LOVE

A new music from Tom DeLonge

Angels And Airwaves must be the best project formed out of the debris of the cult-like Blink-182. In the frames of this project, Tom DeLonge is doing what he could not do with his former partners. Once playing a punk-rock music breeding little to think about, he switched to a more serious genre. When it started out, Tom stated bravely that this would be a sensational form of rock-n-roll with a wide variety of emotions alongside diverse and catchy instrumental parts. These words hardly caused much optimism and trust. Listeners were too much used to that DeLonge who was good at cracking jokes, fooling around and playing pranks. Nevertheless, Angels And Airwaves displayed a great deal of responsibility and commitment making the best out of their first two albums, We Don’t Need To Whisper (2006), and I-Empire (2007). DeLonge meant it when he promised to pen and play a different kind of stuff. A massive use of electronic equipment, simply, yet attractive tunes and cycled rhythmic pattern formed an easily recognizable style of DeLonge’s new formation that had practically nothing in common with Blink 182. Three years later, Angels And Airwaves fans got another reason to celebrate as their favorites released the third long player laconically called Love.

Too much good to find the best

The new album from Angels And Airwaves does not offer anything totally new for it is executed in the same vein as its predecessors. The very first track off this CD, Et Ducit Mundum Per Luce, starts with the characteristic keys and guitar that gradually vanish under the domination of electronics. After this short piece, you sink into the hands of universal tranquility. The Flight Of The Apollo is not only a powerful song with a smashing chorus to hear, but a new standard to be met by the rest of the album’s material. While the next Young London, and Shove are just as good musically and emotionally, Epic Holiday does not pass the test. However, this is, probably, the record’s worst track. All the following compositions are so nice that some would even find it the CD’s flaw. Indeed, DeLonge and his team do not give the listener a single moment to have rest, as they deliver one fine track after another. Everything here is great and… alike. Splendid arrangements, tons of sonic effects reproducing a space-like atmosphere, fascinating vocal themes and perfect rhythmic structures. All this is fused in a complete harmony and unity, which highlights the conceptuality of the whole record that was declared by DeLonge for his new music. As you are getting close to the end of the CD, you are to try a marvelous piece called Letters To God, Part II with various vocal techniques applied.

Preserving the style and enhancing the quality

Angels And Airwaves do not seem to look for experiments. They have already found the field for their musical activities and look reluctant to leave it. This music, though easy to perceive, claims to be serious and intellectual. Love will be particularly cherished by those who expected it to develop the ideas offered by the band on the first two records. Apparently, DeLonge had a perfect concept of the music for his new band to play; and now, having reached the required sounding, he is simply enjoying the process. If you are still in the mood of finding the differences between this album and the other ones, you will see that these are connected not with the content, but with the form. Having preserved the style, Angels And Airwaves continue learning to extract most out of their skills. The quantity of the unworthy material on their new CD is close to minimum, while the quality of the majority of the featured tracks is so high that is hard to single out the most successful ones. Tom DeLonge deserves all the gratitude and respect for doing all he can to avoid the stagnation. So far, he has definitely succeeded.