The good news is that ‘I-Empire’ is better than the first album. The bad news is that ‘I-Empire’ – and ultimately Angels and Airwaves – isn’t very good.
We all know the history behind this band. Tom DeLonge and Blink 182 go their separate ways and Tom suddenly starts using the media to tell us all about how he intends to change their history of music with a brand new sound. His ‘vision’ is spoken about at length in the run up to the release of ‘We Don’t Need To Whisper’, so much so that it’s months before people hear a song, yet the record has been built up to be the best thing ever recorded. It ended up being awful; a record buried within the ego of a singer spouting self-indulgent gibberish at every given opportunity. A cross between latter day Blink 182 and U2, the stadium rock stylings just didn’t strike a chord with Blink fans and, well, anyone else. The record simply stank. AVA toured the world and failed to impress at all, eventually disappearing off the radar. Sales weren’t bad, but truth be told I wonder how many people bought the album for who was behind it, rather than the music it contained.
The pre-release hype has been much quieter this time round, perhaps suggesting Mr DeLonge has learned his lesson. But the end result is the same; proggy-space rock and stadium rock filler that again sounds like a bunch of latter day Blink 182 b-sides mixed in with U2 choruses and sampled drum beats. It’s a sprawling record, full of high-end production values, but one that ultimately doesn’t do anything for the listener at all. Tracks blend in with one another and bar two or three they’re pretty forgettable. ‘Call To Arms’ is a decent start and ‘Everything’s Magic’ is reasonable, but the songs take way too long to get going and keyboard-led intros are ten-a-penny – and ultimately dull as hell.
I’m not sure when the Angels and Airwaves revolution will begin, but when it does will someone wake me up?