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Artist: Blink 182
Genre: Alternative
Year: 1999
Rating: 7 / 10

I have been known to listen to some trashy music from time to time, and, even scarier, I have been known to like it. Such is the case with Blink 182's 1999 release, Enema of the State. This album, featuring such stalwarts as "What's My Age Again" and "All the Small Things," is the epitome of guilty pleasure, but I feel no shame in admitting I find this album to be exceedingly enjoyable. The album makes surprisingly good driving music, and, if one does not get too hung up on the mindless lyrics, it can be quite the rocking collection.

When I purchased Dude Ranch, the band's previous album, I was not expecting anything spectacular. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver anything beyond its one mainstream hit, "Dammit." Therefore, when Enema of the State came along, I was understandably not overly excited. Even as "What's My Age Again" hit the airwaves, I figured that the song was the lone hit on the album, much as "Dammit" is with Dude Ranch. It was not until "All the Small Things" arrived that I actually paid the album any mind. Of course, that song's hilarious video, which is a dead-on send-up of the Backstreet Boys, only served to keep Blink 182 at the forefront of my mind.

Enema of the State is a collection of twelve preposterously short songs, loaded with innuendo - shocking, considering the album's cover - and racing riffs. The group has been called "infantile," and they do little to dispel that rumor. Their lyrics usually make little or no sense, but that is almost beside the point. Their songs are pure fun, as are their videos, and that is the best way to explain the success of Enema. Fun songs like "Dumpweed" - with its defining chorus: "I need a girl that I can train" - make the album what it is. But, then again, Blink 182 would not have it any other way.

Submitted 2/22/00.