When a member of once-successful band parted ways from the group and form another, there's a high chance that the new band will be overshadowed by the old one. This was not the case for Tom DeLonge. Whenever he started a project, there's always enthusiasm from the fans who used to fancy him while in Blink-182. Post declaring an off from both Blink and Box Car Racer (BCR), DeLonge launched a relatively successful band called Angels & Airwaves (AAA or also sometimes credited as AVA) that totally separate him from the notion 'former-Blink-182 vocalist'. Still in its second year, AAA have pocketed two charting albums that won't take positions below top 10 on Billboard Hot 200. The sophomore set 'I-Empire' was released on November 6, 2007, the same week where music greats such as Jay-Z and Chris Brown also released theirs. Already the album fell to #1 on iTunes chart and #9 on Billboard Hot 200 chart after selling 66,000 copies on the first week.

AAA was probably born out of DeLonge's passion for a different flavor in making music. Many have reported that DeLonge's former bandmate in Blink-182, Mark Hoppus, was unhappy when DeLonge formed BCR with their other bandmate Travis Barker, leading the rift between the two. Even after BCR eventually disbanded in 2003, DeLonge continued to alienate himself from Blink until an indefinite hiatus was announced in February 2005. Throughout the time, it became known that DeLonge worked closely to BCR's guitarist David Kennedy and shut himself from the media for months. Finally in November that year, DeLonge announced a new project which he called 'Angels & Airwaves'. He later on premiered the new line-up, him on the vocal, Kennedy on guitar, Ryan Sinn from The Distillers on bass, and Adam "Atom" Willard from The Offspring on drum. Together they put a record titled 'We Don't Need to Whisper' in May 2006 that rooted loosely based on materials DeLonge had accumulated while touring with Blink in 2004. The first single 'The Adventure' leaked few days before its release and became a high spinner on radio outlets. Upon its release, the album that was considered a conceptual project due to its similar theme in all of the tracks, peaked at #4 on Billboard Hot 200 and received generally favorable critics.

The band's achievement came in line with the Awards season in 2006. MTV Video Music Awards nominated the band as Best New Artist while MuchMusic Video Awards put them as Best International Artist nominee. The band stopped at being nominated when they took home the prestigious Woodie of the Year aka Artist of the Year at mtvU Woodie Awards, an event where winners are chosen through fan votes. Willard the drummer then channeled his energy fully to this band and left The Offspring that went hiatus in 2006. As the debut album went on being certified gold by RIAA after its release, Sinn left the band in April 2007, just few months away from the band's second release. In a statement Sinn confirmed that he experienced unspecified difficulties with the band while in another statement DeLonge said that Sinn had problems with putting "priorities". 30 Seconds to Mars' Matt Wachter was then brought in. On the band's MySpace page, DeLonge described Wachter as an "invaluable addition" to the band.

The sophomore set was then released under the title 'I-Empire'. DeLonge said that the album has the continuation element of the first album but times ten. Again as the band gave fans a sneak peek of the new materials in July 2007, four tracks from the album went online before their release. The first single 'Everything's Magic' became the most requested song on California-based radio station as in August 2007. It also reached #3 on iTunes Rock Chart one month later.