Blink 182’s third studio album, Enema of the State, was released on June 1, 1999, and went on to become one of the most influential and staple albums of the pop-punk genre. Charting at number nine on the Billboard 200, the album launched Blink into massive mainstream success, with the album since being certified five times platinum selling over five million copies.
This was the band’s first album to feature Travis Barker on drums, who helped the band evolve in sound and writing. The three singles from the album, “What’s My Age Again,” “All the Small Things,” and “Adam’s Song” have gone on to become three of the band's most iconic tracks. EOTS comes in at a perfect runtime of 35 mins, never losing pacing or flow throughout.
Lyrically this album, while often seen as being fun and sometimes immature, does feature more serious topics. The biggest example is the aforementioned single “Adam’s Song” which features themes of loneliness and depression. Mark Hoppus was inspired to write this track about the loneliness he felt while on tour and not having a significant other to return to after the tour. This was the first glimpse we got of the band writing more emotional and personal tracks throughout their discography.
This album was a change in style for Blink-182, moving away from their Southern California skate punk style found on earlier albums “Dude Ranch” and “Cheshire Cat” to taking on a more melodic songwriting approach, which the band often gives Barker credit for. The album’s production was also much more polished and radio-friendly than their earlier albums, which had a rougher edge to them. This is thanks to producer Jerry Finn, who the band often credited as their “fourth member” and helped them improve vastly as musicians.
The final closing track on the album titled “Anthem” would go on to be part of a trilogy, with “Anthem pt. 2” being the opening track to the band’s next studio release, “Take Off Your Pants And Jacket” and the most recent installment “Anthem pt. 3” from the band’s comeback album, “One More Time.”
While EOTS has gone on to become very successful, it did receive backlash upon release, with critics stating that the album “resembled more pop than punk” and labeled the band as a joke, due to the themes found in the singles from the album. Many countless bands from the pop-punk genre have stated that Blink-182 and “Enema of the State” had a heavy influence on them causing them to pick up the guitar, bass, or drums.