For my third trip, I had a lot of groups in mind.  Nine Inch Nail was a top contender, and although being extremely familiar with their (his?) earlier catalog, I’d have a lot of catching up to do.  Then there are those with tragically cut short discographies, like Nirvana, Sublime, and Alice in Chains.  And then, out of nowhere, (well not totally out of nowhere; I was in the car with my MP3 player firmly in hand), it came to me where my next trip should go: Blink-182.  Their infectious sound never ceases to amuse me, and at its best, their simple ruminations on life can be uplifting.  A lot of bands change as they further their musical careers, but it’s a bit different to tune into a band that actually evolves as time goes on.

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Punk rock became a thing unto itself right around 1976 with the emergence of several important clubs and bands, mostly centered in either NYC or London.  Groups like the Ramones and the Dead Boys were drawing large crowds at CBGB’s, while the Sex Pistols and the Clash were at the epicenter of a cultural phenomenon taking place in London.  Back then, “punk rock” was something very different than what so-called “purists” point to as “real punk” nowadays.  These guys will often say that “your punk” isn’t “as punk” as “their punk,” and then proceed to namedrop groups like Black Flag, Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Agnostic Front, with maybe a nod to the Ramones or the Misfits.  But most of those are/were hardcore punk, only loosely related to the 50’s-ish sound that musicians of the 70’s were eager to get back to after the self-indulgent and abstract forms of rock that developed in the 60’s.

At any rate, hardcore never made it into the mainstream, and was only one of many offshoots of the original punk rock scene.  The reality was that this “true punk” only lasted a few short years.  Pretty soon, either one of two things happened to the flood of punk bands: 1) they never achieved a level of success that allowed them to continue as musical artists, or 2) they got famous, were allowed the time and freedom to experiment with their music, and moved on to other things.  And so what was punk in ’76 had splintered into post-punk with bands like Joy Division, nu-wave with the likes of Human League, and the ever esteemed hardcore with groups like Bad Brains.

And although an undercurrent of punk continued to flourish and diversify, little of it would have the same impact that the bands of the mid to late 70’s did…until 1994.  Five seminal albums dropped in 1994 that would usher in the return of punk to the mainstream, this time with a catchier, more accessible, and downright poppy slant.  The two most important were Offspring’s Smash and Green Day’s Dookie, with records like Stranger Than Fiction, …And Out Come the Wolves, and Punk in Drublic marking career highs for the bands involved (Bad Religion, Rancid, and NOFX, respectively).  I wouldn’t exactly call Smash and Dookie pop-punk (at least not purely so) but they definitely laid the groundwork for a lighter, more melodic sound with the same driving rhythms and intensity of hardcore.

In the waning days of industrial rock’s dominance of the hard rock mainstream, several bands began to capitalize off of this newly upbeat but still somewhat raw sound, and pop-punk was born.  Bouncy rhythms, cleaner production, wildly infectious choruses, and lyrics aimed at the average teenager all ensured the success of this new sub-genre.  It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what the first pop-punk record was, but Blink-182 was one of the first that came onto the scene firmly entrenched in the pop-punk sound and without nearly as much “true punk” baggage as bands like the Offspring and Green Day would have to carry around.

The style arguably hit its zenith with 1999’s Enema of the State from Blink-182, and since then we’ve seen it gradually reworked and folded into other types of music.  It may difficult to turn on an alternative or hard rock station and point to a new song as definitely pop-punk, yet the essence traveled to several other musicians aiming for a middle ground between punk and emo.  The pop-punk of yesterday is directly responsible for artists like Fall Out Boy and Paramore today, and while these won’t shoot to the top of any of my “best of” lists, it’s nice to know that the spirit has been passed down.

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So let’s go ahead and get this journey underway – ah wait, but first, we need to take a small detour off of our route proper, just so we can get a better idea of what’s ahead of us!

Flyswatter (1993)

Normally I don’t care much about demo material – I have to really like a band to give a damn about their crappy demos.  As it turns out, Blink-182 is one of those bands I’m not quite that into…so why take a crack at Flyswatter?  Well the answer isn’t anything profound; I listened to it because of how widely available it is.

