Blink 182

Formation

Blink-182 formed in San Diego, CA, when Tom Delonge met Scott Raynor. He met Mark Hoppus through his sister and they talked about boarding for a while and soon found out they had a lot in common, including the same juvenile perverted sense of humour.



Scott Raynor leaves the band

Original drummer Scott Raynor left the band in 1998 and was replaced by Travis Barker. They say that Scott "disappeared" a few hours before a show. Travis Barker, a drummer from another band who had great aptitude with the drums, learned more than 30 songs in 3 hours, and he replaced Scott.

There are many rumors as to why Scott left the band, the most popular being that he was battling problems with alcoholism that affected the performance. The band has released no official statement on Scott, stating that it was "none of our business."



History (based in albums)

Their demo tape, "Flyswatter", called the attention of some music companies. In 1994, they recorded their first official album, Buddha. The album was re-released in 1998 en masse, but in 1994 only 1000 copies of the album (which was originally a cassette) were produced and sold.



The next year, they recorded "Cheshire Cat", which has lots of songs from Buddha and Flyswatter. This album was also re-released in 1998 when the band became more popular. Cheshire Cat is the first full-length album released en masse, and the first CD that the band recorded. The band got more popularity with this album.



Both Buddha and Cheshire Cat got strong reviews. The most popular songs of this period are "Carousel" and "M+M's".



In 1997, they released "Dude Ranch", which started to give a lot more popularity to the group, specially their song "Dammit", which called the attention of major labels. This was the last album recorded with Scott Raynor in the Drums, and it's crucial in blink-182 history.



In 1999, after Scott Raynor left the band, they signed a contract and recorded their most successful album, "Enema of the State". After this disc the band became very famous, but at the same time they began to lose their "Punk" reputation and became a "Pop icon". That is exactly what the band didn't want.



In 2000 they released "The Mark, Tom and Travis show (The enema strikes back)". The critics hate this album, even if itºs acclaimed by the public. It was famous for the excessive use of profanity and adult jokes.



In 2001, they released their most sold album, "Take Off your Pants and Jacket". Even though the public liked this album, the critics were very strongly against it, and said that these 25 year guys could not sing about their first date. In the same year the band won a Kids Music Award. This just gave them more of a reputation as a "Pop Icon". As some critics say: "Nobody remembers that blink-182 is punk".



In 2003, after these hard critics, they made their self titled album: blink-182, which showed more maturity, and critics liked it.



Their last album, "Greatest Hits", has their 15 most successfully songs. The most important of these are: "Carousel", "Dammit", "Josie", "Whats my age again"," All the Small Things", "Stay Together for the Kids" and "I Miss You".



The end of blink-182?

Even if they are officially on "Indefinite Hiatus", there are several rumors that the band broke up. There are also several contradictions. Travis Barker said:

"We will record a disc in 2006", but in another interview he said:

"blink-182 is over. It doesn't exist anymore". He also said:

"Being in the transplants is amazing. I'm in a band with 2 guys that love making music, and that's something that I can't say of blink-182 close to the end". Furthermore, Mark Hoppus said:

"The only problem is that Tom doesn't want to play this music, and he wants to go back home with his family."

It was a really big shame to hear that they would be breaking up and producing music no longer but we still have all of their tuely excellent music which I still listen to. You could tell pick their voices in a second and their lyrics were great which alot of people still have in their heads.

It's a shame they ended. And that they were never in Portugal. This is the band that more easily could speak to his fans, their lyrics reflect all the situations that an adolescent is put through is growing. And to make them even better, their sound is amazing too. Ok, Scott and Mark are basic players (Scott is the real punk drummer, and Mark wasn't any wonder in the bass); but Tom's guitar and Travis's Drums are amazing. Don't think that I've said that Mark is a bad musician, from me overall is the best of the four, because his lyrical side is excellent, he wrote songs that I can identify with very easily. And there are some good tunes in his bass, like in "Man Overboard". Overall, the best band in the world, even if it's broken.

I don't get why one of the greatest punk-rock bands of all time,had to go on hiatus.They are legends and a great inspiration to alot of todays bands who are just starting out.Their legendary music is some of the best that I have ever heard.I only had to hear one song by them to know that I really liked them.The first time that I ever heard any of their songs on the radio, I was right away hooked by their great sound and their funny lyrics.Mark and Tom were the best of friends and all it took was something stupid to happen for this awesome band to come to a sad end.If they ever get back together again,many people all acros the world will cheer.Sadly eneough however,it seems as if that will never happen.But we can still hope that it does.

Why did they have to go on "hiatus." This guys rule. Every song. They friggin keep me outta rock bottom some times. Adam's Song and Stay Together For the Kids are such well written deep meaning songs. Some other songs, like Always and All of This, may not mean so deeply, but are greatly written and of course have great music. Then there's songs like Feeling This and Stockholm Syndrome, which are simple punk rock. Simple awesome punk rock. And I hardly went off their last album to list those songs! Blink is my favorite band, no question! I could list so many more songs: Down, Story of a Lonely Guy, All the Small Things, Easy Target, Anthem and Dammit. and I'm still just getting started.

And Anthem part 2 may be the best written song this world has seen. Only if Adam's Song and Stay together aren't!

They are a really big part of my life. I love their music soo much that it even inspired me to play guitar ( i started last year on june 13th 2005). They have soo many awsome songs with good lyrics and the instruments they play are played extremly well. I love pretty much all their songs. The early cds werent my favroites but later on it got better and better every cd. I love songs like asthenia, first date, feeling this, dont tell me that its over, aliens exist, man overboard, not now, i wont be home for christmas and i love pretty much everyting else just as much! I just dont understand why they had to go on hiatus, they shouldnt have done it. Atleast not now...

blink-182 is definatly a band on my top ten. great, talented, good looking musicians who have been making music since 1992. and i believe despite the rumors, that blink-182 will come off their hiatus and make another record. i am not following any information put out unless it is said on the official site. blink-182 will be back. i can feel it.