On this day in 1999, pop-punk icons, Blink-182, released their mainstream shattering third album, Enema of the State. The album sold four times more than Blink’s underground breakthrough, Dude Ranch (1997), and would go on to be a massive world-wide seller. By August 1999, Enema of the State was certified Platinum, selling over 3 million copies during the second half of the year alone. As of today, Enema of the State has sold over 15 million (!) copies worldwide. With its teenage anthems and iconic album cover (teenage boys everywhere yearned to be tended to by the Enema nurse), Enema of the State was (and still is) a musical force. Not too shabby for a pop-punk trio.

Enema of the State featured three charting singles, “What’s My Age Again?,” “All the Small Things,” and “Adam’s Song.” Many, including Top40, believe Enema of the State to be the greatest pop-punk album of all time. Although Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker would go on to greater success, Enema of the State was truly their breakthrough into living rooms across the world.

Blink-182 were not reinventing the wheel or devising a innovative sound, but they brought about a new age of teenage rebellion lost when Green Day’s Billie Joel Armstrong strapped on an acoustic guitar and sang about having the time of your life. That is Enema of the State’s greatest legacy: the reclamation of American youth upheaval and complete disregard of social mores…and for that, millions of garage bands send their thanks.

Written by Michael Meeze (follow him on Twitter)

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Michael McCarron

Michael is the Founder and Director of the Philly-based LGBT+ non-profit, Punk Out. He enjoys moshing endlessly, forgetting his karaoke performance from the previous night, and pushing that Big Gay Agenda.

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