Angels & Airwaves — We Don't Need To Whisper

To call Blink-182 singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge's new band self-indulgent is an understatement. The album succeeds in distancing him from his punk-pop roots, which this definitely ain't, but what it is isn't much better. Lead track "Valkyrie Missile" opens with spacey effects and drum machines, followed by a wall of reverb-soaked guitars that would make The Edge wince, and DeLonge's signature overly earnest vocals. The song keeps piling on more layers, but it never takes off, which is characteristic of the entire album — it's pretty much all talk and no game. The disc's 10 songs blur together to form one big, boring chorus that amounts to nothing. Everything is over-produced in an effort to make bland songs seem "epic." This will probably change the lives of 12-year-old Blink fans who cried when they went on "hiatus," but anyone who knows better will take it for what it is: bloated, presumptuous and over hyped.

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