Angels and Airwaves -- We Don't Need to Whisper

Wow. One of the boys from Blink-182 must be under the delusion that he is some kind of musical prophet. What else could explain the multiple five-minute, synthesized dirges or the seemingly tireless amount of cosmic guitar effects that accompany this completely forgettable album? Tom DeLonge discusses the band's writing process by saying the members "would literally shut the blinds, dim all the lights, put Stanley Kubrick's 2001 on the flat-screen and take these Stephen Ambrose World War II books, with these two-page spreads of cities burning and people dying, and we'd paste them all over the wall." Give me a break. If that is the case, though, then DeLonge and the band did successfully execute the daunting task of manufacturing an album that is able to simultaneously reek of pretension and still maintain a heavy current of mindless musicianship. Boring, overproduced and unnecessary. Geffen Records should've just given me the money they sunk into the production of this album. I guarantee that I would've put it to better use. (Kevin Warwick) Grade: D

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