Blink-182'Take Off Your Pants and Jacket'MCA Records
Usher has incredible dance moves; Britney Spears has a top-of-the-line wardrobe, and rapper Jay-Z owns some of the most expensive and stylish cars on the market. With all that the stars of the music industry have, it's hard not to admire them -- and sometimes want to be them.
At the time of their 1999 CD release of "Enema of the State," the members of Blink-182 were part of this group of musical stars fans both loved and hated. While Blink-182 was taking over radio stations and MTV with its unique version of punk rock music, many listeners couldn't help but be jealous of the band's talent and popularity. After all, who wouldn't wish to be famous?
After the success of the first album, Blink-182's latest CD, "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket," was expected to be something impressive, something original, something that would live up to the high standards set by the band's previous CD.
It wasn't.
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Blink-182's sound, which was once new and exciting, has now grown old. Furthermore, the band's music, in the cases of "Adam's Song" and "All the Small Things," had once been somewhat meaningful. The tracks on Blink-182's latest CD are now little more than obscene ravings and immature love songs. No one -- not even the band's most dedicated fans -- can compare the quality of "Enema of the State" with what's on "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket" and not lose respect for Blink-182.
What makes "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket" so bad is that the band members, although only in their 20s, seem to have already forgotten what it's like to be a teen-ager. Before releasing a CD made up of offensive language and crude references to bodily functions and sex, Blink-182 should have realized that not all its listeners are hopelessly immature. In fact, most have better things to do with their time than listen to a band that writes obnoxious songs about a grandparent's bowel movements. After listening to "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket," only those few who still find bathroom humor funny will ever again wish to be like Blink-182.
Like fads, music stars come and go. In a few years, Usher's dance moves, Britney's clothes and Jay-Z's cars will be unstylish and the stars themselves outdated. Yet they will have had an impact on listeners before they become obsolete -- which is more than can be said about Blink-182. Although they were on the verge of being a very popular and influential band, Blink-182 will soon fade away after disappointed fans try to forget about "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket" -- and the band itself -- altogether.
Jenna Christopherson is a sophomore from Rochester Century High School. To respond to reviews in Sound &; Vision, call 252-1111, category TEEN (8336); write Teen Beat, Post-Bulletin, P.O. Box 6118, Rochester, MN 55903-6118 or send e-mail to teenbeat@postbulletin.com.
