From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Box Car Racer (2002) is an album by Box Car Racer, a side project of blink-182 members Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker. It is the lone album from the defunct project. It tells a story in which a boy sees a vision of the future; the world is to be destroyed by an over-zealous government. The boy and a group of outcasts travel far away to escape destruction. The boy also falls in love with one of the outcasts. It has been suggested that this story is continued in Angels and Airwaves' album We Don't Need to Whisper. The only problem with this theory is the fact that in "Elevator" the boy jumps off a building and kills himself, which is the final song on the album followed up by an instrumental with no more story unfolding - The instrumental most likely being a closing credits.
The bassist for blink-182 and +44, Mark Hoppus, provided guest vocals on "Elevator" as did Tim Armstrong and Jordan Pundik, of Rancid and New Found Glory respectively, on "Cat Like Thief".
[edit] Track listing
- "I Feel So" – 4:29
- "All Systems Go" – 3:15
- "Watch the World" – 3:54
- "Tiny Voices" – 3:27
- "Cat Like Thief" – 4:24 (featuring Tim Armstrong and Jordan Pundik)
- "And I" – 3:13
- "Letters to God" – 3:16
- "My First Punk Song" – 1:01
- "Sorrow" – 3:28
- "There Is" – 3:18
- "The End with You" – 3:10
- "Elevator" – 2:45 (featuring Mark Hoppus)
- "Instrumental" – 1:58
[edit] Singles
- I Feel So was released in April 2002 as the first single from this album. Following a delicate piano intro the song delves into a frantic, upbeat rhythm. Strong drum beats followed by thrashed power chords add a real sense of meaning and intent to this song. Quiet interludes once again lower the tone of the song but are soon overpowered by immense power within the guitar strums. The lyrics deal with heartbreak and turmoil as the protagonist explains how he would like to be in an ideal world.
- There Is, the second single released from the album and featured the guitar and vocals of DeLonge and a very intriguing drum loop by Barker. A music video was released which portrayed band members being arrested for playing the track late at night in the rain, which gives two lovers a chance to be together from their parents. The band played "There Is" on The Craig Kilborn Show. DeLonge plays this song at Angels and Airwaves concerts.
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Additional notes
- On the inside spine on the Box Car Racer CD case, the words "'Chaos breeds life, when order breeds habit.' Henry Brooks Adams (1838-1918), The education of Henry Adams, 1907" are written. The quote is the same as the one tattooed around Travis Barker's neck.
- On the back of the CD insert, in faint text is says "LN W 13 01 1". Which means longitude west 13 01 1 degrees, but without the latitude, it's impossible to pinpoint an exact location on a globe. I put the 'LN W 13 01 1' on Google Earth, and it took me to Manhattan, New York, New York. Which I am guessing they used the coordinates for where our tradegy had taken place.
- The album's original title was "Burning In The Sun".[citation needed]
- At shows the band played a cover of the song "Mandy", which was written by Scott English and made famous by Barry Manilow.
- DeLonge has said at concerts that Elevator was written about the events of September 11, 2001.
[edit] Charts
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 2002 |
The Billboard 200 |
12 |
| 2002 |
Top Canadian Albums |
7 |
[edit] Singles
| Year |
Title |
Chart |
Position |
| 2002 |
I Feel So |
Modern Rock Tracks |
8 |
