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Dude Ranch (album)

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Untitled

Dude Ranch is the second studio album by the American punk rock band Blink-182. It was the only Blink-182 album produced by Mark Trombino, and was released on June 17, 1997 through Cargo Music. MCA Records signed the band in 1998 to handle increased distribution for the album. It is a follow-up to their first album Cheshire Cat and this album was the last to feature Scott Raynor, who was replaced the following year with Travis Barker.

The album’s two singles, "Dammit" and "Josie", helped the group gain mainstream popularity, and the two songs can be found on the band’s Greatest Hits album. The album received positive reviews. Since its release, Dude Ranch has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and the CRIA.

Background and recording

Origins

After decent sales of their debut album Cheshire Cat (1994), released on independent record label Cargo Music, Blink-182 enjoyed a small amount of success. However, the band was unhappy with the limited distribution of Cheshire Cat. During the interim, the band had released two 7-inch EP recordings with Cargo, They Came to Conquer... Uranus (1995) and Lemmings / Going Nowhere (1996). However, the band began looking at major labels to distribute a new, full-length second album.

Beginning in March 1996, several labels courted the band, sending A&R reps to shows and inviting the band to stop by the office for lunch meetings.[1] Through the several labels interested, Blink-182 took serious looks at Interscope, Epitaph, and MCA Records (the latter of which had just purchased Interscope). The band spent much time during the spring and summer of 1996 contemplating options. Despite coming out of a recent dead spell, MCA's persistence and sincerity won the band over and Blink-182 signed with the label in 1996.[2]

Many songs on the album had previously been demoed and written much earlier, even before Cheshire Cat. The earliest of these is a version of "Degenerate" from the band's second demo, simply titled Demo #2. A different version was released on the original version of the band's final demo, Buddha (the song was left off the remastered version, released in 1998). An early version of "A New Hope" (titled "Princess Leia) was recorded around this time, but was not released. An early version of "Enthused" appeared on the "Wasting Time" single. A song titled "Voyeur" was also recorded, however, it is associated with the Dude Ranch version of "Voyeur" only in name - it is completely different musically. Early versions of "Waggy" and "Lemmings" can be found on They Came to Conquer... Uranus and Lemmings / Going Nowhere EPs, respectively.

Recording

The whole recording of Dude Ranch feels cloudy to me. That's how the weather was everyday. It was cloudy all the time. So that's what I think of. - Mark Hoppus[3]

The band entered Big Fish Studios in Rancho Santa Fe, California in late 1996 to record Dude Ranch. Big Fish was actually a converted guesthouse on a large piece of property in the countryside area, which had just survived a wildfire months before.[3] However, the gloomy atmosphere did not faze Blink-182 at all; bassist Mark Hoppus had just bought a new video camera and he filmed stunts with guitarist Tom DeLonge on the burnt landscape, many of which can be found on the later documentary The Urethra Chronicles (1999).[4]

Before recording of the album officially began, the band booked time at DML Studios in Escondido, California, where they perfected the songs for Dude Ranch.[4] Much of the lyrics for the album had been written periodically over 1995 and 1996, while touring. The line "She brings me Mexican food from Sombrero's just because" in the single "Josie" is a reference to the local Mexican restaurant Sombrero, from which the band ate lunch constantly during the recording of Dude Ranch.[4] Blink-182 picked Mark Trombino as producer for the new record, as they loved the work he had done with Jimmy Eat World.[5] The band spent much time trying to get Trombino to laugh at their antics, to no avail. Hoppus' sister, Anne Hoppus, describes Trombino in the biography Blink-182: Tales from Beneath Your Mom as very quiet and "very much his own person."[5]

Despite being on a creative peak while writing lyrics for the album, all three members of Blink-182 faced setbacks while recording Dude Ranch. DeLonge was having vocal problems and spent much time recording and re-recording vocal tracks, and Hoppus realized he too was having vocal problems after losing his voice during a one-off Christmas concert.[6] Forced to cancel the final week of recording in December 1996, Hoppus realized the magnitude of the situation and quit smoking in order to take care of his voice. Meanwhile, Raynor had recently broken both heels and was in a wheelchair. Raynor was well enough to record the drum tracks for the album while on crutches.[6]

Blink-182 wrapped up the recording sessions for Dude Ranch in early 1997, the album being completed in one month. For the final touches, Unwritten Law frontman Scott Russo donated a few vocal tracks to the album, and Trombino let Blink-182 record a couple of jokes between songs using his sound-effects machine.[7] The band had confidence and was very happy with the album, Hoppus recalling "I remember when we finished Dude Ranch I was so proud. That was the first time we could take the time and whatever to make a good record."[7]

Two songs were recorded during the recording sessions of Dude Ranch but not featured on the album: a cover of Generation X's "Dancing with Myself" and a holiday-themed song titled "I Won't Be Home for Christmas". "Dancing with Myself" was released on the compilation album Before You Were Punk in March 1997, preceding the release of Dude Ranch.[8] The cover version was also used on the compilation album Five Years on the Streets, which was released in 1998, and the soundtrack for the 2000 film Loose Change.[9]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [10]
IGN [11]
Sputnikmusic [12]
Rolling Stone [13]

