whats the name of the new angels and airwaves album that just came out coz im gettin it for my gf for xmas?

1 comment

1. dvntjester

   April 21, 2010 at 10:51 am

   You’d be after I-Empire, released November 6th..

   Angels and Airwaves on cloud 9
   ‘I-Empire’ strikes back with tweaked sound, songs that could crush mountains
   Greg O’Neil
   Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: A & E
   PrintEmail DoubleClick Any Word Page 1 of 1
   Media Credit: courtesy photo
   Angels and Airwaves’ latest album, "I-Empire" was released Nov. 6, 2007.

   I am not discussing blink-182. They are done, they are over and given the current scene of things, they are never coming back. Get over it sticklers. Were they a great band?

   Personally, they were the staple of my early adolescence, true innovators of the pop-punk genre that are irreplaceable, unless your name is Green Day. But for what they were to me then, blink musician Tom Delonge’s new two year old baby, Angels & Airwaves, is 10 times the band to me now.

   The band premiered with a little known disc entitled "We Don’t Need To Whisper" which discussed the rebirth of life and shell-shocked listeners with delayed guitars and out-of-this-world space effects that textured every song with sonic booms and atmospheric symphonies.

   Bullets of hate was the reaction to it, a cynical oppression that blamed the band for stealing U2′s songbook and chord arrangements and slopping it in layers of synthesizers. I never understood this argument; Angels don’t just make U2 sound boring, they also make them sound old, like a worn race horse buckling its heels.

   Sound arguments aside, Delonge’s band did something: it dared to go there. By "there" I mean the unknown, a certain place given your taste in music that you could swear has never been visited before upon first listen. The band’s debut single, "The Adventure," had an uplifting soar of a sound that seemed as if it was going to leave Earth’s orbit and never return. And "The War" simply was one of the most pulse-pounding, kick-in-the-face songs I’d ever heard.

   Delonge has long said a second half to their story was still waiting to be made and apparently they couldn’t wait long enough. Fine with me. And so the tale of what some do after their "rebirth" is roughly outlined in their follow-up, "I-Empire," a title alone destined to draw interest to listeners.

   The title, as I see it, is a direct explanation of one’s journey towards self-fulfillment, to the epiphany of conquering your pitfalls and mastering your dreams. It is seeing the world as yours. If that sounds passé, please get out from underneath the rock you so dearly love and grow a personality.

   "Whisper" was not quite perfect due to the stray song or two that would dawdle about without payoff or resolution. "I-Empire" is quite nearly a masterpiece of sound, production and musicianship, a hybrid of what seems like thousands of thoughts and emotions translated into the most epic music ever heard, then compounded into a reverberating caged monster. This is the music of champions, or so it seems.

   It blasts off with "Call of Arms," an album opener for the ages, absolutely reveling in building the beats of drums and sky-rocketing your senses. There’s a word for it and it’s most nearly uplifting.

   Hey, blink fans: Want a throwback to the good old times? Lead single "Everything’s Magic" is just the ticket; a perky ditty that’ll get the heads nodding and sing-a-longs a singing. Also given the code name "The Love Song," "Breathe" is a breath of sonic beauty with Delonge’s voice earnestly proclaiming eternal companionship and the feelings of it. It is one of the slower tracks but it tears your heart inside-out.

   Though often criticized for their almost over-use of long intros, Angels & Airwaves have proved in the past they are masters of it and "Love Like Rockets" is one of their best attempts, a transmission of President Eisenhower addressing the United States via satellite starting off the track with blinks of energy echoing behind his fuzzy voice. It’s a song fit for Superman, as he soars across the sky reminding all he is alive and ready to divide and conquer.

   As Delonge sings "Do you feel alive?" during the effectively drawn out chorus you can do nothing but feel good. Interestingly enough, this is followed by a song seemingly ripped from a blink-182 album, with its "ladda da’s" on repeat on top of a bass line Mark Hoppus would be proud of. The drums aren’t bad either. The song "Sirens" almost shoves the cloth in the mouths of AVA haters and blink worshippers reminding them Delonge has yet to forget how to write a catchy tune.

   Whatever your expectations of this album are, nothing, and I mean not a single thing on this planet, can prepare you for "Secret Crowds," the album’s booming effigy of the most epic proportions. This is a song meant to be played only two ways: on an 800 watt sound system or in a football stadium, echoing and bouncing off the clouds above.

   This is a track that seemingly is bigger than the entire album, so expansive and gargantuan that you’ll want to shout along with it. Things cannot get as good as that, but the album remains riveting. The jointed tracks "Star of Bethlehem" and "True Love" continuing on Delonge’s promise to spread love across the world and in "Lifeline," reminding us that he has a softer side.

   "Rite of Spring" is going to be a fan favorite thanks to Delonge’s reference to his punk upbringings and time of discovery. Album closer "Heaven" is just about as direct a track title as there is and for very good reason. The opening organ and splicing of previous tracks on "Whisper" give the song a presence that, yes, feels like you died and went to heaven, but only to discover the gorgeous nature of it all. Call it a one night stay at the most expensive hotel in the universe.

   I’ve fought over ways of describing this album but I come up short every time. My conclusion is that I simply cannot. "Empire" is a soundtrack on life and love, absolutions and discoveries. With lyrics such as "I held my head as I left the ground/ the belt grew tight as the blast grew loud/ a loving wish whispered in my ear/ please leave with grace/ all the best my dear" and "I will run the streets and hostile lands/ I will touch the rain with all I have/ I will breathe the air to scream it loud/ my feet will never touch the ground/ because the days they feel like distant clocks/ like when kids grow up and learn to walk," are so touchingly affirming you cannot help but smile.

   You can call Delonge self-indulgent, which he is, but do not make the mistake of claiming the man doesn’t have ambition. He believes in this, he lives it and has every intention of sharing it with you. "I-Empire" is a twinkling aurora of catchy lyrics combined with all the ingredients of a powerful super-group. It is the album of the year.

   Greg O’Neil’s views do not necessarily reflect those of The Equinox.