This year, we launched a brand new set of articles called The Magic of The Music Video which looks at videos that have inspired me as a Video Editor. Well, I thought I would bring that article to life in more ways then one by celebrating certain albums that some of those singles have come off of. Why do this you ask? Well, you may know the songs but may of never actually listened to the albums so welcome to this section of this feature that will happen throughout the year. So we start this off by celebrating a band we kicked this feature off with in January. The album that we are looking at today was the home of Dammit and Josie – Dude Ranch, Blink-182

Voyeur

This is pure classic Blink, the lyrics are immature, Toms voice just sounds so young and it is a about creating a song that follows the old school blink riffs and bass melodies. The lyrics are very tongue in cheek but also defines a generation of American punk rock and what this band were about before they hit the big time. Its pure fun with a punch of addictive music. The fast bass solo and the musical interlude at the end really do highlight this generation of blink.

Waggy

A lot of old school Blink starts with big guitar riffs and drum beats which really highlight a time of Scott Raynor as a drummer. This song is yet again another song that highlights this generation of Blink its all again about failure with life and women and whilst the lyrics hint a sense of darkness it is quite an uplifting song. It is fun song and again the music interludes are very much about the string guitar and bass solos which make you miss old blink whilst also appreciate how much they have grown as a band.

Untitled

This is one of my favourite tracks on the album, it’s wonderful hearing a young Tom as his voice as developed a lot since then and it has a sense of innocence this song. The song follows the theme of the whole album of growing up and emotions brought on by relationships but the way that the melodies and beats develop over the song really emphasise this song. The end of it has a skit at the end which was what old Blink albums were known for. If you are a fan of new blink I advise listening to just see how much this band have changed as this is so unique to old blink.

Degenerate

If you want a song that really highlights the comedy of Blink at this time of their career this song is one you have to listen to. It is all about the lyrics, and whilst they are very random I remembering finding this very funny as a kid me and my friend at school used to have conversations about the hilarity of these lyrics. It is a song where the drum beat takes the reigns and it is great because it highlights the lyrics.

I’m Sorry

We have to talk about the last song of old Blink albums, they always ended with some sort of comedy skit but we will come to that later. This song starts of slower and builds up to be more fast later on. It is one of the best songs on the album and really allows all instruments to take ruling and highlight the talent of this early band. The song fades out at the end and stays on this one string sound that extends for a long time to highlight that the album isn’t over. Then comes the skit. This one is all about Mark and his dog and whilst it is toilet humour it is again funny to hear Marks comedy. I am more of a fan of the skit at the end of Cheshire Cat but it’s still interesting to highlight the original comedy that a band like this had before they changed to the new blink.