‘LOVE’ won’t change the world

Despite Blink-182’s reunion this time last year, Tom DeLonge is still trying to change the world — his words, not mine — with his U2-riffing Angels & Airwaves. Based on the sounds heard on their previous two records and the latest, “LOVE,” changing the world involves a lot of spacey laser noises.

But even though DeLonge takes this band and its influence too seriously — there’s a feature film coming in spring, seriously — Angels’ quasi-inspirational galaxy rock gets to you. You might cringe at first, but at some point during “LOVE” you’ll smile.

Just like the act’s other efforts, “LOVE” features a slew of five-to-six minute wannabe-opuses that sonically expand to half-pretentious, half-inspirational levels as DeLonge croons out lines like “Please don’t look at life, look at me so sadly / Life shouldn’t hurt, doesn’t hurt so badly” (from “The Flight of Apollo”).

Thankfully, the strong production makes up for DeLonge’s pathetically earnest attempts to sound uplifting and when things speed up a little bit, like on “Epic Holiday,” “Hallucinations” and “Letters to God, Part II,” “LOVE” is pretty enjoyable.

That’s the thing about DeLonge. He can do great things, but sometimes his ego gets in the way. Luckily, “LOVE” features enough of both his sides to be a solid listen — even if you feel manipulated when it’s over.