Angels and Airwaves Start To Fill Some Empty Promises

So the writers in Hollywood are on strike meaning that TV favorites like The Daily Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien are already in reruns, and others, like Grey's Anatomy only have enough new episodes to last till mid-December (the worst scenario award goes to Lost, which due to contract clauses and other randomness, may not air again until February of 2009). Meanwhile in New York the Local One Stagehands are striking, which has effectively shut down Broadway for the second time in 5 years (in 2003 the musicians staged a four-day walkout). So for the time being, TV and Broadway are in a state of limbo. For more on these events, special commentator Michael Stipe:

Audio Commentary from Michael Stipe

At any rate, the music world soldiers on, despite being plagued by the likes of pirates like you and me. Which brings me to tonight's reviews. First, Angels and Airwaves sophomore album, I-Empire:

You kinda have to hand it to Tom DeLonge; the man has a hell of a lot of confidence in his work and refuses to let anyone sway him from it. Prior to releasing We Don't Need to Whisper, his first album after the demise of Blink 182, DeLonge promised that Angels & Airwaves would be the biggest thing to happen to music in two decades, among other such inflated nonsense. The album was an underwhelming ho-hum, an exercise in over-the-top, neverending songs with no clear direction or reason to keep listening. PMA put it best when they said "There was actually a pretty good album buried in WDNTW, but it was difficult to find". DeLonge spent too much time trying to put on the face of maturity and growth without any substance in the music to back it up.

Now AvA is back with I-Empire. The pretentious promises to reshape music and revolutionize the world, etc. are still here, as evidenced by the accompanying website modlife.com, which offers music, podcasts, and film features tied to an eventual movie (all available for a small fee, mind you...). On the surface the music hasn't changed much either; lots of huge intros and spacey guitars vaguely similar to early U2. But beneath the surface, the songs are a bit tighter. They still run between 4 and a half to 5 minutes, but they have more focus than before, and the hooks are much more defined than they were in the past. DeLonge and company come in, make their point and get the hell out. As for DeLonge's songwriting, not much has changed, for better or for worse. DeLonge's lyrics still sound best when written in a highschool yearbook, but there's still a charm to them, that right something that makes you say "Yeah, I've been there" as he sings. Songs like the pedestrian first single "Everything's Magic" and opener "Call to Arms" may not help their crusade, but once those are out of the way, AvA treats us to arena-ready, upbeat rock, highlighted by "Love Like Rockets" and "Rite of Spring", both prime examples of what AvA could accomplish if they spend more time rocking and less time preaching (are you taking notes, Bono?).

Now comes the great question of how Angels and Airwaves compares to the other post-Blink band, Mark Hoppus's and Travis Barker's (+44). Prior to I-Empire, (+44) was obviously the better of the two. The fast pace and tight hooks made Blink so popular, and Travis Barker took both with him and Hoppus. Even after hearing the new album I think that musically (+44) is the better band, though admittedly Mark Hoppus's songwriting is an attempt to mimic the sincerity of DeLonge's. But Angels and Airwaves win the award for most improvement with I-Empire, now if Tom DeLonge could stop making absurd promises, maybe we really could have something great on our hands.

Ruling on the Field: 7/10
Highlight Reel: Rite of Spring

I'll be back in a bit with a review of The Killers B-Side collection Sawdust, due out this Tuesday.

==TJ==