Remove ads, unlock a dark mode theme, and get other perks by upgrading your account. Experience the website the way it's meant to be.

Blink-182 – Take Off Your Pants And Jacket

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Melody Bot, Jun 14, 2021.

  1. Melody Bot

    Your friendly little forum bot. Staff Member

    This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply.

    Usually you can trace back to moments in time when you know you’ve discovered something special or extraordinary. Sometimes that can be a new love, a new album, or new band that makes you feel like you’re discovering a new part of yourself in the process. Looking back on the 20th anniversary of this pop-punk classic makes me remember the carefree days of school ending and looking towards the promise of an unpredictable summer. Treading into the unknown only furthered my discovery of who I was, and in the process, helped me discover one of my favorite bands of all time. Blink-182 had made quite a name for themselves on their album, Enema of the State, and all eyes were fixed to see how the pop-punk band would follow up their massively successful and now legendary record. Enter Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, the studio album that’s a pun for <ahem> the act of self love. Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, and Travis Barker couldn’t have been riding any higher coming into this fourth album, and working with veteran hit-maker Jerry Finn (Green Day, Sum 41) wasn’t going to change their trajectory into the stratosphere of popularity. The topics covered on the album tackle young love, fighting back authority figures, and more serious issues like divorce. With a mix of both topical elements, on top of well-crafted pop-punk tunes, Blink-182 must have known they created something special.

    Take Off Your Pants and Jacket was one of the first major pop-punk releases to debut at the very top of the Billboard 200, and got major label executives extremely excited at the prospect of signing the next big thing in the Warped Tour scene of bands. Blink-182 was one of the most, if not the most popular bands in this scene, and they experienced moderate success on their earlier material, only to explode into superstars on MTV’s Total Request Live, and being the band most closely associated with the genre. There was a lot to like about the young trio of Hoppus, DeLonge and Barker, and the music that they matched up with their quirky personas on camera was like lightning in a bottle.

    The record blasts off on the right foot with the safe choice of “Anthem, Pt. 2,” that connects the dots between Enema and TOYPAJ. It also includes one of Hoppus’ most memorable bass lines in their discography, and the band chemistry between the three musicians was undeniable. DeLonge sets the scene by singing with his trademark nasal delivery, “Everything has fallen to pieces / Earth is dying help me Jesus / We need guidance, we’ve been misled / Young and hostile, but not stupid / Corporate leaders, politicians / Kids can’t vote, adults elect them / Laws that rule the school and workplace / Signs that caution, sixteen’s unsafe,” and it was as if he was singing directly to the youth of America by explaining the status quo. Barker’s great drum fills on the song really added to the punch behind each of the lyrics.

    ”Online Songs” lets Hoppus to take center stage on vocals, while the backing vocals by DeLonge on the chorus and “na na na’s” further added to the sound the band were going for here. “First Date” quickly follows the track with another great Barker opening drum fill, and features some great starts and stops between the guitars and drums to make for a memorable single. The video featured some great comedic elements, and not to mention, DeLonge’s legendary “WTF” gif. The music itself here was more aggressive in tone than some of the polished pop-punk found on Enema, but the overall sound comes across just as powerful today.

    There’s a few filler tracks to be found (“Happy Holidays, You Bastard”) that tackle the playful side of the band, but they are brief, and don’t distract the listening experience too much. For every one of these playful tunes, Blink-182 come back in full force with a jam like “Story of a Lonely Guy.” It’s on this track that the bass line really echoes off of the speakers, and nearly drowns out DeLonge’s lyrics in the verses in the mix. Finn’s choices on deciding which parts of the band to accentuate on each song makes for an interesting and overall enjoyable album listening experience.

    ”The Rock Show” was an obvious choice of a first single, and the band have everything in its right place on one of their most fan-adored songs. Hoppus sings on the beautifully crafted bridge, “Black and white picture of her on my wall / I waited for her call, she always kept me waiting / And if I ever got another chance I’d still ask her to dance / Because she kept me waiting,” and the back half of that bridge ends up being one of the best harmonies that band ever created.

    Things take a turn towards the more serious aspects of life on “Stay Together For the Kids,” where Hoppus and DeLonge share vocal duties on a song about the very real topic of divorce. The build up to the massive chorus of, “So here’s your holiday / Hope you enjoy it this time, you gave it all away / It was mine, so when you’re dead and gone / Will you remember this night, twenty years now lost / It’s not right,” hits just as hard as it did from the first time I heard it. It’s a topic I’ve been fortunate enough to not experience in my personal or family life, but having seen some of my closest friends go through this unfortunate family situation, it’s a song that delivers on so many levels for understanding how devastating the process can be.

