Tom DeLonge - To the Stars... Demos, Odds and Ends (2015)
Sometime after he was kicked out of blink-182, Tom DeLonge decided to cash in on the fame that he suddenly gained in the media (i.e. "BLINK-182 GUITARIST TOM DELONGE KICKED FROM BAND") and said he'd release a compilation of demos meant for a new blink-182 album, and also some nooks and crannies for Angels & Airwaves. It's only eight tracks long, and although Brooks Wackerman (of Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion fame) plays drums on nearly every song here, it's interesting to see what Tom DeLonge can come up with when he's on his own with no outside influences, be it his ex-buddies in blink-182 or his buddy/buddies (WHICH ONE IS IT?! ARE THE OTHER GUYS STILL IN THE BAND OR NOT?!) in Angels & Airwaves.
"New World" is a hell of a great song but for some reason I was totally DUMB AS SHIT the first time I heard it and oddly couldn't pick up on what was supposed to be the chorus (?!) because sometimes when I hear something and I'm tired, it ends up sounding completely different to me than it actually is. Anyway, anyhow, anybodycankillmeI'llevenPayPalyouthemoney, it's fucking GREAT!! Tom states in the chorus "I found a new door. I'm un-contained, I'm crucified. I found a new world, I'm lost deep inside of it." possibly referring to his ousting from blink-182, but it sounds oddly magical and.. Not very Angels & Airwaves or blink-182-ish? I don't know. Then we get to the second track "An Endless Summer" and that name makes you think "FUCK YEAH NOW WE'RE GETTING TO BLINK-182" but while it's a great song, it still sounds like there's no reason it SHOULDN'T have been an Angels & Airwaves song! Oh well, still kicks ass.
The other tracks are pretty consistently good, with "The Invisible Parade" being a somber acoustic song about his brother's time in the military, and "Circle-Jerk-Pit" being like a throwback to Box Car Racer's hardcore punk track "My First Punk Song", and who (even without therapy) can forget "Golden Showers in the Golden State", the -one- song on here that I could see being a blink-182 song.. In 2001? Seriously, I don't really buy that it was intended to be a blink-182 song and was probably something Tom just threw together after being kicked out to have one song that he can claim was going to be on the new blink-182 album with not much doubt, but while it's a good song (it really is!), it's just... Weird. It's weird that Tom had been trying all these years to be a "real musician" and singing about love and other serious shit, often steering blink-182 in that humorless direction, and then now that he's been kicked out of blink-182, he comes out with a song about taking shits on people's chests? Sounds more to me like he was trying to profit off of nostalgia for potty-humor that hadn't been used in blink-182's music since 2001.
Two questions I kept asking myself during this was "Why didn't he use most of this on an actual Angels & Airwaves album? They're great!" and also "..Exactly what songs were supposed to be on the new blink-182 album?" but whatever, I'm just gonna say it: These songs have their blemishes, given that they're unfinished, but they're a lot fuckin' better than a good portion of Angels & Airwaves' material post-2007's "I-Empire". They have personality, they aren't pretentious, they don't outstay their welcome with long, drawn-out outros, but they still don't scratch -that- itch that Tom DeLonge gave us all pre-"LOVE" that he never quite managed to scratch again for me. A good collection of songs, but audible blemishes, lack of cohesiveness, and a general lack of the right "Oomph" that can come from Tom working with other competent musicians song-writing-wise keeps it from shining quite as much as it has the potential to. Still, even though the music sounds like it's missing a few teeth, an adorable smile can still be found.
7/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
