The punk band Blink182 from San Diego made a name for themselves with their fiery shows and with their first album, Cheshire Cat (Grilled Cheese, 1994).
Buddha (Filter, 1995) includes material discarded from the previous album and released in only one thousand copies.
The live album They Came To Conquer...Uranus (Grilled Cheese, 1995) offered previews of songs that would later reappear on subsequent records.
After the blistering single Lemmings (Grilled Cheese, 1996), and the EP Wasting Time (Grilled Cheese, 1996), which featured Wasting Time, Enthused, and Wrecked Him, Blink182 gained greater recognition with Dude Ranch (Cargo, 1997).
The intelligence of the group was Tom DeLonge, crafter of precious melodies and narrator of the misadventures of the average Californian teenager. The refrains and sing-song rhymes of this record (in particular Pathetic, Voyeur, and Dick Lips) rise far above the average of hardcore (and of their own previous output). Swept away by his own dialectic, DeLonge abandons any semblance of melodicism for the whirlwind charge of Enthused.
Not all of the record runs at that frantic pace. Every now and then, DeLonge yields to more adult meditations, resurrecting the vocal harmonies and epic nausea of X in Waggy. If it werent for a few too many tracks, hastily crammed into the sequence just to reach the minimum CD length, it would have been one of the best punk albums of the year.
(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
Buddha (Filter, 1995) includes material discarded from the previous album and printed in only a thousand copies.
The live album They Came To Conquer...Uranus (Grilled Cheese, 1995) featured previews of songs later presented on subsequent records.
After the dizzying single Lemmings (Grilled Cheese, 1996) and the EP Wasting Time (Grilled Cheese, 1996), which includes Wasting Time, Enthused, and Wrecked Him, Blink 182 gained greater notoriety with Dude Ranch (Cargo, 1997).
The brain of the band is Tom DeLonge, author of precious melodies and chronicler of the misadventures of the average Californian teenager. The choruses and nursery-rhyme-like songs on this album (particularly Pathetic, Voyeur, and Dick Lips) rise well above the hardcore average (and above their own previous output). Overwhelmed by his own dialectic, DeLonge abandons any semblance of melodicism for the whirling energy of Enthused. Not all of the album moves at that frenzied pace. Occasionally, DeLonge indulges in more mature reflections, resurrecting the vocal harmonies and epic nausea of the X in Waggy.
Were it not for a few extra tracks hastily packed into the sequence to meet the required CD running time, it would have been one of the best punk records of the year.
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
Far from being predictable and dull, Blink 182's punk-rock packs life stories
and teen energy in catchy refrains and then stretches them over ever mutating
structures. Enema Of The State (MCA, 1999) offers the same flavor of
the previous album, but with increased sharpness and louder production.
The commercial potential of Dumpweed's refrain
(not to mention the even poppier What's My Age Again) does not deter
from the pace, which peaks in the galloping singalong of Don't Leave Me
and in the frantic Wendy Clear.
The music is still mainly an echo of singer Mark Hoppus' tirades, as epic
while self-indulgent numbers like Going Away To College
amply demonstrate. His attitude threatens to get out of control in the
melancholy and subdued ballad Adam's Song, which soars with a pompous
chorus.
Sometimes too slow and too intelligent for its own sake, the album is redeemed
by the senseless hoedown and the unstoppable bubblegum of
All The Small Things. Blink 182 were not born to think, they were born
to rock.
Take Off Your Pants And Jacket (2001) offers more fun music with
the same high-school pranksters attitude, including the hit
Stay Together for the Kids.
The existential and military uncertainty of the post-September 11 world
seems to haunt even Blink 182's jovial punk-pop on Blink-182 (Geffen 2003).
Feeling This, I'm Lost Without You, etc. have lost all the
naive verve of their youthful days, and absorbed all the anxiety of their age.
With this album, they don't become real musicians, but at least they graduate to real life.
Blink 182's vocalist Tom DeLonge formed Angels and Airwaves with
guitarist David Kennedy, bassist Ryan Sinn and Offspring's drummer Atom Willard.
Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker joined guitarists Craig Fairbaugh and Shane Gallagher in (+44), that debuted with
When Your Heart Stops Beating (Interscope, 2007).
The comeback album Neighborhoods (2011) contains
Up All Night and This Is Home, but also sounds terribly outdated.