All in all there’s not much here worth listening to.  And even with how crummy the quality of the recording already is, I’m convinced that it’s deteriorated further during its transition from tape to hard drive.  Besides the muddy bass, flat drums, and in-and-out vocals, there are also a number of pops and stutters.  Many songs, especially the leading “Reebok Commercial,” have an abysmally low volume.

One area of note on this demo tape is the guitar work; the lead parts are actually recorded quite well and shine in tracks like “Time” and “Red Skies.”  Still, none of this stuff is going to make anyone’s regular playlist.  The most listenable cuts are “Point of View” and “Marlboro Man,” mostly due to DeLonge’s adenoidal but energetic whine.  Hoppus displays exceptionally weak vocals on the tape, with “The Longest Line” being a cringeworthy example of the difficulties he had in staying in tune.

There’s no doubt that this was always a low quality recording and that Hoppus had miles to go as a co-lead singer, but I would like to hear a better version of these recordings, assuming they even exist.  Most demo recordings lack bass, but Flyswatter nearly drowns in it.  It’s loud and upfront, but also imbalanced, and as such it tends to become an unpleasant sort of drone or low hum.  The drumming, while probably pretty decent, is also destroyed by the low production value.  Probably recorded with only one or two mics, there’s no discernible bass drum, the other hits sound like flat clicks, and the whole affair is almost washed out in a sea of tinny noise from the hi-hats and cymbals.

Listen to Flyswatter if you want, but do so with a studious perspective.  You may find flourishes of the Blink-182 you’ve come to know and love (like? hate?)…but then again, you may not.  What I find most interesting is that even from the beginning, these guys weren’t rooted in the more traditionally punk or hardcore scenes.  If you go back and listen to the earlier work of many punk musicians who have since achieved some degree of commercial success, you’ll find that many of them start off with a harder, edgier sound.  Flyswatter is certainly rawer and less refined than subsequent releases, but it’s clear that the guys always had a poppier approach in mind.

Buddha (1994)

Is it an album?  A demo?  Or is it Memorex?  I guess the best answer is a bit of a mix between “both” and “neither.”  Originally a set of demos that was published and released back in ’94 (kind of paradoxical to the term “demo,” eh?), their record company capitalized off of the success of Dude Ranch by remastering and reissuing the record in 1998.

Most of these tracks can be heard elsewhere, albeit in different forms.  “Point of View,” “Time,” and “Reebok Commercial” from Flyswatter are all re-recorded, and several others would themselves be re-recorded for Cheshire Cat (Carousel, Fentoozler, Strings, TV, Remeo & Rebecca, Toast and Bananas).  Buddha, in its remastered form at least, is a perfectly listenable “album,” if not a little underwhelming (especially if you’ve heard Blink at their finest).  It’s rough around the edges and lacks the memorable riffs and melodies of future albums,.

Both Hoppus and DeLonge struggle with their vocal duties somewhat.  “Carousel” always sounds out of tune to me, and the beginning of “Romeo & Rebecca” sounds about a half step flat.  The entire chorus of “Strings” is embarrassingly difficult to listen to.  There are several other momentary instances where it feels like a note or two is “off” or not in sync with the surrounding music, though they have improved considerably from Flyswatter.  The music itself has a sort of “generic” punk sound; it’s fast and loud and reasonably aggressive, but there isn’t a lot of diversity.  If you go through each track of the record and skip to somewhere around the minute mark or so, you’ll see that there’s an unremarkable “sameness” running throughout the material.

The trio does produce some quick flashes of the uber-catchiness that was yet to come.  The revamped “Point of View” stands out.  “Romeo & Rebecca” is reasonably good once it gets going.  I won’t say that Buddha is completely devoid of catchy hooks, they just aren’t as melodically interesting as the group’s best work, and these are the sorts of songs that tend to fade inoffensively into the background without leaving much of an impression in the meantime.

Cheshire Cat (1995)

Billed as Blink’s “proper” debut album,  this is basically more of what we just heard on Buddha with a slicker sound that edges closer to their more familiar sound.

