By: R Jay Molina
In 2010, the progressive rock band Angels & Airwaves, also known as AvA, boldly defied their record label after “corporate underwriting” by releasing their third studio album free of charge over the internet. Fans of the band were quick to download the album, which was simply titled, “LOVE,” and were greeted with a new, space-like adventure from front man Tom DeLonge and the rest of his crew.
Since the release of “LOVE,” DeLonge has been hard at work to branch AvA out to various mediums. For instance, earlier this year the band enlisted the services of independent filmmaker, William Eubank, to make a feature film, featuring the music from “LOVE.” The film, also called “LOVE,” is a science fiction tale about an astronaut who is sent to the International Space Station in 2039, decades after the station has been abandoned. The film was received with mostly positive reviews within the festival circuit, and AvA sparked excitement when they announced that there would be a “Part: Two” to their third album.
“LOVE: Part Two,” which was spontaneously released on iTunes on Nov. 1 despite a Nov. 8 deadline, picked up where part one left off. Tom DeLonge displayed his influences within the first track, “Saturday Love,” which has hints of The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” in the chorus.
Before the catchy chorus, however, listeners were greeted with what sounded like grinding gears within a space ship, followed by epic violins starting off in the distance, which slowly build their way up to AvA’s almost trademark guitar strumming. It seems as if DeLonge is attempting to branch out the space opera genre of movies and literature over to music. Luckily, he succeeds.
Throughout the album, listeners are treated to what has made the band so successful in the first place, which are great lyrics, larger than life music, and endless optimism, despite some struggles along the way. There will of course be naysayers from Blink-182, DeLonge’s first band, who will continue to dislike this new direction that DeLonge started almost five years ago. But for the fans, this album is almost a return to form with nods and winks to the band’s first two albums, “We Don’t Need to Whisper,” and “I-Empire.”
The greatest and most surprising twist to “LOVE: Part Two” is within the last track, which seems to close this chapter of AvA’s story, while paving a new direction for the band to take in the future. The track, “All That We Are,” features DeLonge finally breaking out of his shell and embracing what feels like a new life. To further emphasize this change, he, for a fleeting moment, cuts ties with his punk rock sensibilities, and goes on a satisfying guitar solo that takes over for the rest of the song. It holds meaning for fans that have followed this man from the old days of Blink-182 and have stuck with him to the present day. It almost serves as a tease for what the future may hold for the band.
Will Angels & Airwaves continue to travel through their “space” to finally find a sound that is completely their own? Time will tell. But, with “LOVE: Part Two,” the path is looking bright.
