Blink 182's Dude Ranch - One Of The Best!

Although “Dude Ranch” is not one of Blink 182’s newest CDs, it is one of their best. Blink 182’s 1995 debut CD “Cheshire Cat” was a fun but single-minded adventure through suburban punk rock. While one can not deny how immature the record was, Blink 182 responded with an outstanding sophomore record, “Dude Ranch”.

Proving a winning mix of “Cheshire Cat’s” defiance with a wider variety of song structures, hooks, tunes and jokes they created the best CD of their careers. Surprisingly instead of ending up as an embarrassing imitation, as these concoctions usually do, Blink182’s vitality, adrenaline, and hooks hit harder than previous attempts. This is a huge step in the right direction for the group musically, and lyrically. “Dude Ranch” contains hyped up, dizzying guitar riffs with heavy emphasis on drums and bass. The influences are very clear, Blink 182 takes punk, removes the politics, and teenage angst and cleans up the sound quality, all the while venting about the problems of ex-girlfriends and a loser mentality.

While at times it seems overwhelmed by the hard drumbeat it gives the CD the hardcore sound of punk rock. Musically the riffs and beats are simple enough to get stuck in your head, but not dull enough to drive you insane. The drummer for Blink182, Scott Raynor, takes advantage of the snares and the additional drums instead of continual use of the cymbals. The energy that he brings is amazing and adds to the overall flavor of music. Tom DeLonge, who plays the guitar and vocals, brings his nasally voice which is somehow highly addictive, and his high strung guitaring always conveys a feeling that the band members each have a hyper-activity disorder of their own. Lastly, Mark Hoppus, who also is vocals and plays the bass, displays a surprisingly jazzy bass line that morphs into a punk outburst of rapid cord changes.

Blink 182 took their design of the CD in a completely different direction then other artists have taken. Despite the band being punk, they made the theme of their CD a western, which is more towards the country genre. The outside of the case displays a bull branded with the name “Blink182” and above him is a sign stating “Dude Ranch”. The CD itself is a picture of the chamber of a six-shooter. The sleeve inside the cover contains many pictures of the Blink182 gang in crazy and some suggestive situations, while also including the lyrics and thanks to everyone who made the CD possible.

Undeniably immature, Blink182 provides a short jolt of rock and horseplay with a heart of gold. One can’t deny their ambition and their huge skill at pleasing the audience. Their crude humor, which appears numerous times throughout “Dude Ranch”, makes you wonder how someone approaching thirty-years-old can talk like seventeen-year-olds. Their music has become more wildly popular then ever, leading some people to claim that Blink 182 has left their punk roots, but the music is still the same.