Enema of the State

Enema of the State is the third studio album by American pop punk band Blink-182. Recorded at various locations throughout California with producer Jerry Finn, the album was first released on June 1, 1999 in the United States on MCA Records. "What's My Age Again?", "All the Small Things" and "Adam's Song" were released as singles, each highly successful.

The follow-up to the band's successful sophomore record, Dude Ranch, the band booked multiple recording sessions to produce the album. Shortly before production began, the band fired original drummer Scott Raynor, who was replaced by Travis Barker. The band strived to achieve a cleaner sound in the studio than that of their previous efforts. The iconic album cover features porn star Janine Lindemulder in a nurse uniform.^[2]

The highly anticipated record received positive reviews from professional music critics and was a major commercial success worldwide. It has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, making it the trio's highest selling album.^[1][3] In the years following the album's release, Enema of the State and its pervasive impact on music has allowed critics to regard it as a landmark pop punk album.^[1]

Background and recording

Origins

After the success of their previous album, Dude Ranch, Blink-182 embarked on multiple worldwide tours during 1997 and 1998. Midway through a U.S. tour in 1998, original drummer Scott Raynor was asked to leave the band. Various conflicting reasons have circulated the Internet for years; a largely popular explanation is that Raynor had a serious drinking problem and was asked to leave. When he agreed to abstaining from alcohol, bassist Mark Hoppus and guitarist Tom DeLonge doubted his sincerity and he was fired from the band through a telephone call. In a 2004 interview, Hoppus described the touring for Dude Ranch as "rough", with DeLonge adding "That was the worst tour ever. At that time, our drummer had a drinking problem. One show he dropped his sticks 10 times. It was so disturbing to see someone ruining himself."^[4] Raynor, in a 2004 interview with AbsolutePunk, stated the reason for his departure was his desire to stay in a small non-mainstream band against the increasing popularity Blink-182 was achieving.^[2]

The first news report of the departure occurred on July 14, 1998, with the explanation being that Raynor had "reportedly returned to school."^[5] Hoppus and DeLonge asked drummer Travis Barker of Blink-182's support band The Aquabats to fill in for Raynor for the remainder of the tour. He was later offered the position of a full-time drummer and consequently left The Aquabats. Barker learned the entire setlist of the tour (which consisted of 20 songs), in only one day.^[6]

Recording

Tracks for Enema of the State were demoed between 1998 and 1999 with Raynor's replacement Travis Barker. The band entered the studio officially in October 1998 to begin work on the album.^[7] While recording Enema of the State, Mark Hoppus predominantly used an off-the-shelf Fender Precision Bass he later named "Petey" ^[8] as well as the Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray basses he had used with the band prior to recording the album. The Stingray bass can be heard on both "Dumpweed" and "Mutt". Tom DeLonge used Gibson Les Paul guitars, a Custom Fender Telecaster Junior, and his signature Fender Stratocaster. The album was produced by Jerry Finn, who would also produce Blink-182’s later albums Take Off Your Pants and Jacket and Blink-182. Two tracks from the sessions were left off of the album: "Man Overboard", later re-recorded and released for The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!), and "Life's So Boring", an instrumental.

The band spent much more time in the studio than on previous records, allowing them to try many different things. The addition of Barker brought a new element to the group. DeLonge and Hoppus wrote the lyrics for the album, and Barker contributed to the music, co-writing the compositions.^[9] Blink-182 recorded a cover of Jan and Dean's song "Dead Man's Curve" during the recording sessions for Enema of the State; the song was included for the soundtrack of the CBS television movie Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story.^[10] The album was released October 26, 1999.^[11] The band also recorded a studio version of their popular live joke song "Family Reunion" during the sessions of Enema of the State. The version can be found on the compilation album Short Music for Short People.

Release and promotion

The album was released on June 1, 1999 through MCA Records. This was the band's first new release through the label; although the band’s sophomore effort, Dude Ranch, was distributed internationally through the company, its original release was through a smaller company (Cargo Music). The explicit version was released on CD and cassette on June 1, a "clean" version (or edited version) did not debut on both formats until October 5, 1999.^[12] The original explicit version left off the standard Parental Advisory sticker, which was added shortly thereafter the mistake was noticed. A digital version of both the explicit and clean versions of the album was released for online music services (iTunes and Rhapsody) in 2004. An Australian Tour edition of the album, featuring extra tracks and a separate disc of live material, was released in 2000.