Although much of Cheshire Cat contains the simplistic “chug chug” rhythms of less engaging punk rock, their taste for bubbly melodies is starting to shine through.  “Peggy Sue” is one of my favorites and its pacing, structure, and delivery would foreshadow much of what we’d see on Dude Ranch.  “Romeo & Rebecca” is much better this time around (it had some unrealized potential on Buddha) has a Green Day-ish slant to it.

Blink sticks pretty close to what they know for this album (including their trademark pureile humor that manifests in the last few tracks) but they do have a couple of outsiders worth mentioning.  “Sometimes” probably comes as close to a bona fide hardcore song as anything the band has every done.  It’s crazy, blistering speed is hampered a little by Hoppus’ muted and wooden vocals, but it does show off what the trio was already capable of from an instrumental perspective.  “Cacophony” is a very different song as well and sounds almost like a Weezer clone at times.  The opening guitar notes are reminiscent of Weezer songs like “Only in Dreams” and “Island in the Sun.”

The verdict?  I doubt I’ll ever champion Cheshire Cat as a classic of pop-punk.  It’s not a bad effort for a debut (if you can call it that), but it does contain some of a debut’s shortcomings.  It’s uneven for one; songs carried over from the Buddha days have a hard time competing with each other, yet the newer material saw the band really developing a sound of their own.  In my opinion, the final 3 tracks were a poor send off, which leave such a bad taste in my mouth that they interfere with some of the finer moments of the record.

They Came to Conquer… Uranus (1996)

What’s this you ask?  Yeah, I wasn’t too sure what to make of it either.  As I got my ducks in a row in order to embark on this trip, I stumbled across this little EP that threw me off a bit.  Turns out it’s only 3 songs, one of which appears on the following album!  Without hesitation, I made a couple of clicks, and soon I was filing it away under my Blink-182 folder.

There’s not much here – although “Waggy” was re-recorded for the following Dude Ranch, it sounds pretty much the same.  The other 2 are fairly intense, and leave as much of a mark as a 3 song EP can.  For the most part, “Zulu” and “Wrecked Him” resemble the heavier side of the songs on Dude Ranch, and They Came to Conquer Uranus is a fitting if small sample of what was to come.

Dude Ranch (1997)

We’ve finally gotten to my favorite destination on this journey, Blink’s Dude Ranch.  This was the record that shot them into the heart of the mainstream.  Their next release may have been the pinnacle of the band’s (and probably the entirety of pop-punk’s) popularity, but for me, Dude Ranch will remain their magnum opus.

There’s a lot going for this album.  It’s extremely upbeat and energetic with catchy hooks and riffs at every turn.  What really separates this from the next album is its edgier, grittier side.  Most of it is extremely fast, with drums and guitar flying all over the place in a constant rhythmic flux that more than staves off the “same-y” feeling of some of their earlier work.

“Pathetic” kicks the record off with Hoppus and DeLonge alternating vocal duties, something they should’ve tried a long time ago because the trade off works brilliantly.  “Voyeur” is loud and relatively heavy, and though the juvenile subject matter may be questionable, it’s delivered in a sufficiently funny and I daresay clever manner.  “Dammit” is what drew me, like most people, to the album in the first place and still stands as one the songs that best represents what there is to love about Blink and pop-punk in general.  “Dick Lips” is another heavier-than-usual cut that speaks to the adolescent in all of us.  Later on we have “Untitled,” some of DeLonge’s best vocal work, followed by “Apple Shampoo,” easily one of Hoppus’ best.  Near the end is the “Degenerate,” with a rapid-fire, gut-busting chorus, and the band attempts to close the record with a sentimental stab in “I’m Sorry.”

There is so much to say about Dude Ranch…I’m having trouble figuring out which parts are the most important!  Sometimes it’s much easier to describe what we don’t like than what we do; there’s just a sound here that clicks with me.  Pop-punk, when done over and over again, can become a pretty dull sound, but this record took everything that was great about it and threw out much of what wasn’t.  And I do prefer the harsher guitars and louder, more erratic vocals as it lends a more urgent feel to the music and makes it feel more alive.