Dude Ranch was officially released on June 17, 1997 through Cargo Music. The band signed with MCA Records in 1998 to handle increased distribution for the album. As the original release of the album was only pressed on CD and cassette, the album was released on vinyl format for the first time on January 12, 2010 by independent record label Mightier Than Sword Records,[14] following a re-release of Enema of the State on vinyl. Since these releases, non-Mightier Than Sword releases have been found in Hot Topic stores across the United States.[15] The album was only released in its original explicit format, a "clean" (or edited version) has never been produced. It is one of few albums to face major distribution without a Parental Advisory sticker, possibly because it originally went without one when released through Cargo in 1997. It is common for older albums to go without such a label when re-released (such as The Sex Pistols' Never Mind The Bollocks, despite its title and repeated strong language in the lyrics.) A Parental Advisory sticker is present on the 2010 vinyl release.

Upon the release of Dude Ranch in June 1997, the album peaked at number 67 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It was certified gold nearly a year after its' release,[16] and was certified platinum for the first time in 1999.[17]

Four singles were released in support of the album, "Dammit" in September 1997, "Apple Shampoo" in October 1997, "Dick Lips" in February 1998, and, lastly, "Josie" in November 1998. "Dammit" was the only single to chart, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Music videos were recorded for "Dammit" and "Josie". "I Won't Be Home for Christmas" was released as a promotional single in 1998. It was re-released as an international single in 2001, only charting in Canada, but becoming a major success there.

The album is mentioned in the song "1000 Times A Day" by The Early November on their triple release, The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path. AbsolutePunk named Dude Ranch as one of their classic all-time albums in February 2009.[18]

"Voyeur" can be found on the soundtrack to the 1998 film Godmoney. "Enthused" can be found on the compilation albums Digital Snow (1997), SB1: Skiboarding Journey (1999), and the soundtrack to the film Idle Hands, although the song is not used in the film. A rare live version of "Apple Shampoo" from the 1997 Warped Tour can be found on the compilation album A Compilation of Warped Music II.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Scott Raynor

Dude Ranch
No.TitleLength
1."Pathetic"2:28
2."Voyeur"2:43
3."Dammit"2:45
4."Boring"1:41
5."Dick Lips"2:57
6."Waggy"3:16
7."Enthused"2:48
8."Untitled"2:46
9."Apple Shampoo"2:52
10."Emo"2:50
11."Josie"3:19
12."A New Hope"3:45
13."Degenerate"2:28
14."Lemmings"2:38
15."I'm Sorry"5:37
Total length:44:53
Japanese version
No.TitleLength
16."Dog Lapping"1:55

Personnel

Charts

Song information

  • "A New Hope" is a reference to A New Hope, the subtitle of the original Star Wars film, as it contains numerous references to the Star Wars universe such as Han Solo, Lando, and Princess Leia.
  • "Boring", "Untitled", and "I'm Sorry" are all followed by brief spoken word skits.
  • "Lemmings" features a reference to the film Pulp Fiction with the line "..feeling that sting of pride, it's fucking with me, it's fucking with you." It is a reference to the Ving Rhames quote in the film, "You feel that sting big boy, huh? That's pride fucking with you. You gotta fight through that shit..."
  • "Dick Lips" is about an incident that occurred when Tom DeLonge was expelled from high school for showing up drunk to a basketball game.

References

  • Hoppus, Anne (October 1, 2001). Blink-182: Tales from Beneath Your Mom. MTV Books / Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-2207-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

Notes

  1. ^ Hoppus, 2001. p. 61
  2. ^ Hoppus, 2001. p. 64
  3. ^ a b Hoppus, 2001. p. 69
  4. ^ a b c Hoppus, 2001. p. 70
  5. ^ a b Hoppus, 2001. p. 71
  6. ^ a b Hoppus, 2001. p. 72
  7. ^ a b Hoppus, 2001. p. 74
  8. ^ http://www.secondhandsongs.com/performance/13788
  9. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Loose-Change-Taylor-Steele-Movie/dp/B000BWA4PS
  10. ^ Allmusic Review
  11. ^ C., Kody (2003-07-10). "Reader Review: Dude Ranch – Music Feature at IGN". IGN. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  12. ^ Sputnikmusic Review
  13. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artist/album/news/;kw=[artists,5007,16195,107285
  14. ^ http://mightierthansword.bigcartel.com/product/blink-182-br-dude-ranch-br-lp
  15. ^ Dude Ranch Vinyl 2009 NON-Mightier Than Sword release
  16. ^ 182&terminclude=&termexact= RIAA News Room - The Titanic Hits Eight Million Sales in RIAA Awards - Feb 27, 1998
  17. ^ http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS
  18. ^ Absolute Classics (Feb. 2009) - Article - AbsolutePunk.net
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