In 2022, famous pop-punk band blink-182 announced their reunion with the classic lineup of singer and guitarist Tom Delonge, singer and bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker. Fans were shocked that blink-182 was getting back together, since in 2015, Delonge unexpectedly left the band and —  at the time — was replaced with Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio. Delonge’s decision to leave the band caused a public dispute between him and Hoppus, though they worked through their differences after Hoppus publicly issued his cancer diagnosis in 2021. Hoppus announced he was cancer-free in mid 2022 and shortly after that the pop-punk trio officially publicized their reunion. After a year of teasing fans with a new record, blink-182 released their 10th album “One More Time” on Oct. 20. The album was met with positive feedback from fans and critics, and overall, it exceeded my low expectations.

Although I like the album as a whole, the first thing I noticed was that the production was more self reliant than compared to other albums. The new selfmade sound is due to the band choosing to have Barker as the leading producer instead of working with label provided producers. It was easy to tell that Barker was the main producer on “One More Time,” since the drumming is far more prominent on this record than other albums. Aside from Barker being a critically acclaimed drummer, blink-182 isn’t known for being the most talented band out there. I’ll be the first person to admit that I genuinely don’t like Delonge’s voice, and Hoppus’ voice is nowhere near my favorite. At times, the vocals on “One More Time” sound a bit artificial due to how drastically improved their sound is. On “One More Time,” Delonge’s voice is more improved and controlled compared to past records. Hoppus, on the other hand, actually had to go to singing and bass lessons after going through chemotherapy, which left his voice immensely damaged. The lessons paid off, as this is the best the singing duo has sounded in over a decade.  

“One More Time” has a successful balance of Delonge and Hoppus’ distinctive voices and for the first time, Barker is also vocally featured. Barker makes his vocal debut on the title track. Essentially, blink-182 used the ballad to explain that Hoppus’ battle with cancer and Barker’s near-fatal plane crash in 2008 are what led the band to reconnect. The song takes the subjects a little too head-on and the song loses its creativity in that. I get what blink-182 was trying to do by using the self-reflective song to focus on the band’s history and the interpersonal relationships between them, but I did not need to hear Barker sing to help me understand the song. Don’t get me wrong, Barker is undeniably a phenomenal drummer, but he should leave the singing to Delonge and Hoppus. 

Though I dislike the musical choices blink-182 made for the title track, I love the video they put out for it. The music video sees the band staying in one place, as the background changes to the sets of some of their famous music videos and performances. It was nice to see the band acknowledging their roots and road to success as a band.

The album itself opens with, “Anthem Part 3,” which blends well with blink 182’s previous fan-favorite tracks “Anthem” and “Anthem Part Two.” Out of the three songs, I prefer the newest track of the trilogy, since it is more musically and lyrically mature than the previous additions and the harmonies between Delonge and Hoppus are memorable. There is also a great musical blend of the band’s more aggressive and combative instrumentation, which helps tie the track in with the album and sets up a noticeable style and sound for the record. 

For a band that tends to be on the more pop side of punk, blink-182 still lets all of their punk rock roots shine on this album. I especially like the fact that on this album blink-182 paid homage to some of their biggest inspirations: The Ramones and The Cure. The respective nods to the musical icons is first seen in the music video for “Dance With Me,” which features blink-182 dressed as The Ramones. More subtly, the next track, “Fell In Love” opens with a sampled piece of The Cure’s hit, “Close To Me.”  Out of the whole album, “Dance With Me” and “Fell In Love” are some of my favorites. Which is surprising, since Delonge leads both tracks and I almost always prefer Hoppus-driven songs. Delonge takes control of the melodies with the rasp of his voice and he allows it to come out naturally rather than forcing it out like he has on previous projects. Even though Delonge leads both songs, Hoppus adds in some great vocal additions. Especially, on “Dance With Me” where he sings the bridge in his famous bass register and then helps Delonge close out the song in a higher octave.

On past albums, I’ve always preferred blink-182’s more passionate songs, which are typically carried by more emotionally charged guitar riffs and echoing drum patterns. The 2001 hit “Stay Together for the Kids” helped the band transition out of straight pop-punk, to more darker music on their 2003 “Untitled” album; which helped direct the band to have a great mix of both fun pop-punk and passionate hardcore songs on later records.  Fans hadn’t heard a heavy-handed guitar riff from Delonge in years, so I was instantly intrigued when I heard the guitar riff on “Terrified,” but this was one of the more disappointing songs for me on “One More Time.” The darker-toned track only features Delonge’s vocals and was originally written for Delonge’s side band Box Car Racer, which included Barker on drums. Admittedly, I do hold a grudge against Boxcar Racer since the band formed in 2002 and purposely excluded Hoppus; so maybe I’m making myself not like the song due to the shady band formation. 

The other more hardcore-sounding song featured on “One More Time” is “More Than You Know.” The lyrics don’t really make sense. Overall, the song sounds like they’re saying a whole lot of nothing and are trying way too hard to capture the more “emo” sound they had in the early 2000s. However, the musical buildup the band produces is one of the best on the album. The subtle opening piano structure that fades into a booming melody reminded me of the instrumental bridge seen on “Stay Together for the Kids,” which was interesting and somewhat nostalgic to hear. 

Things start to get a little rough on the back half of the album, since the songs start to sound the same. Still, track 11 “Blink Wave” is one of the songs that stand out the most to me on the album. It’s catchy and the music is heavily influenced by The Cure, but the song unfortunately is surrounded by rather boring songs on the album. Track 12, “Bad News,” best summarizes the rest of the album: not bad, but missing the same spark of creativity that the front half of the album possessed. The closing track “Childhood” isn’t memorable and seemed unnecessary. The song is very redundant, as it sees the band reminisce on their lives for what seems like the fifth time on this album. The main lyric in “Childhood” is “Remember when we were young,” which the same line is seen on track 8, “When We Were Young.” Even if the lyric was purposely supposed to be a callback to the song, it comes off as lazy writing. Even more, the production on “Childhood” is poorly mixed. It’s easy to hear the autotune added to Delonge’s voice during the melody — to be fair, there are times where Delonge desperately needs autotune, but Barker could have done a better job at hiding it during production. Honestly, blink-182 should have cut “Childhood” all together from the record and replaced the song with “One More Time” as the album’s emotional clincher. 

blink-182 made “One More Time” strictly for themselves and their dedicated fans. Whereas other punk bands that are still making music typically try to change their sound to maintain relevance; blink-182 didn’t have that goal in mind with “One More Time.” Although I’m not the biggest fan of the album’s closing act, it’s evident that even after 30 years of being a band — with a few breakups thrown in — blink-182 is still able to capture their signature fast-paced, cheeky, animated sound and make timeless tracks. With “One More Time,” the pop-punk legends successfully made a mature, yet fun, record that looks back on their lives as individuals and as a band.

Pathfinder gives blink-182’s “One More Time” a 7.5/10