Among other things, the band was in top form lyrically for Dude Ranch, ranging from the simple to the sublime.  Hoppus so deftly defines so many highschool moments with the line, “She’s so important / And I’m so retarded!”  “Dammit” features a perfectly paced rhythm that works great with lines like, “And maybe / I’ll see you / At a movie / Sneak pre-view!” and, “The timing / And structure / Did you hear? / He fucked her!”  “Dick Lips” and “Voyeur,” though irreverent, are laugh-out-loud funny at times.  Sure, there’s a lot of highschool subject matter, and yeah, a lot of it’s immature, but almost anyone can relate to it, whether you’re in that period of your life or it’s behind you.

Different music is great for different reasons, but there are things that all great albums have in common: a sound that works, an appropriate vibe, lyrics that fit with both, and consistency throughout.  Dude Ranch may dip a little during its second half (“Josie” and “A New Hope” don’t always do it for me) but for the most part it meets these qualifications and then some.  If you’ve never treated yourself to childish but wildly fun and upbeat pop-punk, this is the album to do it with!

Enema of the State (1999)

Dude Ranch didn’t immediately fly off the shelves.  Blink did a lot of touring and promoting to get their sophomore album off the ground, and not long after “Dammit” was all over the airwaves, their third album was fast approaching.  Broadly speaking, Enema of the State was to pop-punk what Korn’s Follow the Leader was to nu-metal, or Reznor’s The Downward Spiral was to industrial rock.  Yep, it was both the distillation of and evolutionary peak of a commercial sub-genre, with scores of wanna-be’s in its wake.

On the whole, Enema of the State is a pretty good album.  It doesn’t have the intensity nor quite as much youthful conviction as Dude Ranch (sometimes it sounds like the boys are trying a little too hard to be immature), but it does retain much of the infectious sound.  Two singles did most of the heavy lifting, with “What’s My Age Again?” and “All the Small Things” receiving almost constant airplay.  Actually, the record is a lot better than either of these would suggest.  “What’s My Age Again?” goes right back to the “trying too hard” that I just mentioned, and “All the Small Things,” while catchy and serviceable, veers more towards power pop than pop-punk, and its lack of musical complexity causes it to wear thin rather quickly.

But like I said, if these 2 tracks never really did it for you either, there’s other good stuff on here to hear.  “Dumpweed” opens the album with an introduction to this “new” sound.  It’s still plenty fast, and it’s still loud, but the abrasive guitars have been toned down a little, and many of the chord progressions suggest a lighter mood.  Most noticeable is DeLonge’s obviously processed vocals, a trend that continues throughout the record.  It takes the sound from Dude Ranch and mellows it out a bit, cuts some of the heaviness, and produces a cleaner, slicker, more meticulously crafted body of work.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and the music does sound good, I guess I just miss whatever little bit of rawness was left.  Earlier I said that “All the Small Things” leans more towards power pop than pop-punk, and indeed this would be the case for all of Enema of the State had the band not retained their speed.  “Going Away to College” is one of my favorites, blending the typical Blink sound with a Jimmy Eat World-ish emo flavor, and tackling something even just a little more mature than usual.  “Dysentery Gary” stays closest to the previous album, belonging in the same company with cuts like “Dick Lips” and “Degenerate.”  “The Party Song” is another strong song and again attempts to venture into territory beyond highschool girlfriends.

Enema of the State is/was just a little more poppy than I would’ve preferred, but it’s still an easy and enjoyable record, and it’s hard to argue with the popularity it received. Unfortunately, when you get to the top, where do you go from there?  The answer is almost always down.

Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001)

The band was in a pretty fragile state at this point.  The stress of touring, internal squabbles, and creative differences were all beginning to take their toll.  As it turns out, this was just the beginning and it was about to get a lot worse.  Before it did get worse though, the band churned out another album essentially in the same style as Enema.  Reading about some of the creative struggles during recording, such as Hoppus’ desire to make a bigger and better Enema, DeLonge’s preference for a heavier, guitar driven record with elements of hardcore, and Barker wanting to experiment with more than just punk rock drumming, you’d think that this album would have a really interesting vibe owing to all the conflict.

But it doesn’t….or does it?  Maybe what I’m hearing is that confusion and struggle between what each of the guys wanted from Blink-182, and maybe that’s why the album tends to jump around without ever really finding its own vibe.

