Angels & Airwaves - We Don't Need to Whisper (2006)
So sometime after the blink-182 break-up, Tom DeLonge started getting #HYPEAF on painkillers for his back and came up with the idea for this band to start with guitarist David Kennedy from previous project Box Car Racer, bassist Ryan Sinn from The Distillers, and drummer Atom Willard from The Offspring, but in the process, he was also acting like this band was going to bring the second coming of Christ, end wars, and tons of crazy shit that you could only think as a possibility when on painkillers, so what we're given is an album full of wonderfully cheesy lyrics that are sincerely genuine, given that there's no doubt that Tom DeLonge actually believed in what he was preaching on this album, as if he himself became the voice of God.
So if this guy was singing about fucking dogs over punk rock riffs back in the day with blink-182, which is kinda hard to forget about when thinking about Tom DeLonge, so what is he bringing to the table now? Well.. Alternative rock heavily inspired by U2 and space. I guess at some point, Tom DeLonge said to himself "I don't want to be known as the punk rock dude who fucks dogs, I wanna be known as the alternative rock guy on painkillers talking about walking on water and space.. Like some kinda Intergalactic Jesus" and that's all fine and dandy because some of these tracks are a real treat!
The intro "Valkyrie Missile" sounds not just like an intro to an album, but an intro to a band, a band of ASTRONAUTS DOING SPACE SHIT and that's pretty badass, and then the second track "Distraction" kicks in and you'll think it's Christmas music at first or some shit. Pretty good but the three stand-out cuts on the entire album, to me, have to be the smash-hit "The Adventure" which you can ask your older sister about, "A Little's Enough" which is a bit of a somber tune but you'll probably end up crying to it in a drunken haze one of these nights, if anything, so I don't feel like the freak, and finally, "The War" with its heavy guitar riff that sounds like it could've fit on the next blink-182 album had they not broken up. That shit's good.
But Tom DeLonge be fucked because this album didn't and still ain't gonna start a revolution anytime soon: A few tracks drag on too long and outstay their welcome, like "Start the Machine", which isn't that good of an ending track, and all of the tracks have a kinda samey feel to them, so if you dig one, you'll probably dig all of the rest, but if you dislike one, nah, get the hell away from this shit or come back to it when high, and then you can play Tom DeLonge Simulator in your mind!!
7/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
