Is Everything Going to Be Magic with Angels & Airwaves New Album?

Angels & Airwaves, the new band started by former Blink-182 member Tom Delonge, really hasn't had the thunder that a lot of people thought they would have. Receiving heavy criticism from everything from sounding too repetitive to not sounding anything like Blink, Angels & Airwaves' first album, "We Don't Need To Whisper" didn't really strike a chord and start an adventure for many listeners. Now they are back and continuing "The Adventure" with their new album "I-Empire".

Various tracks from the new album have been leaked onto the internet. Despite the fact that these are really low quality sounding rips, they paint a good enough picture of what the direction of "I-Empire" is going to take. I'll give you a little hint, it sound nothing like "We Don't Need To Whisper" in a good way. The first song I listened to of the ones leaked was "Secret Crowds". I really enjoyed this song due to the fact that its simple but at the same time really huge sounding. It kind of feels like "The War" but bigger and more melodic. The song just continues to build and build until the chorus where everything just breaks away. Also, if you listen closely, you can hear some of the complexity of the song. Lots of echoes and reverb that just isn't easy to hear unless you are listening for it. The only real problem I have with it is that, like a majority of Angels & Airwaves songs, it has a long intro which clocks in at about 55 seconds.

After "Secret Crowds" the song "Sirens" was leaked. The first thing I noticed is that it has the shortest intro out of all of Angels & Airwaves songs which clocked in at about 12 seconds. Sadly, that is where my amazement with that song ended. It felt really naked and bare. There was nowhere near as big of an impact that any of the other songs had on them. Plus, it just feels really bubbly and repetitive and the lyrics lacking in deep thought.

Next, after "Sirens", there was "Lifeline". This song though feeling very bare, was really well done. The intro is very unique with its sound of wind being blown into pipes. Tom's voice really blends in with the music which is always a plus. With it feeling something more like U2 would sing, "Lifeline" is definitely a track worth listening to more than once.

The last track leaked is "Everything's Magic", the lead single off the album. At first, I couldn't tell if I was listening to Fall Out Boy's "Dance Dance" or "Everything's Magic". The drums in the intro just have this dance groove to it that makes you want to get up and dance around. Followed with the simple drum intro, the guitar part that is played is very similar to "Anthem Pt. 2" by Tom's former band, Blink-182. The decision whether ripping off "Anthem Pt. 2" is a good thing or not is in the ear of the listener. Personally, I enjoy it and probably wouldn't like it with a different track there.

In all, I am really looking forward to Angels & Airwaves' new album "I-Empire". It sounds like it will fly off shelves compared to their first album "We Don't Need To Whisper"