The guitars might be a little crunchier and abrasive than they were on the previous album, but these are basically the same types of song; “The Rock Show,” and “Anthem, Pt. 2” exemplify the “Enema with more guitar” style, while others like “Online Songs,” “First Date,” and “Everytime I Look for You” could be taken straight from Enema.  “Give Me One Good Reason” is a great throwback to Dude Ranch with an awesome melody that, in my opinion, begins to foreshadow DeLonge’s later project Angels and Airwaves.

“Reckless Abandon” displays some hardcore leanings and moves in a heavier direction while still retaining the typical Blink sound.  “Story of a Lonely Guy” is also a bit unusual with its slower alt rock sound.  Who can resists those “da-da’s”?  “Stay Together for the Kids” might be my favorite here; I remember being absolutely blown away when I first heard it, even moreso because I could instantly tell it was Blink-182 yet it wasn’t like anything from them I’d heard before.  It’s good to hear Hoppus and DeLonge on the track together.  What starts off as a quiet emo-ish piece explodes into a crushing wall of downtuned sound.  It even has a piano track shining through.  At the time, this might’ve been the darkest, most unusual song to Blink’s credit.

So I suppose Take Off Your Pants and Jacket earns the “transitional album” moniker.  It’s uneven, all over the place, and really presents a strict dichotomy between what Blink-182 was and what it would be.  For the most part, Hoppus’ tracks fall back on what Blink had been doing in the past – songs like “Online Songs” and “The Rock Show” sound like the average Blink-182 song (and at times verge on recycled).  DeLonge was certainly pushing boundaries, and while it still sounded very much like Blink due to his melodic sensibility and style of guitar playing, it’s obvious that he’s striving for more.  Songs like “Story of a Lonely Guy” and “Please Take Me Home” still rely on the general sound of pop-punk, but they’re using these sounds for a grander, less rigid overall impact.

Your typical Blink fan will no doubt enjoy the majority of Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, though I’m willing to bet that by the end of a few listens, you’ll find yourself firmly planted in either Mark’s “we’re still Blink-182” camp or Tom’s “let’s give something different a try” camp.  I don’t dislike Hoppus’ work on the album, yet it is undoubtedly overshadowed by DeLonge’s more ambitious achievements.

Blink-182 (2003)

Tensions continued to rise among DeLonge and Hoppus in particular.  Between Take Off and Blink-182, DeLonge had veered off to Box Car Racer (taking Barker with him to record some drum tracks, which really ended up hurting Hoppus’ feelings) and was increasingly eager to explore music beyond what he though Blink represented.  Barker and Hoppus embarked upon side project of their own during the interim, and the fate of the band was left uncertain.  However, it seemed that their time with other musicians did the three some good, and by the time they came back together, they were all ready to make a new and different Blink-182 record.

So far so good, right?  But it’s their 5th album, and we all know that 5th albums can be a monumental hurdle for bands to successfully clear.  Too much of what’s been done before and people will label it as a copycat of an earlier album, but change the formula too much and risk alienating current fans.  Blink-182 definitely has a different sound to it than anything previously recorded, but there are enough familiar elements to keep the songs recognizable as Blink’s work.  I think it’s safe to call this the band’s “experimental album.”

Previously the band had relied mostly on guitar, bass, and drums, though in this record they really use the studio to their advantage with all kinds of effects and production tweaks.  They also had a plethora of instruments at their disposal.  The effect isn’t subtle – they really did a great job of putting these new sounds upfront for all to hear.  Even the songs will more conventional instrument come together a bit different than what we’re used.

“I Miss You” is probably the most well know track from Blink-182, and utilizes an electronic beat, chimes, piano, and strings.  It can hardly be called pop-punk anymore, and might better be described as softer alt rock or maybe post-pop-punk!  “All of This” goes out of the box as well, with Robert Smith’s lent vocals almost turning this into a real Cure song.  “I’m Lost Without You” uses expansive guitars, pianos, and electronics to create a powerful soundscape that had only been hinted at in the band’s previous work.

