If you’re like me and missed the early years of blink, this compilation will give you an idea of how far they’ve come musically since the days of cutting demos in Scott Raynor’s bedroom. This album includes the track “Carousel” which originally came from a demo album done at the end of 1993, before being included on the album “Cheshire Cat” in 1994.
They released three more studio albums, replacing Raynor with the ever-popular Travis Barker.
The songs are listed in chronological order of release, and represent most of their popular singles, even though they weren’t all certified hits. Included of course are their biggest trademark songs, 1999’s “What’s My Age Again” and “All the Small Things” from the album Enema of the State, as well as “Feeling This” and my favorite “I Miss You” from their untitled 2003 album. There are also two “new” songs - “Not Now” recorded for the untitled album, but only included in the UK version as a bonus, and “Another Girl, Another Planet” a cover of the song by British Rock & Roll band “The Only Ones” and the theme song of Travis’ reality show “Meet the Barkers”.
Although blink-182 is one of the most popular punk/rock groups around, it’s uncertain whether there will be any more albums in the future seeing that they are on a “break”. This album showcases their best work, and is a good choice, especially if you don’t have the earlier albums.
Amanda Richards