With the release of their new CD earlier this week, Blink 182 is looking to show how they have matured over the last year on the road. Okay, not really.
Anyone and everyone who knows anything about Blink, knows that they are the epitome of immaturity -- and that comes through in shining glory on their latest release.
The Mark, Tom and Travis Show is the trio's first release since their break-through disk Enema of The State.
The boys are back at it, this time showing their stuff in a live album. Show, however, comes across as a re-release of Enema only this time with a live audience.
The first three tracks are arranged in the exact same order as the first three tracks from Enema. Then they break for a song called "Family Reunion," which has 45 seconds of obscenities yelled into the mic, before they get back to their familiar Enema tracks "Going Away to College" and "What's My Age Again." In all, 9 of the 20 tracks are from Enema of the State.
I will not call this album a waste of time though. The two shows, recorded from their performances in San Francisco on Nov. 4, are highly entertaining. The quality is great, which is always a concern when you buy a live record.
The disc allows fans to see what a live show by Mark (Hoppus), Tom (Delonge) and Travis (Barker), might really be like.
Blink has presented itself with an image of being the ultimate immature teenage guys and they stick with that in live concert as much as they do in their music videos.
They portray this image of non-stop immaturity and insanity with constant mention of the "Boobies" they saw being flashed while they were playing the set.
At the end of one song, Tom declares "I blame my parents for giving me a small bent wiener and an ugly face." He later decides that it is bent because he has pulled it too far and too often.
They also have fun with the lyrics of a couple of songs that they do. On the third track, "Aliens Exist," they replace the actual lyrics -- "I got an injection/of fear from the abduction/my best friend thinks I'm just telling lies" -- with -- "I got an injection/of blood from the erection/my best friend thinks I'm just humping guys."
It is also a real treat to hear Mark and Tom address the crowd as often as they do. If you can't see a group live, the next best thing is always a live album, but you want it to be just like the show.
If you are a Blink 182 fan, you can't go wrong with the 20 track Mark, Tom, and Travis Show. If you have Enema of the State, and thought that it was just all right, you should save your money this time around.
Grade: B+
