Biography
BLINK 182’s pop breakthrough arrived in 1999, with its third album, the quintuple platinum “Enema of the State,” which took punk’s already playful core and gave it a shiny, accessible polish. Its hits were plenty: ecstatic, goofy numbers about teenage uselessness, with a smattering of tender introspection. It was among the catchiest music of the time, which would have been enough.
But the group’s members — Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker — happily turned themselves into video stars at a time when MTV could still cement a band’s image. Amid the boy bands and teen pop of the era BLINK 182 was a gaggle of pranksters, savvy enough to use the visual tricks of the popular kids to their own ends, transposing the heartthrob model onto the outsiders. Fame doesn’t discriminate based on origin, though: soon the group was as famous as those it was parodying.
“Neighborhoods”, is BLINK 182’s sixth album, and its first collection of new material since going on hiatus in 2005. “It’s been seven years and 10 months since Blink-182 released its self-titled record. If every nearly eight-year absence will spawn a great record like Neighborhoods, I think it’s safe to say that I’d be willing to encounter the wait again.” – Absolute Punk