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Nine (Blink-182 album)

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Nine
Studio album by
Blink-182
ReleasedSeptember 20, 2019 (2019-09-20)
RecordedApril 2018–June 2019
Studio
  • Foxy Studios, Los Angeles
  • Opra Studios, North Hollywood
  • Rancho Pagzilla, North Hollywood
  • Studio 1111, Beverly Hills
Genre
Length41:40
LabelColumbia
Producer
Blink-182 chronology
California
(2016) 		Nine
(2019)
Singles from Nine
  1. "Blame It on My Youth"
    Released: May 8, 2019[6]
  2. "Generational Divide"
    Released: June 21, 2019
  3. "Happy Days"
    Released: July 1, 2019
  4. "Darkside"
    Released: July 25, 2019
  5. "I Really Wish I Hated You"
    Released: September 6, 2019

Nine is the eighth studio album by American rock band Blink-182, released on September 20, 2019 through Columbia Records. The band—composed of bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Matt Skiba, and drummer Travis Barker—began developing the album after fulfilling touring obligations for their previous release, California (2016). While Nine builds upon their collaboration with producer John Feldmann, who also produced California, it also utilizes additional outside producers and songwriters including Captain Cuts, the Futuristics, and Tim Pagnotta.

Although Nine is sequentially Blink-182's eighth studio album, Hoppus and Barker decided to consider it their ninth by retroactively counting the band's 1994 demo, Buddha, as their first. Hoppus also cited the significance of the number 9 as "the number of universal love, and the number of Uranus." The color wash album cover was painted by graffiti artist RISK. Much of the album's lyricism is dark in nature and was informed by world events, as well as Hoppus' battle with depression. Musically, the album augments the band's pop punk sound with hip hop-inspired programming, as well as electronics. For Nine, the trio moved from independent service BMG to major label Columbia.

Nine received positive reviews from contemporary music critics, many of whom complimented its upgrade to the band's signature sound, as well as its moodier lyrical content. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 domestically; it reached the top ten in Canada, Austria, Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom as well. The band promoted the album with a North American co-headlining tour with rapper Lil Wayne, as well as five singles, including "I Really Wish I Hated You", which reached the top five on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart.

Background

From 2016 to 2018, Blink-182 toured extensively in support of their previous album, California. After touring concluded, Skiba and Barker took time off from the band in order to focus on other projects. Skiba returned to Alkaline Trio to record their 2018 album, Is This Thing Cursed?, and tour in support of it, while Barker focused his energies on multiple different projects, including collaborations with Yungblud, Machine Gun Kelly, Suicideboys, XXXTentacion, and Lil Nas X. Hoppus, however, fell into a depression. Band manager Gus Brandt became concerned, as did Hoppus's wife, Skye.[7] She implored him to focus on activities that made him feel happiest, which for him were writing and playing music.[8] He decided upon the idea of fronting a solo album, with guest spots from familiar faces he had worked with over the years. His first call went to All Time Low vocalist/guitarist Alex Gaskarth, and their studio sessions evolved into Simple Creatures, a full-fledged side project.[9] The duo released their first two extended plays, Strange Love and Everything Opposite, in 2019.[10]

Recording and production

Much of Nine was co-written and produced by John Feldmann.

The band first began recording new music in April 2018, with the band members posting photos and videos to their respective social media accounts.[11] The band continued collaborating with producer John Feldmann, as well as recording at their personal home studios. The trio recorded over 30 songs, largely in the same pop punk vein as California. Midway through the process, the band became concerned the material felt too familiar and predictable. Barker was the first to voice concern, joking that it sounded like California 2: Electric Boogaloo.[12][unreliable source?] Hoppus and Skiba concurred, with Skiba later offering that the songs weren't "new or exciting."[12][unreliable source?] The band decided to start over, and continued their work with outside songwriters.[13] Hoppus likened the approach to a blind date, as prior to the sessions, the band members and producers/songwriters had yet to meet.[7]

During the recording process for Nine, the band worked with several artists, among them Pharrell Williams,[14] The Futuristics,[15] Captain Cuts, Andrew Watt, and Tim Pagnotta, with whom they wrote the singles "Blame It on My Youth" and "Happy Days". The latter two were written as the group became concerned the album was too lyrically dark and lacked positive songs.[12][unreliable source?] Much of the new songs were built around Barker's drum beats, rather than guitar melodies. For Skiba, the unity of the band during the recording process helped solidify their friendships. "I now know my place better in Blink than I did years ago. We're always learning," he said.[13] Musically, Nine infuses hip hop-inspired programming, electronics, and modern recording techniques into the band's punk rock sound. "Making sure Blink isn't different than modern music — rather than being something of the past — is a big achievement for me," Barker said shortly before the album's release. Steve Appleford of the Los Angeles Times describes the album as containing "postmodern effects and accelerated beats mingling with Blink-style vocal harmonies."[16]

Composition

Lyrical content on Nine stemmed from Mark Hoppus' (seen here in 2019) struggle with depression.

