It's been a minute since we've seen the classic blink-182 lineup of Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker, and Tom DeLonge together — eight years, to be exact. While the band has gone through some hardships and personnel changes during that time, their music has remained ubiquitous and engrained in today's music landscape.
With new single "Edging" in tow, blink-182 ushered in the latest era of the group — one that kicks into full gear on May 4, when their world tour launches in St. Paul, Minn. After spending the summer rocking arenas throughout the US and Canada, they'll hit Europe in the fall and resume in Australia, New Zealand, Peru and Mexico in 2024.
The trio teased a hit-filled set list with two surprise sets at Coachella, where they were welcomed as heroes. The performances showed that blink-182 still sound (and look) like those punk-rock kids who went streaking in the streets of LA in their music videos — and while they may be a little older, they're still not ready to act their age.
As the beloved rock group begin their latest tour together, GRAMMY.com revisits 15 of blink-182's essential tracks.
"Carousel," Chesire Cat (1995)
When blink-182 first started, Hoppus and DeLonge were just kids who bonded over a shared love of punk rock bands like Bad Religion, NOFX, and The Descendants. They played high schools and small clubs throughout San Diego, creating a buzz in the SoCal punk rock scene.
The first album, Chesire Cat, is a bit rough around the edges, but it is undeniably the start of blink as we know them now. Album opener, "Carousel," moves at a frenetic pace of pent-up energy, and it's our first taste for what was to take over the world a little later on. They sound young and spunky, ready to get the party started.
"Dammit," Dude Ranch (1997)
Forget "Smoke on the Water" — for kids learning guitar in the early 2000s, it was the "Dammit" riff they wanted to master. And in the same vein, "Dammit" as a whole was the perfect introduction to blink-182. Everything we know and love about them — the bouncing guitars, the breakneck drums (albeit not recorded by Barker, who didn't join the band until 1998), the juvenile gossip, the singalong chorus — is all there.
In "Dammit" is the blink-182 too-cool-for-school philosophy. They don't want to go out with you anymore? Whatever. Just tell yourself they'll regret it and shrug, "I guess this is growing up."
"Josie," Dude Ranch (1997)
A fan favorite from blink-182's Dude Ranch, "Josie" doesn't waste any space. It's loud and fast, just like the music that shaped the band growing up in SoCal.
Almost like a little cousin to the Ramones' "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," "Josie" is a punk rock love song hidden behind brash drums and snot-nosed guitars, about a girl who is out of their league — who laughs at their dumb jokes, drives them when they're too drunk, and doesn't get jealous when they hang with the guys. With her they know that everything is gonna be fine. Who doesn't want a relationship like that?
"What's My Age Again?," Enema of the State (1999)
Mark Hoppus is 51, and both Travis Barker and Tom DeLonge are 47. So as DeLonge's guitar rang out and the band launched into "What's My Age Again?" at Coachella, it felt more like a protest song — because what is age but a number?
"What's My Age Again?" was the first single released from their pivotal Enema of the State album, and the first official taste of the Hoppus/DeLonge/Barker lineup. It is blink-182's mission statement, an anthem for those who never want to grow up. After all, as Hoppus sings, "No one should take themselves so seriously, with many years ahead to fall in line."
Every line is quotable, every riff is memorable, and not a moment is wasted. Now that's how you make one catchy pop punk song and win over a generation in the process.
"All the Small Things," Enema of the State (1999)
If "What's My Age Again?" was a reintroduction, "All the Small Things" was the song that made damn sure you'd never forget. Sure, blink-182 may not have invented SoCal pop punk, but they were the first band to bring it to the mainstream, and "All the Small Things" was what made them a household name. It propelled them into superstardom.
Since its initial breakthrough as an MTV mainstay in 1999, the song has become a classic pop-punk party anthem with its sing-along hook and catchy undulating verses. It's a song about nothing and everything at once; it's about letting go and being free from any troubles. Work sucks, they know — so why not just sing "Na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na, na"?
"Going Away to College," Enema of the State (1999)
On Enema deep cut "Going Away to College," blink-182 perfectly captured what it's like for a kid heading off on their own for the first time — heading into the unknown, leaving family and friends you grew up with behind.
"I haven't been this scared in a long time," DeLonge admits in the chorus, one of blink-182's best, most endearing in their catalog. The song is largely an adorably clumsy valentine to a high school sweetheart, and the words Hoppus sings read like a message hastily scribbled on a note in a locker: "This world's an ugly place, but you're so beautiful to me."
"Adam's Song," Enema of the State (1999)
Van Halen were once challenged to write a song other than hooking up with women or partying, so David Lee Roth wrote "Panama" about a car. In a similar way, blink-182 challenged themselves to write about something a little serious. In comes "Adam's Song," a tune sung from the perspective of a depressed teen thinking about ending his life: "Please tell mom this is not her fault," Hoppus pleads over a subdued, dirge-like guitar.
It's a heavy song that changed the idea of what a blink-182 song should sound like. Though the song was almost left off of Enema, "Adam's Song" ended up becoming one of the more important and cherished singles in the band's discography.
