Blink 182 - The End

I hope that by this point I've at least established an idea of what made Blink 182 successful. The fact is, though, that the band were all in their late 20s (Mark was 31) by the time Take Off Your Pants and Jacket came out, and everyone knows a punk can't be a punk forever. So, no doubt feeling swayed to achieve more artistry and depth in their musical endeavors by time and age, Blink put out their self titled record, which, while of course lauded by critics, was kind of a slap in the face to everyone who had been a longtime fan. Why did it suck? Well, being more serious and sonically advanced (they harmonize on this record!) would have been a great change of pace, and even appreciated by me. But what came out was more than just that. There's a track which devotes an entire minute to an old woman talking about a war, there's a two minute piano "interlude", and even a duet with The Cure's Robert Smith. I think the interlude speaks on behalf of the rest of the album, so have a listen and tell me where you can hear any influence from previous records at all:

	blink-182 - the fallen interlude
	Found at skreemr.com

It's not even that the record is horrible, because it's not. It's just that it shouldn't have been released under the Blink 182 name. At least when Paul McCartney decides to change it up and take an audio shit he has the decency to call it The Fireman. But, alas, this is where they were headed, and you can hear the direct influence of whatever was pulling Tom and Mark apart on tracks of this album. The tracks that still held an influence of pop punk were clearly Mark's. And the track's that were spacey and weird were Tom's. It was obvious.

Mark:

	Blink 182 - Feeling This
	Found at skreemr.com

Tom:

	blink-182 - all of this (feat robert smith)
	Found at skreemr.com

And someone in the band must have felt the same way because they broke up shortly after this record, and they should have. I'm not saying they had to hate each other like they did, but if your influences have changed so differently, start a side project. Everyone starts a side project.