Angels & Airwaves

It's been said that only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible—a quote that Tom DeLonge seems to take quite literally. After leaving blink-182, DeLonge started touting Angels & Airwaves to be a musical revolution, comparing the band to Pink Floyd and U2 before they'd even released a single.

Alas, when We Don't Need to Whisper dropped in 2006, it didn't quite live up to the hype their ambitious frontman had created. The album was drenched in echo-y U2 guitar as well as schizophrenic messages about the end of the world and the uplifting human spirit. On the band's second effort, I-Empire, the band have reeled themselves in. Musically, the album is much more contained this time around—the band doesn't try to launch each song into outer space with an epic crescendo, and the album benefits from the infusion of a little modesty.

"Breathe" is the band at its best, a watery synth and hushed drumming back the verse as it builds into just the sort of momentous guitar chorus that the band was striving for on Whisper. Unfortunately, DeLonge's lyrics sometimes still get the better of him: "My hands are tied to worlds alone / And this I know / Your breath's like wine / And just like clouds, my skin crawls."

Yet, as the album unfolds, I-Empire seems to suffer from the same fatal flaw as Whisper. Though the sophomore effort is an improvement, all the songs have a very similar vibe, as if being built from a blueprint. "Sirens," "Secret Crowds" and "True Love" each have similarly muted intros and build toward explosive choruses, but the effectiveness of building a song that way is sabotaged by doing it too often. DeLonge's ambition is admirable, but he still has a ways to go to achieve the lofty goals that he set out for AVA.

—Nathan Atnikov
11.05.07

If Tom DeLonge is anything, he's a man of conviction. He holds onto his beliefs long after other men would abandon them, cherishing them with the obstinate fervor of a teenager even though he's long past adolescence. Others would have buckled at the lukewarm, occasionally mocking reception of his post-blink-182 project Angels & Airwaves and their 2006 debut, We Don't Need to Whisper, but instead of revamping the group for their quickly recorded sophomore effort, I-Empire -- who knows whether the title is either a pun on Apple's iCulture or a reflection of DeLonge's never-ending quest of self-improvement -- he digs in his heels, refusing to budge from his oddly misconstrued Cure and U2 amalgam. The basic sound of A&A may be the same, but there are some notable, albeit minor, differences this time around. First of all, not every song takes a minute to get off the ground, but the greater improvement is that DeLonge no longer shuns his knack for naggingly catchy, sing-song hooks, which makes I-Empire immediate where We Don't Need to Whisper was elusive. It's a welcome change of pace but more of a lateral move than a step forward, as these pop inclinations aren't integrated into the band; they're merely grafted upon A&A's spacy murk. The band continues to toil in the same cavernous echo chamber, whipping out variations of the "Pride (In the Name of Love)" riff while their leader spins stories of personal discoveries, all delivered with his signature pinched whine. Sure, Angels & Airwaves is more adult than blink-182, but just because this isn't snotty punk doesn't meant that it's mature, as all of the musical and conceptual ideas sound unformed, as if DeLonge is still sorting out how he's planning to grow up. Such eternal adolescence can be a bit hard to swallow, particularly when it's unconscious as it is here, but nevertheless I-Empire is an easier record to like than We Don't Need to Whisper, as it marks a very small, very tentative progression toward DeLonge realizing that he can expand his sonic and emotional horizons without abandoning the pop songcraft that remains his greatest strength. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide