California

blink-182 - California
Critic Score
Based on 18 reviews
2016 Ratings: #960 / 1004
User Score
Based on 622 ratings
2016 Rank: #802
Liked by 29 people
July 1, 2016 / Release Date
LP / Format
BMG / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

80
AllMusic
The guys have grown up and the results are as catchy and enjoyable as anything they ever did in their youthful heyday.
80
Upset
Worried about Blink-182 in 2016? Don’t be. They’re back. Like, properly, excitedly and whole-heartedly back. And they’re making no apologies for it.
80
Louder Than War

Both a love letter to the band’s home state and the experiences it afforded them, and a love letter to life itself, California is a record steeped in vigour and vitality.

80
Classic Rock
Wild nights, lonely mornings, adult pains, teenage triumphs and pools full of naked dudes. Blink: we’ve missed it.
70
Drowned in Sound

California sounds like the work of a band filled with the joy of existence, giving in to every pop indulgence or production trick that could stuff in one more hook before the end.

70
Rolling Stone

At its best, California shows Blink trying new ways to freshen up yesterday's racket.

60
NME
‘California’ is too long, but has the humour, pace, emotion and huge choruses of a classic Blink record. Mission accomplished.
60
SPIN
Ultimately, fortysomething Blink may be cursed by their early success and their genre of choice: For pop-punk bands, life is just too short to last long.
60
Exclaim!

California plays out less like an album and more like a collection of songs; uneven and disjointed, it's hard to take in as one larger whole.

60
Spectrum Culture

The best way to listen to California is to surrender and let it happen to you. The sooner the brains get turned off and the past is forgotten, the better a time will be had.

55
Pitchfork

If the entire album was stuffed similarly, with sneeze-length quips and short stabs of power chords, California would seem no less anomalous for what it’s trying to be: the pop-punk eminence album, evidence humbly submitted that an aging pack of skater brats hasn’t jumped off the hedonic treadmill just yet and is still young, selectively dumb, and full of commiserating angst.

50
Consequence of Sound
All 16 songs tally up to an experience that isn’t a comeback but isn’t the disaster people predicted.
50
The Young Folks

As has been well documented, Tom Delonge is missing on California, and his absence is a glaring one on Blink 182’s seventh album.

43
A.V. Club

California is the sound of Blink-182 desperately trying to remain relevant by outsourcing its creativity.

40
Evening Standard
Rather than use DeLonge’s departure to broaden their horizon, leaders Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker have elected to batten down the hatches and replicate the pop-punk sound of California’s six successors.
40
Q Magazine

California is desperately unadventurous.

40
The Guardian
There are a few spirited attempts to summon the adolescent irreverence of old, but generally this is a tired – and tiring – work.
40
FasterLouder
The band now primarily sounds like nothing. Not even Blink-182 knows how to make a Blink-182 record anymore.
ST4T1C
65

Brief Review: Im sorry my child…

Perhaps I treated you too harshly.

“California” is a perfectly fine and acceptable take on 2010s pop punk. Considering these guys are veterans of the genre, they def still know how to write some good tunes here and there. But the majority of this album is just kinda boring and not all that interesting, especially compared to their all time classic albums from the 90s. But still, considering how other comeback albums have gone for other ... read more

MasterCrackfox
47

If you want to hear an adult man unapologetically praise the state of California across an entire album I recommend listening to RHCP - Californication instead.

After a five year break from albums and the second break between the band members, Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus enlist Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio to fill in for former band member Tom DeLonge who instead chose to seek out UFOs. No that isn't a joke, that is exactly what DeLonge is up to now. The new three-piece may have been able to ... read more

Supertartory
42

I love this cover but goddddd why did it have to be for such a subpar album, this isn't bad but fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkk it's not good is it

hitoribocchi89
64

Another blink album that upon relistening to, it has fallen off in insane ways. Give California credit where credit is due, that streak of Kings Of The Weekend, Teenage Satellites, Left Alone, and Rabbit Hole is an INCREDIBLY strong streak, although there is also genuine ass on this album like Sober, and relatively mediocre tracks like Bored To Death, She's Out of Her Mind, and No Future. The joke songs were not great additions, and they really should've let the album just conclude with the ... read more

ReviewForFun
60

A couple of great songs mixed with mostly mediocre content, however league above there awful 2023 releases so I would encourage you to give this a listen over that cornball of a record. Also not every moments is boring on here, but I was a little disappointed with this release.

Top 5 Tracks: No Future (Best), Bored To Death, Sober, She's Out Of Her Mind, Teenage Satellites

MunkeyBall
25

Washed up rock bands releasing music years after the prime of their career gotta be one of my least favourite genres

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Added on: April 28, 2016