The 'Sorry I Got Distracted and Wrote A Bad Review Of Jimmy Eat World' Album List 2010, Part 3

First and foremost, padawan learners, congrats are in order: We've had our first prize winner! My old buddy Zac correctly guessed tonight's album and selected the little Batman figure that guards my Mac. Truth is I never actually had a plan to give out prizes, just to offer them. But dammit, I'd be a right jerk if I did that. So Zac, I have no idea how (apparently I haven't thought of USPS), but you'll get your hands on this mini-Caped Crusader! For the rest of you, I may or may not actually give you the prize, depending on what it is and if I actually want/need it. My blog, my rules. Now get off my lawn you darn kids!

Business out of the way, let's get down to pleasure:

Twas the summer of 2001, and for the last six or so months, my friends and I had been anticipating one thing: the release of Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. I'll tell you right now, this album's inclusion on my list has a lot more to do with that summer and those friends than it does with actual musical content.

Now in the months leading up to June 12, 2001, blink-182 released The Rock Show and its accompanying video. At this point in my life, I was spiking my hair up with a ton of gel in my best impression of Mark Hoppus. I tried my damnedest to find a pair of glasses like his in the video, but to no avail. And I definitely didn't have the cash to buy his pink bass. Anyways, June 12 rolls around, and I remember Wes' mom driving us over to Oak Hollow Mall to buy the CD. I got the Take Off version, which had bonus tracks Mother's Day and Break Up Song. I don't remember who else was in the van, but I imagine if Wes was there, Kevin was too, and Chad, since we all lived relatively close together. I think Drew and Brad were there, but this was 9 years ago.

So now we've got the CD. I play mine into oblivion: In the month and a half between buying the CD and seeing their show in Raleigh (my first concert, with Midtown and New Found Glory opening), I learned every damn song on there, and taught myself how to play with a pick. We went to the concert, and I stand by July 31, 2001 as one of the best days of my life. (It ranks right up there with the first time I saw Jurassic Park at a drive-in theater in Walkertown, NC.) Some guy gave Brad and Chad his nearly front row tickets as he was leaving the show, and they graciously came back and got me for the encore. I may as well have been in the pit for Carousel and Dammit, and if you know what kind of blink fan I am at 23, imagine it at 14.

I don't know how much the other guys stayed in touch, but the only one I see anymore is Chad. It's crazy where 9 years will take you.

Nostalgia over. Onto the album!  Anthem, Part II was about the only way they could open this. What other way to get kids pumped to listen then to talk shit about whatever authority we feel is holding us down? And it served as a nice connector to Enema of the State, which ended on Anthem. The energy is high throughout, which is why I was always a bit disappointed that it was followed by Online Songs. I skip this one without even thinking twice, and the first time I listened to it in a while was because of this little diddy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0LIvrxf-R0&playnext_from=TL&videos=zep3f_tE7Nw. They could've cut it and had First Date in the numero two spot, but instead they opted to not satisfy me, 9 years after the fact. Whatever.

So First Date was pretty cool. The video was funny, and I think it still is. The song is easily relatable to teen guys, and frankly that was why blink was so damn popular. Sure, the teeny-boppers thought they were hot and blah, blah, blah. But I think it was guys like me, or had been like me for Cheshire Cat and Dude Ranch, that made blink the unadulterated phenom that it was in 2001 and 2002. If you can find a bigger band during those two years, please tell me in the comments. Because they're all I remember.

Happy Holidays, You Bastard got laughs when it came out, but now it's skip material. I've contemplated deleting it, but I get kind of anal about completeness. It's why I own the steaming pile that is Jurassic Park III. Anyways, it's immature, stupid, and blatantly profane. Fine for that age, but it doesn't hold up.

Story of A Lonely Guy is the most under-rated song on this album. I like what the bass is doing in the intro and the guitar line over it is pretty cool. As a very melodramatic teenager (I think that's redundant) when it came to girls and the like, this song got me through some crushes and whatnots. And then there was The Rock Show, a great choice for first single. It's catchy, fast, and mentions the Warped Tour and girls. Stay Together For the Kids was realer than Adam's Song, even if it was dealing with a less (physically) harmful subject.

I need to be in a special mood to listen to Roller Coaster, because it only strikes me half the time. Reckless Abandon used to be one of my most skipped songs until I saw a video of Tom playing it live while he was with Angels & Airwaves. It works better slowed down, but I appreciated the album version more after that.

One of my favorite songs from blink is Pathetic off Dude Ranch, mostly because of the way Mark and Tom sing over each other in the verse, each singing their own little story. Every Time I Look For You has a little bit of that, and I appreciate it a great deal.  Give Me One Good Reason is my favorite song off this album because it's such a snotty little "Fuck you!" to everyone who's ever told you that you ought to fit in. Fit in to what? With who? This song told you it was all right to be your own person, but mostly to not give a shit about them. Whoever "them" is.

Shut Up is another skipper. There's not much I like about it, so I move on to Please Take Me Home. This one feels disjointed or mistimed, but it isn't. It bothered me at first, but Travis' drums brought me back into it. The breakdown here is gnarly, no two ways about it. I can't imagine them ending the album any other way.

Now, if you'll humor me, I'm going to be real about blink. If your mind is already made up about them, this won't change it. And I'm not trying to. I just want you to get why I'm so all about them. The lyrics have never been anything complicated, but they do their job. They speak to the teenager on their own terms—not talking down to them, or at them, but to them. Everyone remembers what it's like to be that age. Angry for no reason, wanting to be understood and not lectured, thinking you're the only one like you, etc. Looking back, yeah, we were self-centered brats. That's most of what being a teenager is. That's why when we have our own teenagers, we'll talk down to the and be annoyed with them. This life thing is very cyclical. But blink didn't have that air about them. They weren't necessarily the anti-parent, but here were some late-20-somethings, having a ball, telling you it's cool to just be you. That even though your parents are giving you shit, and school sucks, it's all right to be mad. It's OK to feel this way. Because you're not alone or the only one. Shit, Tom was kicked out of high school for going to a basketball game drunk! It gave hope to the teenage condition. And on top of that, they matured. Their last album was nothing like what came before, and it was a nice change of pace. Necessary too. How long can men write about being a teenager?

And so concludes another exciting edition of OK Music That Joey Finds More Than OK. I'm not sure if I'll be posting over the weekend, but I will try. Either way, here's the hint for the next album: You don't want to be the center of attention at this. The winner gets their choice of a 1995 Ford Bronco, two 30 lb. dumbbells, my Fusion razor, size 11 black Pirate boots, or my mostly-used bottle of "Tommy" cologne.