Angels & Airwaves - The Dream Walker Demos (2016)

Pretty album cover! I think I prefer it to the original, actually. Feels.. Snowy. #REALTALK the first time I ever saw snow, I was in my teen years and within the first five minutes, I put my dick in it. No Gods, no masters, no sense of dignity.

Speaking of my dick: Don't you hate it when your hand cramps up while you're choking the chicken/punching the pumpkin/masturbating your genitals, and then you feel like a total jackass, despite no one watching you? Damn this deadly essential tremors + arthritis combo!! Don't you hate it when a band you really like puts out a demo collection without too much to offer, but also has TOO MUCH to offer in the way that (if you buy the complete edition) it's 26 tracks long? Okay, I don't hate it either, but I'M NOT REALLY THAT FUCKIN' ECSTATIC ABOUT IT!! So if you've read my previous review of "The Dream Walker" (why the FUCK would you miss reading ANY of my reviews?) then you'll know I was a pretty damn happy camper about it. I think that album is a terrific ride into rainbow smiles and I don't think that'll ever change, but judging by some of the demos on here, it had a bit of a way to go to becoming that sugary-sweet collection of audible chocolate butterflies of love.

Demos schmemos DID YOU GET THE MEMO?! NOT TOO BIG OF A FAN OF THAT SHIT! Most of the songs on here that appear on "The Dream Walker" sound occasionally more like a horribly-mastered version of the original, although it can be interesting to hear, because Tom DeLonge apparently went through quite a lot of drafts when it came to choruses on this album, with none of them really reaching the magic of the actual studio album, even though the first demo of "The Wolfpack" has a rawer chorus. It won't surprise me to see some of the trashed ideas for melodies on this album appear on a future release by the band. Now, what DID surprise me was that not only is Ilan Rubin a much better drummer than Adam 'Atom' Willard, but he's also a better singer! Well, I've never heard Adam 'Atom' Willard sing so Ilan Rubin kinda wins by default, but as I was saying, Ilan Rubin occasionally contributes vocals to the demos, most notably in "Mercenaries Guitar Demo" and even though I still like Tom DeLonge's voice more, it'd be interesting to see them incorporate a dual-vocal dynamic much like that blink-182 band. Think they've heard of them?

There's also some original songs to be found on this album, but to be honest, none of them really stuck out to me, especially when compared to the cuts that made the album. It'd be cool for them to fully flesh them out later on, but as it is now, not too big of a fan, especially when I see the title of "Song 3" and have a split-second thought of "It's a SEQUEL to the Blur song!" but then wonder why I cared enough to mentally say that with an exclamation point when I generally don't give a shit about Blur. All in all, this is really only for the diehard fans of the band. What you essentially have here is a bunch of songs from "The Dream Walker" but shittier sounding, and really, why aren't you listening to that album right now? What're you, Mark Hoppus?! PLEASE SEND ME YOUR AUTOGRAPH!!

6/10
________________________________________________________
Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!