One of my favorites is “Asthenia,” which actually sticks fairly closely to the band’s pop-punk roots.  It has that same exuberance and upbeat quality, but it’s also more musically mature.  The flow and the melody are almost perfect, and it’s great to hear the guys continuing to evolve the sound instead of completely abandoning it.  Many songs that retain their connection with pop-punk also tend to give the guitars a more fuzzy, grunge-like feel…I’m still on the fence about how well it works in songs like “Easy Target” ad “Obvious.”

Blink-182 is easily the band’s most challenging, and it takes a few listens to completely appreciate the impact of their changes.  Due to its quasi-experimental nature, it never really comes together as a whole, and I find myself latching on to one song or another more than the entire album.  I think their new direction was mostly successful; they never quite find anything to run with, but they have produced a lot of interesting snippets.  Although I don’t think Blink-182 is necessarily an exception record, I could see it as the precursor to an exceptional album.

Neighborhoods (2011)

Blink-182 wouldn’t return to us for 8 long years, and indeed it seemed like the band was through.  Apparently Blink-182 was only a bandaid and not the cure, and the band split ways to pursue other projects.  But after a couple of tragedies rocked their separate lives, they reconciled yet again.  Or at least that’s what we were told.

The recording of Neighborhoods was very piecemeal, with the 3 members rarely interacting in the studio and instead sending tapes of material to each other.  The result is a sort of collage of sound and a continuation of some of the experimental leanings of Blink-182.  It all comes together to create a very rock-like album with few vestiges of punk anywhere to be found.  The sound is expansive, taking cues from both arena rock and power pop while at the same time subduing some of the more carefree and upbeat qualities.  Neighborhoods is a little gloomier and darker, though it can’t help but be bouncy and uplifting.

I have mixed feelings on the effort…sometimes I really enjoy the “big” sound of the record, and other times I feel like the guys have turned into “just another rock band.  Most of my favorites are top loaded, including “Ghost on the Dance Floor,” “Up All Night,” “Snake Charmer,” and “After Midnight.”  DeLonge’s weird enunciation and penchant for these slowly unfolding melodies works well with the subtler music.  “This is Home” has some potential with the background synth but never feels like it gets going.  DeLonge does some great vocal work on those first few tracks and manages to turn his while into a grandiose sort of croon.  The Deluxe Edition contains an additional 4 tracks that fit in well with the album, with “Even If She Falls” being the best of the bonus.

I like the sound that the guys were onto for Neighborhoods (for the most part), but I really wish they’d done more with it.  A little extra variety would’ve gone a long way in these slightly somber, ballad-esque pieces of music.  DeLonge had been wanting and wanting to do something different from Blink, and now he had, and it just isn’t the same.  I don’t mind all the pomp and polish, but the music has officially stopped being fun.

Dogs Eating Dogs (2012)

Neighborhoods wasn’t quite the end of this trip; no, we’ve got one small 5 song stop in the form of the band’s Dogs Eating Dogs EP.  It seemed that the tragedy that had brought them together for one more album would extend to yet another recording, though this was fraught with problems.  DeLonge admitted that his idea of working separately during the recording of Neighborhoods was probably not the best idea, and went into Dogs Eating Dogs with a different attitude.  This time, however, it would seem that his bandmates were less interested in Blink than DeLonge; quite the turn of events from years prior.

Regardless, we’ve got one more little slice of Blink-182, for now at least.  “When I Was Young” hits at a version of Blink we haven’t heard in a few years, and although the subject matter is marginally bleak, it has a fun and bouncy quality to it, and those soaring choruses that have been so sorely missed.  “Dogs Eating Dogs” is little more than a straightforward alternative rock song that would’ve been more at home 20 years earlier.  “Disaster,” while a pretty good song, does little except to remind us of Angels and Airwaves and how desperately the very concept of Blink-182 is clinging to life.  Everything from the beat, to the guitar, to DeLonge’s singing is taken straight from Angels and Airwaves.  “Boxing Day” is a decent acoustic number, and “Pretty Little Girl” conjures up more classic Blink, though the rap bit at the end is awful.