"Man Overboard," The Mark, Tom And Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!) (2000)
On its surface, "Man Overboard" might seem a bit like a throwaway song as the only studio track on blink-182's 2000 live album, The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!). The band needed a song to help promote the live album, so they turned to a song that didn't make it on the previous year's Enema of the State. Yet, the single is a bright, driving song that's chock full of hooks.
Upon closer look, there is a deeper story of confliction within, and about watching a friend succumb to alcoholism. In many ways, "Man Overboard" served as a sort of predecessor to the more serious content blink-182 would write about the albums that followed it.
"First Date," Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001)
First dates spawn a range of emotion — hope in the opportunity, butterflies in your stomach. Who wouldn't want to make that excitement last forever, and ever?
On "First Date," DeLonge sounds downright giddy at the prospect. He's so nervous he really can't eat, dreading the thought of the first kiss because it's a target he's "probably gonna miss." Barker's frenetic drumming on the track only heightens the feeling of anticipation, and the combo is a vivid portrayal of punk-rock romanticism.
One of the things blink-182 always does so well is getting right to the point in their songs. There's no count in, no slow build, no BS. One swift drum roll and we're off to the races. "First Date" is a prime example of this; a thrill ride from the jump.
"Reckless Abandon," Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001)
The hardest part about growing up is that you don't know you're in the "good old days" until you leave them. On the driving Take Off Your Pants and Jacket deep cut "Reckless Abandon," Tom DeLonge waxes poetic about all the good times and those crazy memories from those endless summers gone by. Like a pop-punk "Glory Days," DeLonge looks back at those days with rose colored glasses, practically smirking as he sings in the chorus "we left a scar extra large."
"Reckless Abandon" is a fast-paced, rockin' roller coaster, the blueprint for today's blink-influenced rockers like the Menzingers or Japandroids who write similar anthems yearning for those days of youth. Because of its frenzied pace, "Reckless Abandon" has become a mainstay in blink-182's live setlist — one that is sure to get the crowd rip-roaring.
"Stay Together for the Kids," Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001)
"Stay Together for the Kids" is blink-182 at their angriest. "It's so pathetic," Hoppus spits in the opening verse, before a wall of guitars blaze through in the chorus, in which DeLonge spitefully yells, "I hope you enjoyed this time, you gave it all away. It's not right."
Like several of blink-182's songs — and rock/pop-punk songs in general — "Stay Together For the Kids" digs into a very painful, yet relatable sentiment. And as blink-182 air their own grievances out in real time, they gave anyone who has also been there something to scream along with.
"Feeling This," blink-182 (2003)
blink-182 was always about Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus. They're the yin and yang at the heart of the band – the McCartney/Lennon of blink-182, if you will. The way they played off each other in their songs and on stage was a major part of blink's appeal.
However, on 2003's self-titled album, it became clear their songwriting was moving in separate directions. That was initially apparent on blink-182's lead single, "Feeling This," one of blink's raunchier tracks. With DeLonge's snarling verse giving way to Hoppus' melodic chorus, "Feeling This" almost sounds like two separate tracks that shouldn't work together — but with the magic of Hoppus and DeLonge, they most certainly do.
"I Miss You," blink-182 (2003)
While "I Miss You" is inarguably one of blink's most iconic songs, it's seen a resurgence within social media and meme culture, particularly thanks to DeLonge's trademark vocal delivery about the voices inside his yyyyeeaaaaad. So, it can be easy to dismiss the song as a novelty — but you'd be wrong.
"I Miss You" is as sentimental as any classic ballad, and blink play it without an ounce of irony; it's as self-aware as it is self-deprecating, but in the end, it's about being lovesick. It's also the first blink-182 track to be recorded with acoustic instruments, with the band unplugging their guitars and using upright bass and drum brushes, giving the song a haunting, ghostly feel — creating a song so affecting that it remains one of their biggest to date.
"After Midnight," Neighborhoods, (2011)
In 2005, blink-182 announced that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus to pursue other projects outside of the group. A few years later in 2008, two incidents brought the band back together: Longtime collaborator and producer Jerry Finn passed away, and Travis Barker was involved in a near-fatal plane crash. The trio reconciled, and in 2009, they appeared at the 51st Grammy Awards together with the announcement that they would be picking up where they left off and a new album was on the way.
That album, 2011's Neighborhoods, sees the band coping with life's near-misses and unpredictability. While much of the album is composed of old demos and separate ideas, "After Midnight" sounds like the band writing as a cohesive unit again. With Barker's skittery drum beat and the song's soaring chorus, it has a sort of grandeur that was a new look for blink-182, but they wore it well.
"EDGING" (2022)
You didn't think blink-182 grew up yet, did you? The bouncy new single "EDGING" — the first song in over a decade to feature Hoppus/Delonge/Barker together — is proof that blink-182 have clearly not lost their ability to write tight, catchy, sophomoric pop-punk.
Today, blink-182 have become the unlikeliest of elder statesmen, influencing new generations of kids who are creating their own pop punk anthems. But while the blink-182 on "EDGING" may be older, who says you have to get any wiser?