(untitled) (blink-182 album)

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(untitled)

Studio album by blink-182
Released	November 18, 2003
Recorded	May - July 2003 at The Rubin's House, Conway, Rolling Thunder and Signature Sound
Genre	Alternative/Pop-Punk
Length	49:23
Label	Geffen Records
Producer(s)	Jerry Finn
All Music Guide Image:4 stars.svg link Winnipeg Sun Darryl Sterdan) review links
blink-182 chronology
Take Off Your Pants And Jacket (2001)	(untitled) (2003)	Greatest Hits (2005)

(untitled) is blink-182's last album before their hiatus, and was released through Geffen Records on November 18, 2003. It is said that this album represents a "revamped" and "mature" Blink, infusing experimentalist elements into their usual pop-punk sound, inspired by lifestyle changes (Mark, Tom and Travis all became fathers before the album was released) and side-projects (Box Car Racer and The Transplants). At almost 50 minutes long, it is blink-182's longest studio album. The album includes guest vocals by The Cure's Robert Smith on the track "All of This". Unlike previous records, this album contains no joke songs. The album was well-received by critics,<ref name="metacritic">blink-182 by blink-182. Metacritic. Retrieved on 22 August, 2006.</ref> who called it "an unexpected and welcome maturation."<ref name="amg">Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. blink-182 Review. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 22 August, 2006.</ref>

As for the record's name (or lack there of), there has been much debate whether it is self titled or untitled. This is mainly due to the fact that various places have deemed it "blink-182" to avoid confusion. But, the band has clearly explained many times that there is no record name and it is untitled <ref name="album name">No Album Title, No Preconceptions: The New Blink-182. MTV.com. Retrieved on 3 October, 2006.</ref>.

1 Smiley face logo
2 Track listing
- 2.1 Bonus tracks
3 Miscellanea
4 Singles
5 References

[edit] Smiley face logo

To support the new album, blink-182 created an entirely new logo. Thus, the smiley face was born. This logo somehow seemed to reflect the band's new, darker style. There have been complaints that the new logo is a take from Seattle grunge band Nirvana's smiley face logo.

According to Barker the origin of the Smiley face logo came from him and some of his designers from his own personal clothing line. He wanted to brand an icon for the band. "It just had to be a cool kind of happy face but I wanted arrows. You know, like the Jam were my favorite band, they always had arrows in their logos and stuff. It was just kind of inspired by pop-art."

[edit] Track listing

"Feeling This" – 2:52
"Obvious" – 2:43
"I Miss You " – 3:47
"Violence" – 5:20
"Stockholm Syndrome" – 2:41
"Down" – 3:03
"The Fallen Interlude" – 2:12
"Go" – 1:53
"Asthenia" – 4:19
"Always" – 4:12
"Easy Target" – 2:21
"All of This" – 4:40
"Here's Your Letter" – 2:54
"I'm Lost Without You" – 6:20

[edit] Bonus tracks

International Bonus: "Anthem Part Two" (Live in Chicago)
UK Bonus: "Not Now"
Japan Bonus: "The Rock Show" (Live in Chicago)

[edit] Miscellanea

"Feeling This" was written by having Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge go into separate rooms without talking to each other. When they came out they realized they had both written about sex. When they put it together, the song represents the lustful side of sex in the verses, the passionate side in the bridge, and the romantic side in the chorus.<ref name="linernotes">Blink-182 Song Meanings. PunkDisasters.com. Retrieved on 22 August, 2006.</ref>

In the beginning of "Feeling This", you can hear the line "Get Ready for Action" which is a quote from Captain America.

"Feeling This" made its debut in the video game Madden NFL 2004 under the name "Action".

Travis plays with one brush and one stick on "I Miss You" and his performance is looped. Likewise, the bass and snare drum tracks on "All Of This" are consistent throughout the song. The drum track for the verse on "Down" is consistent, while the choruses are not.<ref name="linernotes" />

I Miss You references the film The Nightmare Before Christmas with the lines "We can live like Jack and Sally if we want/Where you can always find me/And we'll have Halloween on Christmas/And in the night we'll wish this never ends."

At the end of "Violence", Joanne Whalley is reading letters that Mark Hoppus's grandfather wrote to his grandmother in World War II.<ref name="linernotes" /> This leads into "Stockholm Syndrome."

The Fallen Interlude is blink-182's first and only instrumental song, if you do not count the repeated lyrics "Down, Down, Down. Pick me up I've fallen" towards the very end of the track.

NASA transmissions are played before the start of "Asthenia," a song about an astronaut battling loneliness. The line "Should I go back?" is adapted from the song's original title "Shoulda Got Caught", which was originally about a similar topic to "Down". "Asthenia" underwent many changes on topic and lyrics from the start to finish of recording.<ref name="linernotes" />

Some guitar parts on "Asthenia" were recorded through a 1960s era Leslie speaker.<ref name="linernotes" />

Four bass guitars are being played over the outro of "Always."<ref name="linernotes" />

"Easy Target" and "All Of This" are both about a character named Holly. Both songs share the same guitar melodies, though the first is faster.

Robert Smith sings the verse vocals on "All Of This" on the album. Mark sings them in most concerts (excepting when Robert and his band, The Cure, are also performing).

Had the band not announced their hiatus, "All Of This" would have been the fifth and final (not to mention longest) single from this album.

More recently, on July 29 2006, M. Night Shyamalan stated on his iTunes playlist of his favorite songs "I love [the song 'All Of This']. Almost did a video for this. It would have been about vampires."

"I'm Lost Without You" is the band's longest song ever. Including the drum solo at the end, the track clocks in at 6 minutes and 21 seconds.

Videos were made for "Feeling This", "Obvious", "Violence", "Stockholm Syndrome", "Down" and "The Fallen Interlude" and can be seen on the enhanced CD version of the album.

Mark sings only the chorus vocals in Feeling This, Down, and Easy Target. He sings only the verse vocals in I Miss You and Violence. He sings most of Stockholm Syndrome. He sings all of Go (except the "GO!"s) and Here's Your Letter. He sings All of This in concerts.

Tom sings only the verse vocals in Feeling This, Down, and Easy Target. He sings only the chorus vocals in Stockholm Syndrome, All of This, and Go. He sings most of I Miss You. He sings all of Obvious, Violence, Asthenia, Always, I'm Lost Without You, and Not Now.

Towards the end of Violence, Mark speaks a few lines very quietly behind Tom's repitition of the chorus: "Who'll stand by your side? So watch my eyes. Watch 'em turn while you go change. Curtains down. When all their skill was cut, and I bled. There were forces of John Jones. I can't make you happy. It seems all i ever do is try. You could never cut me deep enough to leave a scar. So take this gift. It's somethin to save"

[edit] Singles

"Feeling This", the album's first single, was released in October 2003.
"I Miss You", the second single, was released on 26 January 2004.
"Down", the third single, was released on 2 June 2004.
"Always", the fourth single, was released in November 2004.
"All of This", which was planned as the fifth and final single, and was to be released sometime in early 2005. Due to the band announcing its hiatus, the single was never released.