Blink 182: Enema of the State

Blink 182:  Enema of the State

1999

MCA Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Dumpweed  2. Don't Leave Me  3. Aliens Exist  4. Going Away to College  5. What's My Age Again?  6. Dysentery Gary  7. Adam's Song  8. All the Small Things  9. The Party Song  10. Mutt  11. Wendy Clear  12. Anthem


I'm going to have to skip "Dude Ranch" for now, since my copy has a big crack in it...Oh well...Was looking forward to listening to it too...

 It's actually my favorite Blink 182 album...So  I guess I'll get back to it at a later date...

So onto Blink's 1999 release "Enema of the State"...

 I thought "Dude Ranch" was a big, slick punk album, but this one is even bigger and slicker...Huge, candy coated pop-punk...And they have the songs to back it up too...While I don't always enjoy this one as much as the previous two albums, I think it's more of a personal preference type of thing...I don't view this a a misstep or anything...I think it might have just been a bit too over-played at the time for my liking...So I don't quite get the same thrill hearing "All the Small Things" or "What's My Age Again" as I do from "Strings" or "Pathetic."



If you're of a certain age, the mere mention of Blink 182 will bring the indelible image of Mark, Tom and new drummer Travis Barker streaking across your television screen daily on TRL...Nestled snugly in-between videos by The Backstreet Boys and Eminem...

 "Enema of the State" ended up providing the soundtrack to those  heady, pre-9/11, pie-fucking times...

 So when they did that Backstreet Boys parody video it didn't feel like the expected punk evisceration of the subject matter...Instead it felt like the kind of careful, gentle ribbing of your co-workers the paid speaker gives at a corporate getaway....So it kind of turns into the kind of record that's really hard to divorce from its era...

It'd be easy to toss this in the bargain bin of history, as a relic from the Class of 99  Smashmouth/Lit/Len era, if the rest of the album wasn't so strong...Those of us paying attention,  knew that Blink 182 were ridiculously reliable in delivering the hooks on their albums...You could almost randomly choose any track form their album and it would work perfectly fine as a hit single...They were that on the top of their game during this time...

Listening to this again, I think  songs like  "Dumpweed', "Dysentery Gary", and "Wendy Clear" still provide the high velocity thrills...And I think they earned those white Backstreet Boys suits with the pop-tastic "Mutt."

Their more serious side is represented by the heartfelt  "Going Away to College" and the Emo powerhouse "Adam's Song" which tackles the surprisingly serious topic of suicide...and I'm also pretty sure it's a Mr. Show Reference...So they get extra points there...

"Try try try again
Head first this time
Dive right in..."

Alright, that actually inspires me to stop writing about Blink 182 and watch some Mr. Show instead...But before we do, let's check out "Wendy Clear" by Blink 182...Enjoy...