Lyrical subject matter on Nine is largely dark in tone, frequently focusing on self-doubt and isolation. Christian Allaire of Vogue called it an album that focuses on "healing—from depression, anxiety, failed relationships, a broken political system."[17] Many conversations with their outside songwriters began with discussing their worst fears and building a song around it.[7] Hoppus hoped to capture more honesty in his songwriting, and as such, much of Nine is inspired by his battle with depression. "My brain naturally goes in cycles to dark places and I have to actively combat that," he told Matt Allen of Kerrang!. "I'm not in a place right now where I want to write happy, up-tempo songs."[7] He turned to exercise as a method of countering the negative thoughts, as well as spending more time outdoors and reading books.[13] He also struggled with his confidence: "I wake up every day like, 'I'm never going to write another good song,'" he said.[16] Hoppus noted to Allen that a compulsion to check his phone and scroll on Twitter impacted his daily thoughts:

"It's a really strange time where everyone is on heightened alert," he said. "I wake up and look at Twitter, I get angry, and I start my day. It's unhealthy to live with this level of anger. I have to consciously make an effort to not look at the news a lot of the time and just say, 'Every single day there's some new outrage and a lot of the time it's not worth my time.' [...] The way everything is wired right now — between the news, and Twitter, and social media — everything spins so quickly that there's no time to take a breath."[7]

In addition, world events—the presidency of Donald Trump, border control policies, and the influx of mass shootings in the U.S.—were infused into Nine.[7] Specifically, "Heaven" was written about the Thousand Oaks shooting that took place in November 2018, which happened just shy of two miles from Barker's home.[16] Other songs, such as "Black Rain", center on concepts of faith. Feldmann first sketched out the song as an uplifting embrace of salvation, but Skiba altered it to serve as a critique of organized religion. He had recently viewed the film Spotlight, and its investigation into the known abuses of children at the hands of the Catholic Church instilled a rage in him. "I took John's hopeful, churchy idea and painted it black [...] I have zero faith for the business of fear and war-mongering," he said.[18] There are also multiple references throughout the album to using alcohol for self-medicative purposes. Hoppus noted to Allen that he and Skiba were not completely sober, and that the lyrical references capture his belief that "the world is looking for something to take the edge off, whether that be drinking or taking pills."[18]

Artwork and title

Barker was in charge of developing the artwork, as he had been on previous releases. He picked from four of his favorite artists, with the renowned graffiti artist RISK delivering the final artwork. His goal as an artist is to evoke emotion with color in an abstract sense, and to achieve this, he often uses the color wash technique.[19] RISK calls this treatment "Beautiful Destruction", and everyone in the band loved his pieces enough to use for the album cover.[20]

While in production, the band often referred to the album with the joke title Bojmir—or rim job backwards.[13] Shortly after the album's announcement, Hoppus posted the meaning of the album's name on Reddit, stating that it is their ninth album. While Blink-182 had only released seven official studio albums prior to Nine, Hoppus also included their demo album, Buddha, as an official album:

NINE. This is our ninth album, as decided by me and Travis. Some count Buddha, some not. Some count The Mark, Tom and Travis Show. Some count Greatest Hits. Some count Dogs Eating Dogs. I'm counting Buddha, Cheshire Cat, Dude Ranch, Enema of the State, TOYPAJ, Untitled, Neighborhoods, California, and now Nine. Nine is also the number of universal love, and the number of Uranus.[21]

Release

The band announced a 2019 headlining tour with rapper Lil Wayne on May 6, 2019 in support of the forthcoming album.[22] Two days later, the trio released the lead single "Blame It on My Youth" with a lyric video online featuring Risk spray-painting the song's lyrics on a wall in a time lapse.[6] The trio previewed an additional three songs prior to the album's release; "Generational Divide" was released on June 21, as was its accompanying music video,[23] with "Happy Days" following on July 1.[24] "Darkside" continued the pre-release strategy on July 26,[25] with its official music video premiering on August 28.[26] In addition, the group released “I Really Wish I Hated You” as the fifth and final single for the album on September 6.

