It’s inevitable, +44 and Angels & Airwaves will be (unfairly) compared. Yes, both bands feature members from one of the most influential pop-punk bands ever, blink-182. And yes, both bands released their hotly anticipated albums this year. But, this is where all the comparisons end. While AVA’s album was trying to be the next U2, Mark Hoppus wrote more about the end of blink and how horrible his past year had been. While +44 isn’t completely different than from the sound blink-182 captured on their last release, it would be an injustice to the band to categorize their debut album, When Your Heart Stops Beating, as “blink-182 with synths.” It’s much more than that on this thirteen track journey. Produced by Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker, with some help from executive producer Jerry Finn features a nice balance of upbeat pop-punk tunes, arena-sized rockers, and somber tracks.
Read More “+44 – When Your Heart Stops Beating”Review: Deftones – Saturday Night Wrist
Throughout their long career, Deftones have been pushing the musical boundaries of metal since day one. Their first two albums (1995’s Adrenaline and 1997’s Around The Fur) were raw, chaotic, and in your face. After a 3 year break, the Sacramento band, which was originally a quartet (vocalist/guitarist Chino Moreno, guitarist Stephen Carpenter, bassist Chi Cheng, and drummer Abe Cunningham), officially added keyboardist/DJ Frank Delgado to the mix, and released the genre defying White Pony. Heavier, moodier, and complex, it prompted all major music publications to crown them as the “Radiohead of Metal.” It is also very likely that White Pony influenced some of your favorite post-hardcore bands recent albums. After all the success and hype (Pony went on to go platinum), Deftones followed it up with 2003’s self titled effort, which left much to be desired. The band has said they became lazy on that record and that album showed how much they put into it. Leaving many fans disappointed, Deftones barely toured to support that record, and many began to forget about them and/or write them off. Their latest release, Saturday Night Wrist, is here to win back those fans and erase the disappointment of the last album.
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