Artist: Angels & Airwaves
Album: We Don’t Need To Whisper
Label: Maverick
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: May 23, 2006

Overall: 9.4
Music: 9.6
Lyrics: 8.9
Production: 9.5

When Blink 182 went on a hiatus it didn’t come as a shock to me, but it was still a surprise. The band had been on tour for months after taking well over a year to create their masterpiece self-titled album so it was time for a break. Weather Blink 182 get back together or not is another whole story in itself. The overall fact for Blink 182 going on a hiatus wasn’t to get away from the music but rather a break from their normal music and touring lives. It wasn’t until months later that we found out that Tom was working on a new project. Hyping up everything he was doing, Tom told us about his new project but left us hanging until months later to hear anything. I first heard a clip of their music on the movie trailer that showed up on the bands website. To say the least, I was mesmerized by the emotion and power that was in that short clip and instantly couldn’t wait to hear the rest of the album. Tom made up Angels & Airwaves with Box Car Racer member David Kennedy, Rocket From the Crypt & Offspring former member Atom Willard, and the Distillers former member Ryan Sinn.

Opening this album is a two and half minuet long passionate intro on the song “Valkyrie Missile.” You can instantly hear a lot of emotion with the guitars moving back and forth with a number of sound loops before the recognizable voice of Tom Delong comes in with the line “Everyone, everyone will listen, even if it hurts sometimes.” Is this line directly from all of the hype Tom was putting into the album or was it in the song way before these thoughts occurred to him? “Distraction” starts with a nice soft piano intro before we hear it build up with with a catchy guitar lick and then finally into a full blown line “I’ll be your distraction.” This is more of a laid back song with a pretty simple beat but it rings of Blink 182 style with more of a mature sound. “It Hurts” stars out with a very catchy guitar part and follows with a slower melody of moving guitars and a very catchy chorus. “Do It For Me Now” also starts out with a catchy guitar intro. This song uses a lot more guitar effects for more of an echoey sound. Tom’s voice and overall desire for music has matured and you can really tell he wanted to create something new with Angels & Airwaves. The songs are a step up from Blink 182 in terms of lyrics and more of a different approach when it comes to the music. The bands first single “The Adventure” sets in with another long intro before moving into a waterfall of guitars and a foot tapping drum part. This sing along song should catch a lot of listeners ears as it’s a bit different then the music that has recently been impacting radio. Tom wanted to go back to his influences for this release and you can hear them throughout all the songs in various ways. When I first heard “The War” I was instantly brought back to the harder songs that Blink 182 would trow into the mix now and then on their albums. I love the guitar work on this song, it’s got some power behind it yet a lot of melody at the same time. “A Little’s Enough” can be considered the slow song on the album but I happen to love the vocals, and especially the break down half way through the song. Tom has always been good at making a song interesting with little guitar parts here and there, nothing really technical but something always interesting. “The Gift” has an intro that could of come straight off a U2 album, but Tom said he was going to incorporate his influences into his music so what better way then a similar guitar lick. “Good Day” was the second song I heard from Angels & Airwaves. At first I wasn’t very pleased and thought that the whole album would be a bit to slow for my liking. “Good Day” mixes a lot of simple yet catchy guitar parts as well as the “da da da da” lyrics like we use to hear in Blink 182’s songs now and then. The song grew on me with a few listens but it’s not one that I will play over and over like some of the others. Wrapping up this 50 minute 10 song album is “Start The Machine” that starts with a music box like intro before adding a deep bass electronic beat. The song is pretty laid back until about half way where a cleaner sounding guitar part comes in and then wraps up with slowly eliminating the instruments back to just the music box.

Tom’s voice is back and for the most part I couldn’t be happier. The music is more mature, the songs in general have a lot of emotion and feeling behind them. I was hoping for a few harder tracks as well as a few tracks with a little more edge to them but overall I can’t complain. I don’t think it’s quite up to all the hype of changing music forever like Tom was suggesting but I could see where he was coming from. If you were a Blink 182 fan I’m sure you’ll find some love in this album, and if you didn’t like Blink 182 be sure to still give this album a try because it’s something new.

Track Listing
1. Valkyrie Missile
2. Distraction
3. It Hurts
4. Do It For Me Now
5. The Adventure
6. The War
7. A Little’s Enough
8. The Gift
9. Good Day
10. Start The Machine

Standout Tracks
“Valkyrie Missile”, “Do It For Me Now”, “The War”, “A Little’s Enough”