The band started a text messaging newsletter in the days leading up to the release of the "Darkside" single, and has since updated it with previews of songs and links to new videos. The number could also be called to be greeted with a fifteen-second preview of "Darkside" as the answering machine.

The band announced Nine on July 25, 2019.[27]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic67/100[28]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[29]
Alternative Press(favorable)[30]
Consequence of SoundC[31]
Exclaim!3/10[32]
Kerrang![33]
NME[34]
Pitchfork5.2/10[35]
Rolling Stone[36]
Sputnikmusic3.6/5[37]

Nine received generally positive reviews from music critics.[28] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 67 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" based on ten reviews.[28] AllMusic contributor Neil Z. Yeung considered it one of Blink's "strongest late-era efforts," praising its "commitment to vulnerability and honesty."[29] Nick Catucci of Rolling Stone found it to be an "excellent album," commending the trio's self-awareness and maturity.[36] Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic described its sound as "high-grade [and] ultra-processed", albeit "very, very catchy."[38]

Many critics favorably compared Nine to the band's 2003 untitled effort. Ali Shutler of NME called it the "spiritual follow-up" to that LP, and said Nine showcases the band "back at their very best."[34] Tom Shepherd at Kerrang! extolled the material's "rich personality",[33] while Collin Goeman of Alternative Press dubbed it a "pop-punk record for the next generation."[39] Dan Harrison from Upset extolled Nine as "the template" against which "every other band of their class should be judged."[40][unreliable source?]

Exclaim!'s Adam Feibel wrote a more negative review of Nine, heavily criticizing the album's adolescent themes. "Hoppus can't decide if he's writing for the kids or as a kid, churning out corny, melodramatic musings ripped from a high-school diary."[41] Grant Sharples of online magazine Consequence of Sound felt the LP was "weighed down by stereotypical lyrics and cloying choruses."[31] Nathan Smith at Pitchfork considered it "surprising how well the new sound works," but also "half as fun as the band used to be."[35]

Commercial performance

Nine debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with 94,000 album-equivalent units, including 77,000 pure album sales. To date it has sold over 202,000 copies worldwide and is the band's eighth US top 10 album.[42] Nine debuted at number one on the US Rock Albums, US Alternative Albums, US Tastemakers Albums and US Vinyl Albums.

Track listing

Adapted from Apple Music.[43]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The First Time"
  • Mark Hoppus
  • Travis Barker
  • Matt Skiba
  • John Feldmann
  • Jim Lavigne
  • John Mitchell
2:26
2."Happy Days"
2:59
3."Heaven"
  • Hoppus
  • Barker
  • Skiba
  • Feldmann
  • Chris Greatti
3:17
4."Darkside"
  • Hoppus
  • Barker
  • Skiba
  • Feldmann
3:00
5."Blame It on My Youth"
  • Hoppus
  • Barker
  • Skiba
  • Pagnotta
  • Hollander
  • Matt Malpass
3:05
6."Generational Divide"
0:49
7."Run Away"
  • Hoppus
  • Barker
  • Skiba
  • Feldmann
  • Mitchell
2:27
8."Black Rain"
  • Hoppus
  • Barker
  • Skiba
  • Feldmann
2:46
9."I Really Wish I Hated You"
3:11
10."Pin the Grenade"
2:59
11."No Heart to Speak Of"
  • Hoppus
  • Barker
  • Skiba
  • Feldmann
3:40
12."Ransom"
  • Hoppus
  • Barker
  • Skiba
  • Feldmann
1:25
13."On Some Emo Shit"
  • Hoppus
  • Barker
  • Skiba
3:09
14."Hungover You"
  • Hoppus
  • Barker
  • Skiba
  • Feldmann
  • Lavigne
  • Mitchell
2:58
15."Remember to Forget Me"
  • Hoppus
  • Barker
  • Skiba
  • Feldmann
  • JP Clark
  • Jaramye Daniels
3:29
Total length:41:40
Japanese bonus track edition[44]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
16."Out of My Head"
  • Hoppus
  • Skiba
2:23
Total length:44:03

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[45]

