Angels and Airwaves “Love, Part 2″ Album Review

Rating:
 

Angels and Airwaves, a U2 inspired band started and founded by the vocalist and guitarist of Blink-182, yes that is correct, Thomas Matthew DeLonge. AvA was founded in 2005, of San Diego, California, briefly after the “indefinite hiatus” of Blink-182. In the year of 2006, DeLonge brought in guitarist David Kennedy who played alongside with him in Boxcar Racer, Atom Willard on drums, and Matthew Wachter on bass(originally Ryan Sinn). The band have released several full-length albums such as, We Don’t Need To Whisper in 2006, I-Empire in 2007, Love Part 1 in 2010 and finally Love Part 2 on November 1st of 2011. AvA have also released a film based on the record, Love Part 1, entitled, Love. Unfortunately, this particular record was the last record recorded with Willard on drums. Just last month, Ilan Rubin of The New Regime was brought in as their new drummer. AvA however is also what you can call it a “Space-Rock” themed band, which to me is a huge hit.

Through my struggles of high school, AvA was the band I listened to because of how much DeLonge influences me.

Anyways enough of that! Let’s get this review on the road of this new album shall we?

So the album started off with ‘Saturday Love.’ In the beginning, it starts off with a dark, mellow sound and transitioned to the recognizable sound of the previous records. With the such pure and flawless voice of DeLonge singing the chorus:

I wait sixteen, a Saturday, love.
My heart beats fast and faraway, love.
Your eyes so pure, they never grow up.
You stay with me, we’ll never grow up, my love.

I can tell you it was quite catchy, just one listen I can already recite the entire song! It’s like listening to a song when you were just 16 years old, loving someone at a young age and just never wanting to grow up. A young love everyone have dreamed of when they were once young. The type of young love that you knew that it wasn’t time to grow out of. It was the type of love where it was okay to be nervous to be with that special someone who gives you butterflies in your stomach no matter how many times you’ve hung out with them. A beautiful song, beautifully put together. Did I mention how great the track was? Seriously, I’m not trying to fool you.

The next track was entitled, ‘Surrender,’ a track that I have waited so long to let the music pour into my ears. It was when the band leaked out a verse, one verse, like I said, ONE verse. My biggest thought and theory of what this song was about? That we as people are clueless about the world. As the lyrics goes:

There is a crowd in here, that fooled themselves; 
they brought their friends, and they made their Hell. 
They fake their grin, it’ll only sell. 
I took it all in, but what do I know? 
There are a few in here, that hurt themselves; 
they kick, and beg, they have a dried-up will. 
They call for help, and you know them well. 
Are you aware of what I know? 

We’re all clueless about the world and eventually, we learn from it with a chorus like:

When God falls fast asleep
The kids still dance in city streets
From the white house lawn to the middle east
And all around I’m just saying that this time I feel it now

We fought a war for so long, where now many people are doubting the past that it was all either a waste of time or a big conspiracy, which we all know how much DeLonge is into with conspiracies.

The next track after this was ‘Anxiety.’ We all have heard the complete song ourselves. There was even a music video released for it (which I will post below).

anx·i·e·ty/aNGˈzī-itē/
Noun:
A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

We all have faced anxiety in our lives without a doubt. There it starts off with a verse stating:

Faster, I dream with speeds of ashes,
My heart, it beats and crashes.
I’m running from the truth
Cause it f*cks with my mind.

One of the best definition of a song verse written and sung by DeLonge. We have the anxiety that makes us either nervous, worried, or whatever it is. However, DeLonge have spoke at the premiere of their film, Love, that it was about Carl Sagan’s blue dot theory, how we are all just passengers, and that since we are so insignificant to the universe it’s that much more important for us to be significant to each other. It also went along with our human relationships. Again I will post the music video below.

‘Dry Your Eyes,’ had a mix of previous record tracks such as ‘Heaven.’ I swear that I hear it, but it was obviously different. The next set of lyrics:

I can’t complain it’s been good not great
But the time flew by
It came from behind you was lying
You was hard to hold onto everytime we fight
Though it would end in shitty exhaustion
It left cracks we have grown and are out of mind
And into your heart like a virus
And it would crawl and crawl and we wait there blind
It broke you and I

So Dry your eyes
Get on your feet don’t pretend to cry
Or thanks to you and I
Yeah we’re here again
So phone me and today is the day it ends

This song is probably one of my favorite. It makes me think of my tough time with senior year of high school. At the time my best friend was also struggling. We both basically picked one another up, both of us are alive today because of that one special friendship.

Now, I’m only going to discuss one more track and close off briefly to why I loved this album and why I gave it the specific rating that they truly deserved.

‘We Are All That We Are,’ was started off beautifully with the space rock theme and piano (obviously played by Wachter). It was different because it was actually a slow song, closing off the record. The soft touch of DeLonge’s voice truly made it perfect and basically flawless. Disagree? I don’t care, it was absolutely perfect.

Each track from the record had their own uniqueness. Each instrumentals was just put together like the way that it should be. I may anger many Blink-182 fans for this, but I truly think this was a better album than Neighborhoods. I’m sorry to say that and I can honestly say that this album was just so good that it left me in full on tears. Is it worth spending the money? Yes. Is it really better than Blink’s latest debut? Don’t ask again. Go get it NOW!

If it wasn’t worth it, I wouldn’t have purchase the physical copy from AvA myself. Now is it worth it? Go feed your ears the music they deserve to hear! Seriously bro….

Tracklisting:

1. “Saturday Love”
2. “Surrender”
3. “Anxiety”
4. “Crawl”
5. “Moon As My Witness”
6. “Dry Your Eyes”
7. “The Revelator”
8. “One Last Thing”
9. “Inertia”
10. “Behold a Pale Horse”
11. “We Are All That We Are”