Review Summary: A teenage male's diary put to music.
April 14th, 2010
Dear Diary:
So, today my brother gave me this record by this band called Blink-182. I’d heard about these guys now and again, but I never thought I’d
like them. I mean, come on, this album I have is way old – from
2001! – and it’s not even their first! Anyway, my brother said it was good stuff, so I decided to gave it a listen. And guess what – these guys are
awesome.
No, seriously – I thought this was going to be music for older dudes, but I can totally relate to what these dudes are saying in their lyrics. Sometimes, they even seem like they were written for me –
First Date is exactly what happened on my first date with Rhonda,
Reckless Abandon could be talking about me and the dudes hanging out at the pizza joint or somewhere, pulling pranks and insulting each other’s mums, and
Story Of A Lonely Guy shows
exactly how I felt when I was trying to talk to Rhonda, back before we started dating. It’s awesome how three guys in their
twenties could so accurately capture what a 16-year-old does and feels. They even say, in the first song, that
”sixteen’s unsafe”and that
”teenage rules are f*cked and boring”, which I, like, totally agree with!
Anyway, it wasn’t just the lyrics that made me like this record. The music is also lots of fun, and I may try some of these riffs the next time me and the guys have band practice. I mean, we’ve already gone through the entire catalogue of My Chemical Romance, Emmure and Attack Attack!, and we’re starting to run out of things to play. Besides, all of these songs are really simple, based off three-chord guitar riffs, straight bass lines and punky drums. Even the guys’ voices are easy to replicate, because they have a kind of nasal pitch - sort of like my speaking voice, to be honest. The choruses are also really fun, and very memorable – off the top of my head, I can sing about half the songs on this album, or more.
So, as you can tell, I really liked this album, but I don’t want to rate it a 5/5. Both because it would make me look lame and because, to be honest, I didn’t really like the last two songs as much as I did all the others. They just seem kind of uninspired, and sound a little similar to the first two, to be honest. Also, the bonus tracks on my bro’s edition are really nothing special, although
Mother’s Day brings the lulz. I heard that the other editions have different tracks – Big Bro told me – but he says they’re not really that good either. So that’s why it can’t be a 5/5. But I will definitely recommend this band to all my friends – I’m sure they’re really going to like them!
One more thing before I go, though – when I was browsing stuff about this album, I found out that some people were calling it Blink 182’s “maturity” album. “Maturity” is a stupid word Mom, Dad and my teachers like to use, and it means “acting like a grown-up”, so I don’t see how people could say that about this album. I mean, it’s like I said earlier – it’s like Blink are writing about me, my life, and my friends, and we’re not f*cking “mature”! We’re just regular guys who like to hang out, date girls, get drunk and sometimes high (don’t let Mom know!), go to rock shows and have fun. And that’s what Blink’s lyrics on
Take Off Your Pants And Jacket talk about – it’s almost like this diary being put to music! So f*ck “maturity” – these guys talk about everyday problems that us kids face, which is something we need more bands singing about. Not f*cking politics like those Green Day homos, or, you know, stupid vampires or dragons or whatever! Just kids’ stuff. That’s why I recommend to anyone who feels like they need to fit in that they listen to this album. Trust me when I say that you will identify completely, and it can make you feel a lot better.
Well, that’s all for now, I’m going out with Chad to go see Emarosa. Catch you later, dude!
J.D.
My Recommended Tracks
Online Songs
Story Of A Lonely Guy
The Rock Show
Give Me One Good Reason
