Angels & Airwaves: No Weak Link In First Album
Music July 3rd, 2009Years ago, when Tom, Mark, and Travis of Blink 182 announced that they were taking on an indefinite break, which translates to their splitting up, fans, including myself, felt frustrated and disappointed because it may be the last we’ll hear from any of them. It felt wrong to see a band break up just when they are at their prime. But then, all hopes seem to come back when Tom announced his new band, Angels & Airwaves.
The former members of Blink 182 were known to be very talented so it seems like we will not be hearing good stuff from a new band, whether one of the three is fronting them. But that was not the case when Angels & Airwaves came out with their debut album We Don’t Need to Whisper.
To start this critique of the album, let me say that Tom is an amazing musician and you can expect him to do magic regardless of what band he plays in. In each track of the album, Tom’s wonderful and powerful vocals shone through. Add to that the great performance of each instruments, you have a great track in your hands.
The record is close to remarkable. It’d exceed your expectations about the band’s music. It did mine. The tracks are made up of good lyrics, catchy melodies, nice rifts, and great sound. All of these elements when combined together, plus the amazing vocals of Tom make up a great first album. This is something worth listening to.
With Angels & Airwaves, Tom has taken on a more serious path. He, together with his new band mates, was able to create a great line up of songs that talk about war, love, loss, hope, and space. Each track can stand alone. Each track is brilliant in its own way. They have a more mature sound. The lyrics attempt to talk about serious stuff with more depth.
The band really showed their knack for playing the instruments in the album. They have placed a lot of importance in their intros. In one of the tracks, Valkyrie Missile, the intro ran 2 minutes and 40 seconds. Distraction had a 1 minute and 9 second intro. They carefully arranged the technical aspect of the songs. Their rifts are timed perfectly; the tempo doesn’t pick up until the time is ripe. The songs, whether slow- or quick-paced were meticulously composed.
If you listen carefully, you will see that aside from the good lyrics, great melody and sound, you will be captivated by what the band is trying to say with their songs. The message is what clearly reverberates to the listener. The songs will haunt you. Made better by Tom’s power vocals, you will feel the emotions–raw and intense. Though we have to note that although the songs are great, the lyrics are not as remarkable as one would think. They tend to be repetitive and too plain at times. Nevertheless, the impact of the album is undeniable.
As an end note, one cannot say that Angels & Airwaves is just another wannabe band. You can say that Tom’s involvement has helped a lot in the outcome of their first attempt to enter the music scene but one must also take into consideration the individual talents of the other members. In the end, they, as a group, were able to create a noteworthy and memorable music.
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