"The Adventure" is a song by Angels & Airwaves. It appears on the band's debut album, We Don't Need to Whisper, and was the band's first single. It was also the first full song to be heard by fans.

On February 3, 2006, a preliminary version of the song was Internet leaked, as a result of someone hacking Tom DeLonge's e-mail. It lasted five minutes and forty seconds and showed the band's previously stated style and departure from previous works. Listeners described the song's Edge-like guitars and '80s synths sound like a cross between The Alarm, U2, and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me-era Cure, with Tom's trademark Blink-182 vocal harmonies and guitar melodies on top. It gave the listener a very clear idea of what direction the band was taking. The song was widely distributed on many fan-sites and MySpace pages. The leaked version is slightly different from the released version; gasping that was evident after each line on the leaked version is removed.

On February 8, in a Rolling Stone interview, when asked about this song, DeLonge said: "The song was inspired by a friend whose marriage was kind of falling apart. It touched me so deeply that I was up one night crying for him -- I felt so hurt."

The song entered the UK singles chart at its peak position #20. This can be seen as quite an achievement, considering the song's leak months earlier and the absence of any other b-side on the single. This would normally be an incentive for people owning the song to purchase the CD single.

Short film

The song was released on February 20, 2006, as an internet-only short film. Although Tom had stated something different, it had the same version of the song that had been leaked previously. It is shot on 8mm black and white, and it's very sci-fi. DeLonge stated that "it kind of looks like George Lucas' THX 1138, where it's all beautiful naked women and fast cars and concrete and glass architecture". The only noticeable difference between it and the leaked version was a sound-byte dubbed into the intro of the song proclaiming, "It's too bad she won't live! ...But then again, who does?", a line taken from the movie Blade Runner. The subsequent short-film, "It Hurts," was released on April 18th and continues the story where "The Adventure" left off.

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by The Malloys and was shot in March 2006. It was released on April 5. The video leaked onto the internet soon after. It begins with the band boarding a spacecraft to pick up their instruments and begin playing, and then moves to Tom walking along the countryside. For the relief of many, Tom still plays electric guitar, as seen in the picture on the band's MySpace, but rather dances and plays it in a few scenes. The video continues, eventually ending with clips of World War II and Tom walking off into the distance in a meadow with the sky lit with planets. It doesn't have the long intro from the leaked version, nor the full outro. The video was nominated for Best Effects by the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Editing.

 
Trivia

• The song was used in a promotional trailer for the NBC show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which debuted in September 2006.
• The song was the first song to be played just after midnight for Boston's New Years fireworks celebration in 2007.
• The video for "The Adventure," was number one on MuchTopTens: "Top Ten Out of This World Videos" on December 14, 2006.
• On December 3,2006 part of the song was used for The Bowl Championship Series selection show on FOX Network.A year later it was used again for the same program
• The song was used to promote Microsoft Windows Vista at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show.
• The instrumental version of the song was used in a trailer for early seasons of Smallville.
• The song was featured in One Tree Hill, Season 3 Episode 20 "Every Day is a Sunday Evening".
• When playing this song live on their first tour, Tom DeLonge used Down and/or I Miss You as the intro to the song.
• The intro to the song is used for a short while in promotions for the second season of Heroes
• The song is used in commercials hyping FOX's new reality show, On the Lot.
• The song is used in the highlights video of the California Golden Bears victory over the Oregon Ducks in October 2006.
• The chorus of this song is used in Victoria Beckham: Coming to America near the end of the first episode.
• The song was used in a commercial for the 2007 NLCS for MLB.
• The song was used as the opening theme for morning radio show 'Elvis Duran & The Morning Zoo', from May 2006 until summer 2007.
• The song was used in a trailer for the In the Land of Women film.
• The song was used in an episode of the British holiday review program, "Holiday".
• The instrumental opening of the song is used as part of the theme of the Fox Business Network.
• The song was used during the pre-race show on ESPN during NASCAR Nextel Cup's Season Finale at Homestead, FL.
• The song was used in advertisements for the redesign of X-Play on G4.
• The song is sometimes played at campaign stops by John Edwards' 2008 Presidential campaign right before Mr. Edwards addressed an audience. The song has also been played at rallies for Senator Barack Obama in Virginia, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
• The song is featured in the intro to the first episode of the fifth season of Beauty and the Geek.
• The song was used in the 2008 Ford Motor Company 'Quality' commercial.
• The song's main riff was used in Ducks TV during the 2008 Stanley Cup NHL playoffs.
• The song is used in the first episode of Celebrity Circus.
  

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