I’m not sure what Dogs Eating Dogs is/was supposed to be, but it doesn’t really seem to fit as a followup to Neighborhoods.  Maybe it’s just there to let us know that a future after Neighborhoods as possible…?

End of the Line

That’s it for our exploration into the kings of pop-punk.  And at this point, it looks like we might be better off if Blink-182 threw in the towel.  I’m all for Mark, Tom, and Travis continuing their careers, but I think it ought to be done under banners besides “Blink-182.”  It’s clear that DeLonge doesn’t want to see Blink go on without him, but there’s no reason for him to jump in every time to make an Angels and Airwaves 2 album.  Hoppus can’t stand the thought of letting Blink go, but hey, surely he could get his own project off the ground and continue to play whatever brand of pop-punk he wishes.  The name ought to be remembered as the fun, juvenile, and accessible music that it was, and not as a band that got bogged down in experimental releases with little connection to what they were known for.

Stay in the business if you have to guys, but get a new a name – a fresh start – fans will understand!

Let’s rank ’em, favorite and descending (does Buddha count as an album…?):

1. Dude Ranch
2. Enema of the State
3. Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
4. Blink-182
5. Cheshire Cat
6. Neighborhoods
7. Buddha

It’s hard to guess what the next Blink-182 album will sound like…then again, it’s even harder to say what a Blink album without Tom will sound like, which is the direction it looks like we’re headed.  Sadly, my favorite piece of theirs will probably be relegated to a footnote when discussing the more successful Enema of the State, and from there conversations will turn to the band’s wild changes in style and the interpersonal turmoil.

So what are the must-have’s from Blink’s catalog?  In my opinion, their best work is wrapped up in Dude Ranch and Enema of the State.  Those 2 are the definitive Blink-182 albums and they encompass everything that made the band great.  If you’re still hungry, I’d go ahead and toss in Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.  The band’s inner strife hadn’t yet totally robbed them of their powerful energy but it did produce some interesting sounds.  For those interested in the band’s earlier sounds, I’d recommend going straight to other poppishly inclined acts like (you guessed it) Green Day and Offspring. Should you find yourself drawn more to their later work, you may as well go ahead and make the leap to the one and only Box Car Racer album (Box Car Racer) and follow that up with DeLonge’s work in Angels and Airwaves.

My ideal playlist – 80 miutes or less:

1. Dammit (2:45) (Dude Ranch)
2. Point of View (1:11) (Buddha)
3. Degenerate (2:28) (Dude Ranch)
4. Aliens Exist (3:13) (Enema of the State)
5. Pathetic (2:27) (Dude Ranch)
6. Going Away to College (2:59) (Enema of the State)
7. Story of a Lonely Guy (3:39) (Take Off Your Pants and Jacket)
8. Cacophony (3:06) (Cheshire Cat)
9. I Miss You (3:47) (Blink-182)
10. Untitled (2:46) (Dude Ranch)
11. Reckless Abandon (3:06) (Take Off Your Pants and Jacket)
12. Stay Together for the Kids (3:59) (Take Off Your Pants and Jacket)
13. Dysentery Gary (2:45) (Enema of the State)
14. The Party Song (2:19) (Enema of the State)
15. Anthem Part 2 (3:48) (Take Off Your Pants and Jacket)
16. Apple Shampoo (2:52) (Dude Ranch)
17. Dumpweed (2:23) (Enema of the State)
18. Dick Lips (2:27) (Dude Ranch)
19. Give Me One Good Reason (3:18) (Take Off Your Pants and Jacket)
20. Voyeur (2:43) (Dude Ranch)
21. Asthenia (4:20) (Blink-182)
22. All of This (4:40) (Blink-182)
23. Disaster (3:42) (Dogs Eating Dogs)
24. After Midnight (3:25) (Neighborhoods)
25. Ghost on the Dance Floor (4:17) (Neighborhoods)

When it’s all said and done, Blink achieved something mid-career that many bands only dream of: they were producing the best possible version of a particular style of popular music.  But when it comes to both their earlier and later work, they can’t quite reach the same level of greatness.

What’s your take on Blink-182’s discography?  Which albums do you enjoy the most?  The least?  Let us know in the comments below!

Written by The Cubist