Review: 'I - Empire' by Angels and Airwaves

Hi

In my previous post I explained the basics about Angels and Airwaves, so I’m not going to do much repeating here.  You can check out what I said here if you want to.    There was a slight line-up change around the time of this album because Matt Watcher replaced Ryan Sinn as the bassist.   I remember reading once – I think in Kerrang! Ages back – that the ‘I’ stands for ‘Imaginary’ Empire but I’m not too sure.  The ‘I’ could stand for anything. 

I really liked the single ‘Everything’s Magic’ in a way it sums up the band in terms of its cheerful, upbeat sound and lyrics.   I have to admit that this isn’t my favourite album by them.  However I do like many of the songs on the album – and none are so bad that I wouldn’t listen to them.  Some of the songs on ‘I Empire’ are gentle and delicate love songs – like songs of this nature should be.  Examples are ‘Breathe’ and ‘Sirens’ – they are both very sweet songs.  There are also some real anthems such as ‘Secret Crowds’ and ‘Heaven’.

 

‘Heaven’ is an important song for Angles and Airwaves, not because it closes the album, but because it is a prominent example of how the band re-use riffs.  ‘Heaven’ echoes ‘Valkyrie Missile’.  Angles and Airwaves are after all a multimedia project, so it could be suggested that they re-use riffs and sound bites for effect as opposed to laziness.  The way I see it is that they use instrumental themes like they do in musicals. 

 ‘I Empire’ is a decent album.  I do recommend ‘We Don’t need to Whisper’ over it in many respects, but I do believe that ‘I Empire’ does contain some real gems that shouldn’t be missed. 



Review: Angels and Airwaves ‘We Don’t need to Whisper’

Hi

Angels and Airwaves (AVA) is the super-group founded by Blink 182’s Tom DeLonge.  Other current members include David Kennedy (Box Car Racer), former 30 Seconds to Mars guitarist Matt Watcher and Ilan Rubin from Nine Inch Nails.  When ‘We Don’t need to Whisper came out they had a slightly different line up – with Ryan Sinn on bass and Atom Willard (The Offspring) on drums.  Angels and Airwaves is more of multimedia project – they have released several films based around the albums – than a traditional band. 

(Start the Machine)

‘We Don’t Need to Whisper’ was released in 2006 and is the bands first work.   I first heard it a year later, because I liked a single from their then soon to be released second album ‘I Empire’.   I suppose the best way to describe how AVA sound on ‘We Don’t need to Whisper’ is spacey alternative rock.  Their music is very uplifting, and I’ve always liked how it is both exciting and relaxing at the same time.  I found Angels and Airwaves refreshing, because at the time a lot of rock acts were writing dark, emotionally charged works.  I also fell in love with this album because it tells a story – it’s not just about creating hit singles.  ‘We Don’t need to Whisper’ is concise, and conveys the story of two people falling in love in the middle of a war.  There are no names given to the characters, but it is evident that there is a narrative in play for example in ‘Distraction’  

My favourite song is ‘Start the Machine’ because it is climax of the album, and is quite unique in the sense that the opening features the use of a piano for children.  The lyrics are about the human cost of war – such as children – and how the characters won’t give up with their lives just because of the war.  At least I think so... Angles and Airwaves leave a lot to be interpreted.  Which is as the Americans would say is ‘awesome’.   

‘We Don’t need to Whisper’ is a strong album, and a good introduction to Angels and Airwaves.  In my opinion it is an okay album, but is not as good as some of their more recent records.