Neighborhoods is the sixth studio album by American rock band Blink-182, first released in the UK and Europe on September 26, 2011 https://www.nme.com/news/music/blink-182-155-1275687 and a day later in the United States, through DGC Records and Interscope. Its eight-year gap from their untitled album marks the longest between two albums from the band to date. Due to conflicts within the trio, the band entered an indefinite hiatus in 2005, and the members explored various side projects. After two separate tragedies connected to the band and their entourage, the members of Blink-182 decided to reunite in late 2008, with plans for a new album and tour. It was the last studio album to feature founding member Tom DeLonge until his return on 2023's One More Time....
The band's studio autonomy, tours, managers, and side projects slowed down the recording process, which lasted over two years. After the death of longtime producer Jerry Finn, Blink-182 struggled to self-produce Neighborhoods, working separately in a pair of California studios. A lack of communication and creative momentum impacted the band's dynamics—ultimately delaying the album and deepening existing tensions. Neighborhoods blends the band's signature pop-punk sound with synthesizer-heavy progressive elements. The trio wrote lyrics on such subjects as isolation, confusion, and death. The title reflected the band's different creative styles, like unique areas in a city, with artwork and sleeve details honoring loved ones and personal connections.
Blink-182 returned to a changed music industry for Neighborhoods, navigating a diminished rock market and shifting label support. Although it debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, the album's commercial performance fell short of label expectations. It was released to mixed reviews from critics: some felt it was a natural evolution from the band's previous releases, while others found it stale and disjointed. "Up All Night" and "After Midnight" were released as singles, with both attracting modest success on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart.
Background
Blink-182 announced on February 22, 2005, that they would be going on an "indefinite hiatus". The decision, in reality a breakup of the group, stemmed from internal band tension, which had arisen in late 2004 during their European tour. Guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge expressed his desire to take a half-year respite from touring in order to spend more time with family. Bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker were dismayed by his decision, which they felt was an overly long break. Following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, DeLonge agreed to perform at Music for Relief's Concert for South Asia, a benefit show to aid victims. Further arguments ensued during rehearsals, rooted in the band members' increasing paranoia and bitterness toward one another. DeLonge felt his priorities were "mad different", and the breakdown in communication led to heated exchanges, resulting in his exit from the group. During the hiatus, DeLonge formed the rock band Angels & Airwaves, while Barker and Hoppus continued playing together in +44. Two events in late 2008 would lead to the band's eventual reformation: the death of longtime producer Jerry Finn (who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage) and a near-fatal plane crash involving Barker and collaborator DJ AM.
The two incidents raised rumors of a possible Blink-182 reunion. Hoppus was alerted about Barker's accident by a phone call in the middle of the night and jumped on the next flight to the burn center. DeLonge learned of the crash via the TV news at an airport while waiting to board a flight. He landed and mailed a letter and two photographs to Barker: a photo of Blink aboard a submarine in the Middle East and another of himself and his two kids. "One was 'Do you remember who we were?' and the other was 'This is who I am now'" DeLonge said. He also commented that, no matter what had happened between himself and Barker in the past, "none of it matters when it comes down to somebody getting hurt". Hoppus first spoke on the matter in a blog post in November 2008, writing that he "hadn't had it in him" to post, adding that "these past two months have been the hardest times I can remember". He also revealed that he, DeLonge, and Barker had all spoken in the aftermath. Barker quashed reunion rumors in December, but noted that they had been getting along.
Talk of a reunion commenced weeks after the trio began speaking again. After a two-hour phone conversation between DeLonge and Hoppus, an arrangement was made for the trio to meet up at Hoppus and Barker's Los Angeles studio in October 2008. DeLonge was the first to approach the subject of reuniting. The trio had, in Hoppus' words, "two gnarly heart-to-hearts", during which the three opened up. "Tom had just kind of come out to Los Angeles for the day", recalled Hoppus, "I remember he said, 'So, what do you guys think? Where are your heads at?' And I said, 'I think we should continue with what we've been doing for the past 17 years. I think we should get back on the road and back in the studio and do what we love doing'". Eventually, the band appeared for the first time on stage together in nearly five years as presenters at the 51st Grammy Awards on February 8, 2009. The band's official website was updated with a statement: "To put it simply, we're back. We mean, really back. Picking up where we left off and then some. In the studio writing and recording a new album. Preparing to tour the world yet again. Friendships reformed. 17 years deep in our legacy."
