I-Empire

Original release

On September 10, 2007, the group revealed the album's artwork.^[1] "Everything's Magic" was made available for streaming via the group's Myspace account on August 29, 2007,^[2] and was released to radio on September 18.^[3] A music video was released for "Everything's Magic" on September 20.^[4] The album was delayed multiple times before its official release. DeLonge originally stated that I-Empire would be released on October 16. The release date was later pushed back to October 23. The following day, I-Empire was fully leaked onto the internet, a week before its worldwide release. That same day DeLonge posted his response to the leak on the Angels & Airwaves MySpace.^[5] The album was eventually released on November 6 through Geffen and Suretone Records.^[1] On November 16, DeLonge announced on Modlife that the band were making a short film for the song "Breathe". The short film for the song was made shortly after, and was later released exclusively to premium Modlife members.

From late January to mid-March 2008, the band embarked on their headlining North American tour, playing sold-out theaters with Meg and Dia, Ace Enders and The Color Fred. "Secret Crowds" was chosen as the second single from I-Empire, although "Call to Arms" was also considered, after receiving lots of positive feedback and decent digital sales. The song impacted radio on February 5.^[6] On February 25, "Secret Crowds" aired on MTV2, being the band's second single from the album to hit commercial heights with a music video. It has since gone onto Kerrang! TV and Scuzz in the UK. "Breathe" is the third single taken from the album, and the video was released on June 20, 2008.

Vinyl Release

In January 2016, DeLonge's media company, To The Stars inc., announced the release of a 180 gram clear first pressing of I-Empire, available only to paid members of the company's website. The vinyl edition features bonus acoustic tracks, "The Adventure" and "Good Day." The record was produced on vinyl by SRC Vinyl and Stan Ricker Mastering. In early February 2016, SRC Vinyl announced a 180 gram gold colored second pressing of the record, available exclusively on the SRC Vinyl website to the public.

On January 11th 2017, DeLonge and To The Stars inc. announced via social media and To The Stars official website that the entire Angels & Airwaves discography, which includes a re-pressing of "I-Empire", will be released in a new vinyl collection collectively called Angels & Airwaves 2017 HOPE vinyl collection. ^[7] Angels & Airwaves and To The Stars inc. also made the albums from the discography such as "I-Empire" and EPs available individually. The collection is only available on the To The Stars official website and became available for pre-order January 11th, 2017 and is expected to be officially released February 15th, 2017. This re-pressing of "I-Empire" as well as the other albums in the collection are 180 gram transparent LPs each with their own individual o-card slipcase that feature a double-sided die cut "AVA" logo.^[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	54/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk.net	(44%) [9]
AllMusic	[10]
Alternative Press	[11]
Billboard	[12]
IGN	(77%) [13]
Kerrang!
NME	[14]
PopMatters	[15]
Punknews.org	[16]
UnRated	[17]

I-Empire garnered generally mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average of 54, based on 13 reviews.^[8]

Evan Sawdey from PopMatters said that despite the lyricism of the tracks feeling generic, he praised DeLonge for creating "grandiose pop-rock with a healthy dash of New Wave" that's far away from the aesthetics of his project's debut effort. He concluded that, "Where Whisper came off like an ego-driven side project, I-Empire paints the Angels as a fully-fledged band. Give them time: you may even forget that this was the guy who wrote "All the Small Things" to begin with."^[15] Aubin Paul of Punknews.org praised the scaling back of length throughout the track listing that allowed for immediacy in its hooks and melodies, saying that it makes for "a better album, and Angels & Airwaves is a better band."^[16] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it "an easier record to like than We Don't Need to Whisper," commending DeLonge for giving his tracks more catchy hooks and immediate attention to the listeners but felt he was in a musical growing phase when crafting more mature content, concluding that "it marks a very small, very tentative progression toward [DeLonge] realizing that he can expand his sonic and emotional horizons without abandoning the pop songcraft that remains his greatest strength."^[10] Scott Evil of NME said of the album as a whole: "Angels & Airwaves labour under the illusion that ‘mature’ equals ‘worthwhile’; and that means long, directionless songs swathed in echo pedals and factory-set keyboards."^[14]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 9 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and number 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, with just over 66,000 copies sold in its first week.^[18] It went on to sell a further 20,000 copies in its second week. As of December 2009, the album has sold 255,000 copies in the United States and 500,000 worldwide.