Seven years and five albums in – Angels & Airwaves are still going strong. In fact with ‘The Dream Walker’ the band might have just released their best album yet.
We start off with a look at lead single ‘The Wolfpack’ there’s something about it, the production and overall sound finally looks to be what Tom Delonge set out to create when he first put together Angels & Airwaves… this is a song you can imagine seeing in arenas and the likes, this sounds like a song that will fill the larger spaces the band crave to play in.
This is a general theme throughout. Angels & Airwaves have always gone for that type of sound and ‘The Dream Walker’ is no different, as previously mentioned though, they finally seem to have achieved this sound, so what’s different? The recruitment of Eddie Breckenridge (Bass) and Ilan Rubin (Drums) has seemingly done the band wonders. There’s perhaps a question mark over how much influence Breckenridge might have had on the overall sound but it’s hard to imagine that he would’ve had zero input and with his pedigree coming from the now defunct (soon to be reformed?) Thrice any input he had would clearly be positive to Delonge’s whole vision and it’s been made clear that Rubin has had a big input into the bands sound, something of a journeyman – having stints with the likes of Paramore and Nine Inch Nails, he clearly has the experience to add something substantial to the band and it looks as if he’s done that.
While the whole album remains fairly strong throughout there are a few stand out songs, ‘Mercenaries’ is the strongest song on the album by a big stretch. The drum work, the chorus, the overall production make for a true memorably moment. It’ll be a fan favourite for sure. Then there’s ‘Bullets In The Wind’ a song which is one of Angels & Airwaves more experimental songs. This song is where the influence from Ilan Rubin can be found, it’s a track that makes you want to get up and do a little dance.
Angels & Airwaves might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s clear to see that Tom Delonge has a huge passion for this band, a passion that seemingly eclipses what he has for Blink-182. This is clear from the outset in ‘The Dream Walker’ and with the added influences making themselves known it makes for an album that is the best since the bands debut record.