    ”Rollercoaster” on the other hand brings the breakneck pop-punk back to the forefront of the listening experience and delivers a track that’s still a fan favorite to this day. My personal favorite from the set of songs on TOYPAJ comes on its ninth track, “Reckless Abandon.” Maybe I’m a sucker for the hisses and pops of the vinyl sound in the beginning of the track, or maybe I just appreciate a well-constructed pop-punk song that has more hooks than a fishing boat. Either way, Hoppus, DeLonge and Barker are so in-tune with each other’s strengths on this song that it couldn’t not make the final cut of the album sequencing.

    Similar success is found on “Everytime I Look For You” and “Give Me a Good Reason,” with the former track getting some more prominent plays on coming of age films like American Pie 2. “Shut Up” to me sounds more like an end of the sequencing filler track, especially having the foresight of knowing what Blink-182 would be able to create on their next few records. However, things end on the right foot with the brilliantly aggressive “Please Take Me Home,” that also includes some great reverberating bass lines, impressive drum fills, and more great guitar work. DeLonge’s lyrics of “Be strong when things fall apart / Honest this breaks my heart,” on the second verse carry more weight with my older ears, and it’s no secret why they chose to repeat the heartfelt lyrical lines before they break out into a big jam to close out the now legendary album.

    The first few pressings of the CD’s included some “hidden” bonus tracks that were different based on which version of the album you purchased, and included such legendary titles of “Mother’s Day,” “Fuck a Dog,” and “When You Fucked Grandpa.” Blink-182 would go to follow-up Take Off Your Pants and Jacket with what many consider their best album in their self-titled effort and further expand upon the possibilities of what their band is and could become. While Blink-182 may look a little bit different today, it’s still important to recognize any time where one of our scene’s albums celebrates an important milestone such as this 20 year mark.

    more

    Not all embedded content is displayed here. You can view the original to see embedded videos, tweets, etc.
     
    thebloodhound likes this.
  2. LosManosFuertes

    Love This Place Supporter

    Such a great record.
    I don't know if I can forgive no mention of the "serious" bonus tracks (jk).
    But for real, Don't Tell Me That It's Over and Time to Break Up are two of their best tracks ever.
     
  3. Ska Senanake

    Trusted

    This is the album that in 2000 single handedly changed my life musically. Had it spinning in my gold walkman for like 2 years straight.
     
  4. deflector

    formerly pizzatime

    shame about "Shut Up"
     
  5. peoplearepoison

    It’s a perfect day for letting go... Supporter

    This started it all for me. I got this album and I stopped listening to boy bands. From then on, I was PUNK (but was called a poser by the "real" punks because I liked blink)
     
    Shneehaw and paythetab like this.
  6. Steeeve Perry

    Trusted

    I had gone from boy bands to hip hop, but had always really liked the small bits of pop-punk I'd heard, like when our free-to-air TV music video show would play All the Small Things. My first week of high school one teacher let us play music and The Hell Song came on. A couple of guys knew all the words and it kinda blew my mind. I asked one of them for some music recs and he gave my five burnt CDs including Does This Look Infected, International Superhits and TOYPAJ.

    Take off Your Pants and Jacket became my first ever favourite album. And that guy is still my best friend almost 20 years later, was in my wedding, we work together, have holidayed together here in Australia and overseas, and now our kids play together.

    I will always love this album.
     
  7. Punkrocker

    Wiping brings down the rainforest

    Haha I went from boybands to blink also, although my path was a little longer. Boy bands/pop/rock (eg third eye blind/matchbox 20) to nu metal, to blink. Enema of the state was the catalyst for me, specifically when they started to take over TRL.

    Enema and TOYPAJ are some of my favorites of all time and have certainly help shape me into the person I am today. I fell in love with music and started playing guitar because of them. I still have a prized Yellow Tom Delonge strat that is my #1 axe until death do us part. :heart:
     
    Shneehaw and paythetab like this.
  8. Serenity Now

    deliver us from e-mail Supporter

    This was the first album rollout I paid attention to as an early high schooler. I had to pull a "hey mister" outside of the local k-mart to get someone over 18 to buy me the non-edited version. Red version for life.
     
    LosManosFuertes and paythetab like this.
  9. Shneehaw

    Newbie

    I'll never forget going listening to this album (and self-titled) at summer camp during my middle school years. I played those two albums constantly and it was musical magic. Hoppus' bass lines and persona inspired me to play bass, which later led to guitar, and ultimately writing music. For me (and so many of us) Blink was that band.
     
    Bartek T. and paythetab like this.
  10. paythetab

    Chorus.FM Album Reviewer (Adam Grundy) Supporter

    I love seeing everyone’s unique connections to this album! This one connected the dots for a ton of us.
     
    LosManosFuertes and JamesMichael like this.