' and 'Baby Come On' were awesome. Obviously, Blink back together is clearly the more preferred option than Plus 44 still being around, but if new Blink music revolved around Plus 44-esque tracks with Hoppus in sole possession of the microphone, we wouldn't be complaining.
Next page: What else should be on the new Blink-182 record?
More intensity
The poppy side of Blink-182 is great. In fact, it's probably some of the best pop from a rock band around. With that said, something about the Blink songs with a different kind of urgency leave us with a different kind of happiness in our ears. The self-titled record had a lot of it - stuff like 'Easy Target,' 'Go,' and 'Stockholm Syndrome' (one of the best tracks in their whole discography). They tried something similar on Neighborhoods with ‘Heart’s All Gone,’ and it just didn’t have the same impact - but we know that they still got it in’em.
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A lot more guest features
In Blink-182's illustrious career, the guys have pretty much tried everything - except really add some variety to who's being heard on the record. I know, I know. Who else would you even want other than Tom and Mark? I’m not saying whoever they enlist has to take over the song, but when the band gave it a go with Yelawolf on Dogs Eating Dogs, it ended up being pretty cool. Hip-hop artist Yelawolf, who happens to be friends with Barker, provided a verse on the track, ‘Pretty Little Girl,’ and although unconventional, it did a good job shaking things up a bit. If Blink-182 can implement some guest features in line with what Yelawolf brought to the table, we might be looking at some of the best Blink music to date.