Locations

Personnel

Blink-182

Additional musicians

  • Alex Schwartz – songwriting (10), additional production (13)
  • Ali Tamposi – songwriting (9)
  • Andrew Watt – producer (9), songwriting (9), instrumentation and programming (9), guitar (9), vocals (9)
  • Benjamin Berger – songwriting (6)
  • Brian Phillips – additional production and engineering (5), gang vocals (5)
  • Chris Greatti – songwriting (3)
  • Happy Perez – additional production (9), instrumentation and programming (9), guitar (9)
  • Ian Walsh – programming and digital editing (5)
  • Jake Torrey – songwriting (10)
  • Jaramye Daniels – songwriting (15)
  • Jim Lavigne – songwriting (1, 14)
  • Joe Khajadourian – songwriting (10), additional production (13)
  • John Mitchell – songwriting (1, 7, 14)
  • JP Clark – songwriting (15)
  • Matt Malpass – producer (13), songwriting (2, 5, 11), additional production and engineering (5)
  • Ryan McMahon – songwriting (6)
  • Ryan Rabin – songwriting (6)
  • Sam Hollander – songwriting (2, 5), gang vocals (5)

Design

  • Chris Feldmann – art direction, design
  • Mark Rubbo – CGI and neon design
  • RISK – mural, track listing titles
  • Sacha Waldman – mural photography

Production

  • Allison McGregor – booking
  • Andrew "Schwifty" Luftman – production coordinator (9)
  • Anna Maslowitz – publicity (Europe)
  • Bo Gardner – business management
  • Chris Athens – mastering (1–8, 10–15)
  • Chris Galland – mix engineer (5)
  • Daniel Jensen – crew
  • Darian Polich – crew
  • Darryl Eaton – booking
  • Dave Kutch – mastering (9)
  • David "Dsilb" Silberstein – production coordinator (9)
  • Drew "Grey Poupon" Salamunovich – production coordinator (9)
  • Dylan McLean – engineer (1, 3–4, 6–15), additional mixing (6, 12)
  • Greg Johnson – A&R, album supervisor
  • Gus Brandt – management
  • Jake Lowry – management
  • Jennifer Weisman-Voale – publicity (North America)
  • Jeremy "Jboogs" Levin – production coordinator (9)
  • John Feldmann – producer and songwriting (1, 3–4, 6–12, 14–15), instrumentation and programming (9), guitar (9)
  • John Hanes – mix engineer (9)
  • Kevin Wolff – management
  • KI Pipal – mixing assistant (6)
  • Lawrence Vavra – management
  • Leslie Frank – legal
  • Lisa Socransky Austin – legal
  • Manny Marroquin – mixing (5)
  • Michael Bono – assisting recording engineer (3, 7, 10, 14–15)
  • Mike Dewdney – booking
  • Mo Green – booking
  • Neal Avron – mixing (1–3, 8)
  • Nik Tretiakov – assistant engineer (12–13)
  • Peter Paterno – legal
  • Rich Costey – mixing (4, 6–7, 10–11, 14)
  • Robert Ortiz – crew
  • Robin Florent – assistant engineer (5)
  • Samantha Corrie "SamCor" Schulman – production coordinator (9)
  • Sarah "Goodie Bag" Shelton – production coordinator (9)
  • Scot Stewart – engineer (1, 3–4, 6–15), additional mixing (6, 12)
  • Scott Desmarias – assistant (5)
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing (9)
  • Tim Pagnotta – producer (2, 5), songwriting (2, 5), gang vocals (5)
  • Zakk Cervini – mixing (12–13)
  • Zvi "Angry Beard Man" Edelman – production coordinator (9)

