Diandra Reviews Entertainment News: UMG To Reissue Blink- 182’s Catalog To Vinyl

Since their humble beginnings twenty-four years ago, when they started playing in a San Diego garage, Blink-182 has sold over fifty million albums worldwide and rocked audiences around the world to become one of the definitive rock bands of their generation. Talk about leaving your garage! The trio of bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker, emerged from the Southern California pop-punk scene in the early ‘90s and quickly gained a reputation for their mischievous live shows,  irreverent humor, and catchy lyrics. Thus, it is no surprise that UMG will bring Blink-182’s entire Universal catalogue together for the first time as a limited edition vinyl box set on October 7.

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CHESHIRE CAT (1995)-  Blink 182’s debut album, which led to major record labels begging to sign the dynamic pop-punk band. This was a stringed effort for the California band that had been pushing their demos for awhile in an eagerness to be seen and heard for the unique, fresh sound they knew would soon dominate the globe. What a tale of hope!

DUDE RANCH (1997)- U.K.’s Kerrang! ranked this second album #15 on its list of “51 Greatest Pop Punk Albums Ever.” A hefty compliment for a band that once struggled to be heard, and were now at the center of record label bidding wars. In the end, MCA won the rights to this album, as after their powerful debut, Blink-182 proved everyone was going to listen to them. The tale of hope continues!

ENEMA OF THE STATE (1999)– This album contains some of Blink- 182’s greatest hits like, “All The Small Things”  and “What’s My Age Again?”. Ranked #37 in Rolling Stone’s “40 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time,”  this record was the first Blink- 182 album that included Travis Barker, whom had replaced their original drummer Scott Raynor. Another interesting fact is that this album, for being their biggest, was also their easiest to make. It took them only two days to record, which shows that greatness is not always hard to achieve but is clear.

THE MARK, TOM AND TRAVIS SHOW (THE ENEMA STRIKES BACK!) (2000)-  With their previous album catapulting them to fame, Blink- 182 did not lose sight over what made them so powerful as a pop-punk band: their humor. Using irreverent, self-deprecating lyrics backed by punk-rock sounds, the band continued to show that music can have a witty edge.

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TAKE OFF YOUR PANTS AND JACKET (2001)-  #14 on UK Kerrang’s!  list of “The 50 Best Rock Albums of the 2000s”, this album solidified that Blink 182 could be a commercial band, despite their underground, counter-culture sound. The album sold 14 million copies globally, had various Top Ten hits, and marked Blink-182 as televisable performers in shows like “Late Show With David Letterman” and “Late Night With Conan O’Brien”.

BLINK-182 (2003)- With achieving so much success and fame, the band began to slow down their creative process, but that did not mean they had lost their innovativeness. Side project began to blossom as well as fatherhood for the trio that had come from their garage to the globe to conquer audiences with their music. This self-titled record is considered by many as their most experimental, which is why it sounds so distinct from their previous pop-punk records. Yet, men grow, and with that so does their sound and wisdom.

NEIGHBORHOODS (2011)- following a six-year hiatus, this record would be the band’s last album together with Tom DeLonge. After Travis Barker’s near fatal plane crash and the death of their close friend and producer, Jerry Finn,  Blink- 182 decided to reunite and create one of their most personal albums to date. Throughout the record, you can hear the spiritual influences each band member have gathered through their lives as musicians, fathers, and basic human beings. For me, as well as others critics, it is the record in which you can literally hear how much the men of Blink-182 have grown as individuals.

For More Information on Blink-182 Click Here. Buy Their Vinyl Album Re-Issues On  October  7.