Recording and production Pre-production
The band approached recording with cautious excitement. Hoppus said: "When Blink got back together, it was like we were huddled around a tiny flame, and no one wanted to breathe too hard and blow it out. [...] We weren't taking Blink for granted anymore. We were respectful of each other and careful to protect the spark we shared when we played." They first began making demos of new material in 2009, with all three bringing song ideas that they had worked on for years. They completed four demos, with one near completion, "Up All Night". The band wanted to release it as a single then but quickly realized that it was too ambitious to complete it before their reunion tour began in July. Sessions were stalled by the summer 2009 reunion tour, during which the band reconnected musically and emotionally. They did a large amount of writing before leaving on tour, but upon its completion, they took time off to "chill and do other stuff", with intentions to regroup in 2010. In June and July 2010, Blink-182 spent time at their rehearsal spot, with the intention to wrap up touring by September and stay in the studio for the rest of the year until the record was finished. The album sessions were to be partially documented in The Blinkumentary, which was scrapped in 2012.
As they began work on their comeback album, the band faced a series of medical setbacks. In 2010, DeLonge received a skin cancer diagnosis, but it was successfully treated. Still recovering from the plane crash, Barker experienced numerous medical issues. He toured with broken vertebrae and underwent several surgeries to fix his numbed left hand. Though he wasn't fully ready for studio work, he pushed through, driven by the excitement of creating again, though he still had bandages and sores all over his hands and legs: "I was still healing", he told Rolling Stone. "I had scabs all over my body and was, like, a bloody mess. It was just way too soon." He also endured personal losses during the album's creation. Barker's close friend and fellow plane crash survivor, DJ AM, died of an overdose.
Recording
After the death of longtime producer Jerry Finn in 2008, the band faced the challenge of producing the record on their own. Finn had overseen their last three albums and acted as an adviser, mediator, and creative guide. "I honestly still feel like he's in the studio with us", Hoppus reflected. "Everything I know about recording, I learned from Jerry". In his absence, the band opted to self-produce the album. "Maybe that was a mistake", Hoppus said in his memoir. No one was driving, and the process was a mess". Instead of a producer, each band member had their own dedicated sound engineer, with Hoppus and DeLonge receiving help from longtime co-production partners Chris Holmes and "Critter", respectively. DeLonge, who was against using a producer after self-producing most of his Angels & Airwaves records, described the band situation as "very democratic", noting that he learned during the recording process to "let go and be okay with not being able to control everything".
Altogether, the recording process for Neighborhoods was disconnected and disjointed. This was due to the way the band chose to work—in bits and pieces, alone and together, in a pair of California studios—in addition to each member's busy schedules. Their lives looked very different compared to before the first breakup: DeLonge had become an innovator with his company, Modlife. Barker continued to oversee his apparel company Famous Stars and Straps and worked both on a solo album and a new record with his group Transplants. Meanwhile, Hoppus—balancing his new TV show, Hoppus on Music—was set to leave the country entirely, moving thousands of miles to London, England. The three musicians were rarely in the same room while recording, opting to work on their parts individually. Ideas were exchanged via email, and engineers met in person to trade files on hard drives. The album was recorded at both DeLonge's studio in San Diego and in Los Angeles by Hoppus and Barker.
Delays
The recording and release of Neighborhoods was delayed multiple times. Hoppus attributed this to the band learning to work by themselves without Finn. A result of the trio's split was each member hiring his own attorney, and, during the Neighborhoods sessions, they had a total of four managers. Later, it was revealed that DeLonge and Hoppus would go months without direct communication, only speaking through their managers. Late in the process, Barker became convinced that the album was not up to their standards and urged his bandmates to postpone a planned tour. Under pressure, Blink-182 released a statement in April 2011 that effectively rescheduled all European tour dates due to the recording delays. Though DeLonge objected to the "hugely expensive" move, Barker and Hoppus stood by their belief that touring should happen only with fresh material to perform.
Geffen set a July 31 deadline for the record amid concerns about the band's volatility, explaining that there would be penalties if the album was not turned in on time. DeLonge joked that, "We'll probably actually drive it to the [Geffen] president's house at two in the morning and hand it through his bedroom window at the last possible minute". Mixing the album became an arduous affair. DeLonge was uninvolved, according to his bandmates, trusting his engineer, Critter, to make decisions. "Tom had washed his hands of the whole album", Hoppus lamented. Years later, Barker concurred, remarking: "Tom didn't even care about [Neighborhoods]. He didn't even listen to mixes or masterings from that record". Barker reportedly made things difficult too, however. In his autobiography, Hoppus reveals that the drummer insisted on listening to mixes in his Cadillac Escalade. The band went as far as renting an Escalade for him to approve mixes while on tour, but Hoppus said he could never be bothered to take time for it.
Composition Music and lyrics