The album was released as an Enhanced CD featuring a bonus music video and web links.^[13] The album was released on vinyl format for the album’s tenth anniversary on December 1, 2009 by independent record label Mightier Than Sword Records,^[14] Since these releases, non-Mightier Than Sword releases have been found in Hot Topic stores across the United States.^[15]

Before production of the album officially began, Blink-182 was approached by crew members of the coming-of-age comedy film titled East Great Falls High to appear in a cameo for the film. The band was picked because of their appeal to the target audience of the film. The film was later re-titled American Pie and was a huge commercial success the next year.^[5][10] The song "Mutt" from Enema of the State is featured on the film's soundtrack, and plays in a scene in which they are interrupted rehearsing to see a webcast on a computer.^[16] Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, and Travis Barker all feature in the scene, along with a fake extra band member, although Scott Raynor is listed in the movie credits.^[10] American Pie enjoyed critical success and has since been labeled a classic of the teen comedy genre.^[17]

The band later appeared in the Two Guys and a Girl episode "Au Revoir, Pizza Place", aired September 29, 1999. They are seen performing "What's My Age Again?" in the nude during a party at the pizza place. Hoppus and DeLonge played the duo Jan and Dean in the CBS television movie Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story in November 1999.^[10]

In addition to "Mutt" being released on the soundtrack for American Pie, "Dumpweed" can be heard on the soundtrack to Jailbait!, a 2000 television film broadcast on MTV. In addition to the singles being released for multiple music video games, the album track "Aliens Exist" was included as part of the setlist of Lego Rock Band.

Artwork

The album artwork for the album consists of three simple and bright colors: red, white, and blue. A hospital and medicine theme is sported throughout the album liner notes and artwork. The lyrics are present in the liner notes, keeping in line with all previous Blink-182 albums. A portion of the enclosed booklet with the album features a panorama of men posing in just underwear – Blink-182 members Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker included. The only person fully clothed is a midget, pointing at Hoppus. The images were replicated for the gatefold packaging of the vinyl release in 2009.

Porn star Janine Lindemulder is the nurse famously depicted on the cover of Enema of the State.^[1] The cover shoot for the album was held March 12, 1999.^[18] She is also featured in the music videos for "What's My Age Again?" and "Man Overboard". The original version of the album (without the Parental Advisory sticker, as mentioned in the previous section) featured Lindemulder in a nurse cap displaying the American Red Cross logo. The Red Cross was removed and digitally edited out of all further printings, however, some Canadian pressings still feature the red cross intact and these versions are soon to become rare.

Singles

Three singles were released in support of the album, all of which charted on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: "What's My Age Again?" was released in November 1999,^[19] reaching number two; "All the Small Things" was released in January 2000,^[20] becoming Blink-182’s first number one; lastly, "Adam's Song" was released in September 2000,^[21] charting also at number two. A music video was made for each single released from the album. There have been rumors that there have been videos for "Going Away to College", "Aliens Exist" and "Mutt" among others. The "Going Away To College" music video is actually the introduction to The Urethra Chronicles and in a recent interview with Mark Hoppus, on the fansite 44Disasters, he stated that a video was never made for "Mutt" or "Aliens Exist".^[22]

Reception

Commercial performance

Upon Enema of the State's release on June 1, 1999, Enema of the State debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 album chart, selling 110,000 copies in its first week.^[29][30] Early reports listed the album with a June 11 release date.^[18] The album sold nearly four times as fast than Dude Ranch, and continued to sell strongly throughout the summer, leading MCA Records marketing directors to predict the album would become platinum by fall.^[31] Enema of the State went platinum by August 1999; by summer 2000, the album had reached sales of 3.3 million.^[32][33] It has since achieved sales of 15 million worldwide.^[3]

Critical reception and legacy

It was ranked at #1 in Top40’s Top 10 Punk-Pop Albums of All Time list,^[34] #66 on Guitar World magazine's reader's choice list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time,^[35] #34 on VH1's Greatest Album Covers of All Time,^[36] and included in Blender magazine's 500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die.^[37]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Mark Hoppus/Tom DeLonge and arranged by Blink-182. 

Personnel

^[38]

Charts

Notes