Charts

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Goeman, Collin (September 20, 2019). "blink-182 made 'Nine' a pop-punk record for the next generation - review". Alternative Press. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  2. ^ WALSH, TOM. "BLINK-182 – 'NINE'". Punktastic. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  3. ^ "5 HUGE POP-PUNK ALBUMS WE CAN EXPECT IN 2019". Kerrang!. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  4. ^ "Da quando i Blink-182 suonano come gli Imagine Dragons? | Rolling Stone Italia". Rollingstone.it. September 20, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  5. ^ "Blink-182's latest album is a "NINE" out of nine". The Daily Titan. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Shaffer, Claire (May 8, 2019). "See Blink-182's Graffitied Lyric Video for New Song 'Blame It On My Youth'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Allen 2019, p. 26.
  8. ^ Allen, Matt. "How Simple Creatures Saved Mark Hoppus' Life". Kerrang!. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  9. ^ Heinz, Natasha (January 28, 2019). "Mark Hoppus Talks Simple Creatures Influences, Plans to Release Music". Alternative Press. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  10. ^ "Simple Creatures Announce Debut EP Strange Love; Release Title-Track". Kerrang!. February 21, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  11. ^ Cummings-Grady, Mackenzie (April 24, 2018). "Blink-182 Share Snapchats From The Studio, Confirming New Music Is On The Way: 'Day One'". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 29, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c Shutler, Ali (October 1, 2019). "Blame It on My Youth". Upset. No. 48. pp. 24–31.
  13. ^ a b c d Allen 2019, p. 29.
  14. ^ Trapp, Philip (March 11, 2019). "Blink-182's Next Album Features Pharrell Williams + Will Be Out Before Warped Tour". Loudwire. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  15. ^ "blink-182's New Album Will Drop Before Warped Tour, Features Pharrell Williams". Kerrang!. March 11, 2019. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  16. ^ a b c Appleford, Steve (September 11, 2019). "Blink-182 were goof-punks with cute videos. Twenty years later, they're having the last laugh". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 12, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  17. ^ Allaire, Christian (September 20, 2019). "It's 2019. What Does Blink-182 Want to Say?". Vogue. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  18. ^ a b Allen 2019, p. 30.
  19. ^ Graval, Kelly (June 1, 2016). Graffiti Icon RISK On "Beautiful Destruction" (YouTube video). Mandatory.com. CraveOnline.
  20. ^ Allen 2019, p. 31.
  21. ^ "r/Blink182 - meaning behind the album title". reddit. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  22. ^ Shaffer, Claire (May 6, 2019). "Blink-182, Lil Wayne Announce Co-Headlining Summer Tour". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  23. ^ Aniftos, Rania (June 21, 2019). "Blink-182 Releases 50-Second Single, 'Generational Divide': Listen". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  24. ^ Spruch, Kirsten (July 1, 2019). "Blink-182 Long For 'Happy Days' On New Track: Listen". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  25. ^ Kaufman, Gil (July 26, 2019). "Blink-182 Happily Plunge Into the 'Darkside' On New Track: Listen". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  26. ^ Darus, Alex (August 28, 2019). "blink-182 have a punk-rock pep rally in "Darkside" video". Alternative Press. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  27. ^ "Blink-182 Announce New Album 'NINE' - Check Out The Tracklist, Cover Art & Release Date - News". Rock Sound. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  28. ^ a b c "Reviews for Nine by Blink-182". Metacritic. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  29. ^ a b Yeung, Neil Z. "Nine – blink-182". AllMusic. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  30. ^ Goeman, Collin. "Blink-182 Made 'Nine' a Pop-Punk Record for the Next Generation—Review". Alternative Press. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  31. ^ a b Sharples, Grant (September 19, 2019). "Blink-182's NINE Embraces Pop and Mostly Abandons Punk". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  32. ^ Feibel, Adam. "Blink-182 NINE". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  33. ^ a b "Album Review: blink-182 – NINE". Kerrang!. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  34. ^ a b "Blink-182 – 'Nine' review". NME. September 18, 2019.
  35. ^ a b Smith, Nathan (September 28, 2019). "Blink-182: NINE Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  36. ^ a b Catucci, Nick; Catucci, Nick (September 20, 2019). "Blink 182 Sound Self-Aware and Mature on 'Nine'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  37. ^ "Review: Blink-182 - Nine". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  38. ^ Kornhaber, Spencer (September 20, 2019). "Blink-182's Secret Seriousness". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  39. ^ Goeman, Collin (September 20, 2019). "blink-182 made 'NINE' a pop-punk record for the next generation—review". Alternative Press. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  40. ^ Harrison, Dan (October 1, 2019). "Blink-182 – Nine". Upset. No. 48.
  41. ^ Feibel, Adam. "Blink-182 Nine". exclaim.ca. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  42. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith (September 29, 2019). "Post Malone's 'Hollywood's Bleeding' Nets Third Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart; Zac Brown Band & Blink-182 Debut at Nos. 2 & 3". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  43. ^ "Nine by blink-182". Apple Music. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  44. ^ "yodobashi.com: BLINK 182". yobodashi.com. Retrieved September 18, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  45. ^ NINE (liner notes). Blink-182. US: Columbia Records. 2019. 19075963222.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  46. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 39, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved September 30, 2019.[permanent dead link]
  47. ^ "Blink 182". Oricon. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  48. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  49. ^ "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 39: del 20.9.2019 al 26.9.2019" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  50. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  51. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved August 5, 2020.

Sources

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