10 Dark Horse Albums By Legendary Bands
3. Neighborhoods - Blink-182
When Blink-182 reunited at the end of the '00s, it really did feel like the impossible happened. Since both Tom DeLonge and the rest of the band didn't really leave on glowing terms with each other, this new version of the group was going to be a return to the pop punk that we all knew and loved. And then Neighborhoods came out and sounded absolutely nothing like that.
At the outset, most of the fanbase was a little bit confused by what they heard on this record, as most of it felt much more indebted to Angels and Airwaves than a proper Blink album. Adding insult to injury, most of the record was made under pretty harsh conditions too, with DeLonge not even being in the main studio when the rest of the guys were laying down their tracks. Though the cracks of the reunion were already forming, there's still a lot to enjoy about this record.
Instead of just a space themed odyssey, this feels like the natural extension of where Blink left us on the self-titled, with songs like Ghost on the Dance Floor and MH 4.18.2011 being as much indebted to alternative rock as they do to the traditional pop punk formula. For as much as Blink has returned to their roots in recent years, Neighborhoods is the sound of what happens when pop punk starts to grow up.